Horry County leaders vote on near party lines as ‘Save Women’s Sports Act’ moves into law
Leaders of a Myrtle Beach transgender support group are condemning South Carolina’s newly enacted law requiring students to compete in middle and high school athletics based on the gender listed on their birth certificates — a measure supported by all of the Republicans in Horry County’s legislative delegation.
Final votes on the so-called “Save Women’s Sports Act” were taken in the S.C. House and Senate earlier this month before Gov. Henry McMaster ratified it May 16.
“Trans youth, particularly, have a higher suicide rate, and this puts that out there that they’re different and not approved of,” Veronica Walters, vice-chairwoman of the Myrtle Beach Human Rights Commission and president of T-Time Myrtle Beach, which works locally with transgender youth, said in an interview with The Sun News on May 19.
In a tweet explaining why he made South Carolina the 17th state to prohibit transgender girls from competing on women’s teams, McMaster said it came down to fairness.
The General Assembly’s influential Family Caucus — a coalition of 46 lawmakers — has prioritized the measure since its 2016 founding. McMaster spokesman Brian Symmes said McMaster’s tweet explained his support for the legislation and didn’t comment further.
Meanwhile, LGBTQ+ advocacy group SC Equality called the legislation “hateful, bigoted and anti-transgender” in a tweet of its own.
“All young people should have the opportunity to play school sports and have their dignity respected,” executive director Jeff Ayers said in a statement days ahead of McMaster signing the bill.
State Rep. Tim McGinnis, R-Myrtle Beach, said he supported the ban for similar reasons. McGinnis joined the county’s 12 other Republican lawmakers in voting for the bill. State Sen. Kent Williams, a Marion Democrat who serves part of Horry County, also backed the measure.
State Sen. Ronnie Sabb, D-Greeleyville and state Rep. Carl Anderson, D-Georgetown, were opposed to it. Neither could immediately be reached for comment.
“I don’t have a problem with how anybody wants to live their life. To me, it’s not about discrimination,” McGinnis told The Sun News May 20. “I think a biological male is built differently than a biological female and has certain advantages that a female doesn’t have. In the grand scheme of things, its just common sense so as not to take away from the female who trains her entire young life and tries to be the best she can be at her sport.”
Williams said he voted for the legislation based on his belief that biological males have an inherent advantage when competing in sports.
“I felt like if you were born a man then you should play male sports because even if you have that transition, you still have have all the characteristics, for the most part (of a male). I think it gives them a possible advantage and we see that happen in other places,” he said.
Dave Rossi, a member of the T-Time board pushed back against claims that biological males who have transitioned have any inherent advantage over their female athletic rivals — especially if hormone blocking therapy is used early on.
“If you are a trans girl and you don’t go through puberty at all, then where the hell is the advantage,” Rossi said.
Transgender women are allowed to compete on female NCAA teams after a year of testosterone-suppression treatment, according to the organization’s guidelines.
Walters and others fear the law will have unintended consequences.
“This bill, its supposedly just for school systems. But it has carryover effects when somebody goes to summer camp or something like that,” she said.
She also pushed back against claims that biological males have any inherent
Since 2016, only five transgender athletes have applied for waivers to participate in high school sports, according to the South Carolina High School League. The High School League has dealt with those requests on a case-by-case basis, approving the participation of one transgender female high school student and three transgender male high school students. Officials have not disclosed where the athletes are from.
Rossi said recent high-profile wins by transgender athletes like the University of Pennsylvania’s Lia Thomas brought new attention to the matter. In March, Thomas became the first openly trans athlete to win a Division I NCAA championship, after taking first place in the 500-yard freestyle event.
“People for some reason tend to forget that trans (people) exist, so once one of them starts winning, that would probably be the true impetus for the bill,” Rossi said. “This wouldn’t be an issue ever if trans people had full access to affirming care.”
About 3% of all adults in South Carolina identify as LGBTQ+, but the exact number of transgender people is unknown. A 2019 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey showed 2% of school students nationwide identify as transgender.
“Even though the number of transgender youth in sports is small, it (the bill) will have a very insidious affect on mental health across the board,” Rossi said.
This story was originally published May 24, 2022 at 5:00 AM.