‘You’re writing your own obituary,’ top SC senator warns after panel OKs trans athlete ban
A South Carolina Senate panel advanced a controversial bill Wednesday that would ban transgender women and girls from competing in middle school to college-age sports after a contentious debate over whether lawmakers did their due diligence before passing the legislation.
Senators narrowly voted to pass the vote by voice vote, and several members abstained from voting after a bipartisan group of lawmakers chastised the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson, for not inviting any colleges or private schools that would be affected by the bill to testify.
“People are all upset about something that doesn’t even exist in South Carolina,” Sen. John Scott, D-Richland, said.
It wasn’t immediately clear who voted in support or against the bill because it was done by one voice vote.
Wednesday’s vote marks the first time a bill banning transgender athletes from women’s sports has made it onto the floor of either chamber.
Some lawmakers, mostly Republican, tried to get a similar bill through the GOP-chaired House Judiciary Committee twice last year. Both times it was rejected, with Republicans leading the effort.
Cash acknowledged Wednesday that while transgender women trying to compete in sports in South Carolina is exceedingly rare, but said other states, like Connecticut, have seen transgender athletes sweep competitions and set statewide records.
Only four transgender students have gone through the South Carolina High School League process to participate in sports since it was instituted in 2016, league officials testified last year. Two students, both transgender girls, have been granted waivers.
“The first question that I’ve been asked about this is, ‘Why do we need this? The South Carolina High School League has a policy,’” Cash said. “But I ask why should we wait for something to happen in South Carolina similar to something that already happened in Connecticut.”
Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike chastised Cash, who chaired the subcommittee that took testimony on the bill, for failing to reach out to colleges or private schools.
And, they said, the bill fails to address several key questions, such as whether collegiate teams from other states with transgender women on the team would be allowed to play against South Carolina teams or how the bill would affect intersex children, born with a combination of male and female characteristics.
“At the end of the day, this is a legal nightmare the way it’s done now,” Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington, said.
Senate Education Committee Chairman Greg Hembree warned Cash that his bill “is not ready for prime time,” and pushed senators to invite universities and private schools to testify at a hearing next week before advancing the bill.
Cash, with some colleagues, rejected an attempt to hold the bill until then.
“When you’ve got problems like this going to the floor with two weeks left, you’re writing your own obituary,” Hembree, R-Horry, said.
Senators worry consequences will hit SC if bill passes
Cash’s proposal now heads to the Senate floor, where lawmakers only have about two weeks before the Legislature’s imposed April crossover deadline, when it becomes difficult for bills to travel between the chambers.
A similar bill is currently being considered by the House Education and Public Works Committee. It’s unclear if the House, which is currently on furlough, will have enough time to pass it before then.
If the bills do not pass both chambers by the year’s end, lawmakers will have to restart their efforts next year.
The push to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports is part of a nationwide wave of legislation.
Last year, 23 states considered measures to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports, arguing that transgender women have a natural athletic advantage over their cisgendered counterparts. Nine states enacted legislation last year, and governors in three more vetoed it.
Two more states have passed bans since, and GOP governors in Indiana and Utah vetoed legislation in their states Tuesday.
Opponents of the bills have warned that there could be dire consequences if either legislation becomes law.
Pediatricians this month testified that transgender youth already suffer from bullying and isolation, warning that taking their opportunities away could put them at serious risk for depression or suicide.
“No one should be discriminated against because they’re trans,” state Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley said, but added, “If we don’t recognize the biological differences and the unfair advantages that someone would have competing with males characteristics would have in women’s sports, we’re now discriminating against the women.”
One concern voiced Wednesday was that from Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, who asked whether South Carolina could lose out on sporting events should the bill become law.
Last year, the NCAA, the governing body of collegiate sports, announced it might refuse to hold championship games in states with anti-transgender legislation on the books. South Carolina plays host to major sporting events, including the NCAA basketball tournament games hosted in Greenville last week.
South Carolina has been barred before from hosting tournaments.
The NCAA banned the state from hosting sanctioned championship events because the state flew the Confederate flag between 2001 and 2015 on the State House grounds. The flag was later removed from the complex after the murders of nine Black churchgoers, including a state senator, by a white supremacist.
“What is the NCAA going to do going forward?” asked Sen. Scott Talley, R-Spartanburg, who said the March Madness basketball tournament is scheduled to play in San Antonio, Texas, despite the state’s passage of a similar bill in 2021.
“No one can say.”
This story was originally published March 23, 2022 at 1:07 PM with the headline "‘You’re writing your own obituary,’ top SC senator warns after panel OKs trans athlete ban."
