Story by Dominick Ferrara
Graphics by Jamie Krantz and Katherine Ozturk
Thirty states have introduced or passed legislation to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports at the K-12 and collegiate levels. North Carolina was one of those states, as HB358, also known as the Save Women’s Sports Act, was introduced in the General Assembly in March.
However, the bill died on Apr. 29 after it became clear there had been no complaints about the issue in the state.
“A wise state legislature does not go out looking for social issues to tap,” House Speaker Tim Moore told The News & Observer.
Equality North Carolina, an advocacy group for LGBTQ equality in the state, tweeted, “INCREDIBLE news for our community. This is the result of tireless advocacy, storytelling and visibility from transgender folks and allies all across North Carolina. THANK YOU!” The group declined to comment further.
Though North Carolina’s bill is dead, a similar bill was signed into law in West Virginia this week. Florida and Montana’s state legislatures also recently passed bills with the same goal.
While some bills would require all female athletes to verify their biological sex through a series of physical examinations, North Carolina’s would have required athletes to participate based on the sex listed on their birth certificate.
Beth Stelzer, an amateur powerlifter and founder of the organization Save Women’s Sports, is one of the key organizers behind the bills. She said that President Biden’s recent executive orders extending Title VII and Title IX protections to members of the LGBTQ community could have adverse effects on biological women.
“I think it’s easy to see when looking at the work we’re doing that we’re not transphobic, that this is pro-female,” Stelzer said. “We’re simply trying to preserve the rights that women fought for us to have. It’s not even been 50 years that we have had Title IX. Now we’re giving those rights of equal play for girls up to boys.”
Stelzer said that two transgender females in Connecticut who won high school state track championships is evidence of the need for the bill.
In an interview prior to the bill’s demise, Stelzer said she saw its introduction as a victory.
“Every bill is an opportunity to raise awareness,” Stelzer said. “Every time I speak out, many more women follow suit. They become less scared.”
Rebby Kern, director of education policy for Equality North Carolina, said the need for inclusion in athletics is more important than any individual athlete’s success.
“Why aren’t we talking about the beautiful opportunity that the student has to be able to play,” Kern asked. “So many times, trans women are not celebrated when they win, not only in sport, but in many other spaces. Why would we only be talking about trans women if they seem to be winning in a sport, when so many trans women are facing incredible barriers day to day, especially in school?”
Dr. Timothy Roberts, who recently conducted a study on transgender athletes, suggested that high school athletes undergo Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) for one year and that elite athletes be on HRT for two years before competing. A full ban, such as the one proposed in the Save Women’s Sports Act, is out of the question for him.
“Whatever advantage they’re having is getting less and less and less, the longer they’re on hormones,” Roberts said. “So it seems unnecessarily discriminatory. I think that banning them outright is a solution in search of a problem.”
James Alverson, spokesperson for the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, told North Carolina Health News that fewer than 10 students have filed Gender Identity Request forms to compete on the sports teams that best reflect their gender identity in the PAST two years.
Joanna Harper, a researcher in Britain who studies the effects of hormone therapy on transgender athletes, told The New York Times that she estimates that 50 out of 200,000 women in college sports are transgender.
Harper, a transgender woman, has worked alongside the International Olympic Committee and other organizations to create policies regarding transgender participation in athletics.
“It is never appropriate to introduce bans,” Harper said. “I would state that unequivocally that there is always going to be some solution which will allow all women to enjoy meaningful competition.”
On Apr. 13, the NCAA released a statement “firmly and unequivocally” supporting transgender athletes in college sports. The organization also said that championships will be held where “hosts can commit to providing an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination.”
In 2017, the NCAA did not host championships in North Carolina because of House Bill 2, which required transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender on their birth certificates. An analysis by Spectrum News estimated the state lost more than 1,700 jobs and $77 million in revenue, while The Associated Press estimated the state would have lost more than $3.7 billion over 12 years had the law not been partially repealed.
