‘We’re going to get sued.’ KY bill banning transgender girls from girls sports moves forward
With a Lexington Republican lawmaker among those in opposition, a Republican bill prohibiting transgender girls from competing in girls sports at the post-secondary, middle and high school levels moved ahead Wednesday.
Senate Bill 83, approved by the House Education Committee with a 15-5 vote, requires the Kentucky Board of Education and the Kentucky High School Athletic Association to establish that an athletic activity or sport designated as “girls” shall not be open to members of the male sex.
“Ninety-six percent chance we’re going to get sued when we pass this,” said state Rep. Killian Timoney, R-Lexington, who voted against the bill. “I’m not sure I feel like spending money on lawsuits.”
Under the bill, the sex of the student shall be determined by the biological sex indicated on the student’s certified birth certificate issued at the time of birth or adoption, Sen. Robby Mills, R-Henderson, the bill’s sponsor, said.
The legislation now goes to the full House.
The House Education Committee removed a measure in the bill Wednesday that would allow a student who suffers harm because of a violation of the law to sue a school district for damages.
Mills said it gives “clear direction” to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association and Kentucky post-secondary institutions regarding transgender female athletes.
“It protects opportunities for girls and young ladies to compete fairly in the sports of their choosing,” Mills said.
Co-sponsor Ryan Dotson, R-Winchester, said under the legislation, that biological males can not compete in an all-girls sports. Any student can compete on a boys or coed team under the bill.
“I don’t want to see a single girl in our state go without an opportunity to win a title, to play a sport. When we see the physiological differences, I can go into a plethora of reasons of why this needs to be done,” said Dotson.
The House Education Committee had approved a similar House bill earlier in the General Assembly session.
Critics of the legislation have said they haven’t heard of examples of student-athletes harmed by the inclusion of transgender classmates.
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association has a policy requiring students to participate in sports based on the gender on their birth certificates unless their gender legally has been reassigned, demonstrated through certified medical records, a driver’s license, a passport or other formal documents.
State Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville, who voted no, said she had received a letter signed by 150 representatives of businesses saying they opposed anti-trans discrimination in the state. She said she was concerned about the legislation’s negative impact on kids and its potential effect on Kentucky’s economy.
“This is not the way forward for Kentucky,” said State Rep. Attica Scott, D-Louisville, explaining her no vote. “We should be taking care of and protecting our trans kids.”
David Walls, a spokesman for the Family Foundation, a nonprofit, non partisan, faith-based organization, said eight of the 11 similar bills passed elsewhere in the United States include both college and high school students.