AUSTIN, Texas — A bill that would limit which college sports teams transgender athletes can join and compete on was left pending by the House Committee on Higher Education on Monday night. The piece of legislation first passed the Senate in March.
Senate Bill 15, filed by State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston), would require college athletes to compete on teams that align with the sex they were assigned at birth. This means transgender women would have to play on men’s collegiate sports teams and transgender men would have to play on women’s sports teams.
The bill is known as the "Save Women's Sports Act."
SB 15 would prevent transgender athletes outside of Texas from participating in competitions that are hosted in the state. The bill does allow female athletes to participate on men's sports teams if a school does not have a women's team for the same sport.
Republican State Rep. Valoree Swanson is carrying the SB 15 companion bill in the House. SB 15 expands the 2021 law that bans kindergarten through 12th-grade public school students from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
During Monday's hearing, the mother of a transgender woman argued that SB 15 discriminates against transgender students and further stigmatizes them.
”You keep trying to paint transgender people as a danger. So whether it’s discrimination, or in dignity, or legislative violence you commit against them, just appears like you’re defending yourself against a threat," the witness said. "But transgender people are not the threat.”
The witness asked lawmakers on the committee if they thought it was "a little bit creepy" that they were discussing legislation that has to do with body parts they have "no business knowing about."
Later, during a press conference hosted by Texas Values, athletes spoke on the importance of fairness in sports – specifically, women's sports.
Jeri Shanteau, a former NCAA swimmer, said people need to "focus on the science."
"We need people to understand this is not something meant to be taken personal," Shanteau said. "It is a value we hold dear to sport, and for the female category to continue to exist, we must make sure that male bodies cannot participate."
SB 15 contradicts guidance from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which, since 2010, has allowed transgender student athletes to compete on teams that match their gender identity. However, the organization approved a new policy in the fall of 2020 that requires transgender student athletes to prove they meet certain sport-specific provisions for testosterone levels.
Should the bill pass through the House Committee on Higher Education, political observers expect it to pass.
SB 15 is a priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to sign it into law if it passes both chambers.