Virginia Beach delegate pushing to ban transgender women from women’s sports
A House of Delegates subcommittee on Monday passed a bill that would ban transgender girls and women from competing on female sports teams at K-12 schools and universities.
Del. Karen Greenhalgh, who introduced the measure, told legislators they had a responsibility to stand up for female athletes.
“Similarly gifted and trained males will always have the physical advantage over females, which is the reason we have women’s sports,” said Greenhalgh, R-Virginia Beach.
Dozens of speakers on both sides of the issue addressed the education subcommittee. Those opposed to the bill argued that it discriminated against transgender youth.
Shannon McKay said that her transgender daughter’s physical and mental health improved after she joined the school’s volleyball team.
McKay is the executive director of He She Ze and We, an LGBTQ advocacy organization.
“This was the key to more happiness, to a sense of belonging in her school community,” she said. “We should allow every child to have that sense of belonging.”
Breanna Diaz, legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, said the organization strongly opposed the bill. She said it aimed to strip transgender athletes of their dignity and identity.
Others told the subcommittee that the bill was needed to ensure a level playing field.
Riley Gaines, a recent graduate from the University of Kentucky where she had been a member of the women’s swim team, said it was unfair that she had to compete against Lia Thomas, a transgender woman.
“We watched on the side of the pool as Thomas won a national title in the 500 yard freestyle, beating out the most impressive and accomplished female athletes in the country,” she said. “It’s simply unacceptable when the integrity of women’s sports is lost.”
The bill passed the subcommittee in a vote that fell along party lines. It looks likely to pass the House, but will presumably have a tougher road in the Democrat-held Senate.
Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, a Fairfax Democrat and member of the subcommittee, called the measure “mean-spirited” and offensive.
“We have had transgender youth living in the commonwealth, and there has been no takeover of women’s sports,” she said. “I just don’t understand why this conversation continues.”
Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com
