GOP lawmakers stand by transgender athlete bill in North Carolina

Citing dangers posed by transgender athletes playing girls sports and opportunities for biological girls in sports, Republican lawmakers in North Carolina announced a bill that would require athletes to play based on their sex at birth. At least 20 states have banned transgender athletes from playing high school sports according to their gender identity. North Carolina could become the next. "This is needed legislation," Sen. Joyce Krawiec said Thursday. "And even though we have a few examples of this already taking place, it's important that we establish fair standards for our women's sports." The Fairness in Women's Sports Act was filed in both the House and the Senate earlier this week. The bill, as written, would not allow girls to play "contact sports," such as football. Sen. Vickie Sawyer, a primary sponsor, said that was not intentional and could be changed as the bill makes its way through the legislative process. It says that “a student's sex shall be recognized based solely on the student's reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” It says that no males can play on women’s teams and that no women can play on men’s teams unless “there is no comparable female team for a particular sport and the sport is not a contact sport.” "When we talk about men identifying as a woman to play in sports, we so hear about how we are accommodating their feelings, but there is a big part missing from that conversation," Sawyer said. There are currently about 15 known transgender high school student-athletes in North Carolina, according to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. That’s less than one-one thousandth of a percent of the roughly 180,000 student-athletes who participated statewide last year, or about one in every 12,000. "I can honestly tell you that, to date, there has been little to no adverse impact from these students participating on our program," said NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker. Current N.C. High School Athletic Association rules allow student-athletes who identify as transgender an opportunity to play sports based on their gender identification. However, athletes have to go through a lengthy process that includes submitting a gender identity request form with written statements from the student and others affirming the student's gender identification, information about medications and treatments the student receives, and other information. A Hiwassee Dam High volleyball player was injured during a game this year when she was struck in the head by a ball by a Highlands High player, who is reportedly transgender. The Hiwassee player suffered a concussion and long-term health impairments, according to lawmakers at Thursday's press conference. Subscribe to WRAL:    / wral5   Follow WRAL: Facebook:   / wraltv   Twitter:   / wral   IG:   / wral   About WRAL-TV: WRAL is your Raleigh, North Carolina news source. Check out our videos for the latest news in Raleigh, local sports, Raleigh weather, and more at https://WRAL.com #localnews #northcarolina #politics #lgbtq+