Alabama lawmakers are pushing forward with a controversial bill that would ban transgender women from playing on female sports teams in college. The legislation, which has already passed in the Alabama House of Representatives, received a 26-4 vote in the Senate on Wednesday.
This bill extends a 2021 ban on transgender athletes in K-12 sports teams to college-level sports teams, and if it passes, Alabama will join at least 20 other states with similar restrictions in place.
Supporters argue that transgender women have an unfair advantage in female sports competitions because they are often larger, stronger, and faster. However, opponents see the bill as an attack on the transgender community and rooted in discrimination and politics.
Advocacy groups, such as the Human Rights Campaign, have called on Governor Ivey to veto the bill when it lands on her desk. Carmarion D. Anderson-Harvey, Alabama director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group, states that the bill exacerbates discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, is not based on facts, and does not help women’s sports.
The legislation states that sports teams “designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to a biological male,” and vice versa. The original birth certificate would serve as the basis for determining a person’s gender at birth.
The bill has faced minimal opposition in the Alabama Legislature, as it cleared the House of Representatives on an 83-5 vote with more than a dozen members abstaining on the vote.
In recent years, conservative states have introduced several laws that restrict the rights of transgender people, and Alabama could soon be joining the list. The debate over transgender participation in sports has become a highly controversial issue, with supporters on both sides of the argument. However, this bill’s impact on transgender women is at the forefront of this debate, as it restricts their ability to compete in sports and further marginalizes them.