The “Save Women’s Sports Act” or House Bill 538 introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly last week would prevent trans youth and women from competing in sports which do not align to the gender on their birth certificate. North Carolina is the 30th state to introduce the bill.
The bill states, “having separate sex-specific teams furthers efforts to promote sex equality.” It defines sex as, “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” The legislation would supersede the current North Carolina High School Athletics Association policy which allows trans students to compete in sports based on gender identity.
GOP Lawmakers said the bill would make a level playing field for all sports, however, it was met with criticism from groups like Equality NC – feeling it takes aim at trans and gender-conforming youth.
Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle said she, too, was disappointed at the introduction of the bill.
“It’s really, really discouraging because really what is does is it attacks children,” Lavelle told 97.9 The Hill. “It attacks youth who are already going through a hard enough time with just regular school, let alone if you’re wrestling with your gender identity. Like many of these bills that we see, it attacks a problem that’s really not there.”
Lawmakers introduced House Bill 538 five years after the North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 2, which required trans people to use bathrooms according to their gender at birth – not gender identity. Lavelle said she remembers the Town of Carrboro holding a meeting when House Bill 2 passed for people to voice their concerns on the legislation.
“The sole purpose of the meeting was to hear person after person talk about how horrible the bill was,” Lavelle said. “We passed a really awesome resolution condemning the bill and just outlining ways the Town of Carrboro was going to make clear that we did not in any way support HB2.”
Lavelle said even if the bill passes in both the House and Senate, the veto-proof majority would likely prevent the bill from becoming law. But like House Bill 2, she said House Bill 538 does not reflect the town’s values.
Lavelle said bills like House Bill 538 are meant to get people upset about a social issue but could cause long term harm for many others.
“It harms trans youth, it harms progressive communities, it harms all of us who just kind of want everyone to be able to just live justly in this world,” said the Carrboro mayor.
The legislation is currently under review in the North Carolina General Assembly. If the bill becomes law, it would be applicable at the beginning of the 2021-2022 academic year.
Four democratic lawmakers filed four bills to push for statewide action on LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances throughout North Carolina. Those bills are also under review in the N.C. General Assembly and prohibit defense based on sex or gender, protection of mental health, equality for all and a full repeal of House Bill 2.
