Tennessee lawmakers are proposing a bill that would require student athletes to play on the teams that represent their actual gender rather than their imagined one, ABC reports.
The bill is Tennessee House Bill 1572, and it was introduced by State Representative Bruce Griffey (R-Tenn.). The law would mandate that all public schools “ensure that student athletes participate in school-sanctioned sports based on the student’s biological sex as indicated on certificate issued at time of birth.” Failure to comply with the law would result in a fine of up to $10,000.
The bill is an effort to curb the rising trend of so-called “transgender” athletes, who believe they are the opposite gender, joining teams that are the opposite of their real gender. This has primarily resulted in men playing on women’s teams, which overwhelmingly results in the transgender athlete far surpassing the actual women on the team.
Representative Griffey released a statement on the matter, saying that “We are seeing more and more transgender athletes competing and posting victories in traditionally gendered sports competitions, and doing so to the detriment of girls and women biologically born female.”