South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed a bill Thursday barring transgender female athletes from participating in girls’ or women’s school sports.
Senate Bill 46 follows Noem’s 2021 executive order requiring transgender athletes to compete on teams that align with their biological sex.
“This bill’s about fairness,” she said during a news conference after signing the bill. “It’s about allowing biological females… to compete fairly on a level playing field that gives them opportunities for success”.
According to Fox News, “Noem positioned her signing of the bill as a defense of Title IX, federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in school and education programs on the basis of sex”.
Last month, Noem said, “Title IX fought for that years and years ago and I’ve been doing this for years, which started, man, almost five years ago now in the sport of rodeo, where we protected girls’ events”.
“Every young woman deserves an equal playing field where she can achieve success, but common sense tells us that males have an unfair physical advantage over females in athletic competition,” Noem said in regards to the legislation.
“Women have fought long and hard for equal athletic opportunities, and South Dakota will defend them,” she added.
“Only female athletes, based on their biological sex, shall participate in any team, sport, or athletic event designated as being for females, women, or girls,” the bill reads.
Individual athletes will also be allowed to file lawsuits against schools or institutions that fail to comply with the new standards. The bill says the state attorney general “shall provide legal representation at no cost to that entity or individual” who files a lawsuit.