Bill that would keep men out of women's sports advances in Wyoming legislature
The bill would require student athletes at the University of Wyoming and state community colleges to compete on the basis of their respective 'biological sex.'
On Thursday, Senate File 44, also known as the 'Fairness in sports-intercollegiate athletics' act, was introduced in the state House after a third reading of the bill passed the state Senate by a vote of 27-3.
A bill has been introduced in the Wyoming state legislature that would require student athletes at the University of Wyoming and state community colleges to compete on the basis of their respective “biological sex.”
On Thursday, Senate File 44, also known as the “Fairness in sports-intercollegiate athletics” act, was introduced in the state House after a third reading of the bill passed the state Senate by a vote of 27-3.
If enacted, the bill would prevent Wyoming colleges from allowing student athletes to compete in athletic events that are “designated for the sex opposite to the student’s sex.”
A birth certificate or other government-issued I.D. that specifies the sex of an individual at birth is required to determine one’s official sex.
The legislation would specifically bar colleges from allowing a “male student to compete in an athletic competition that is mixed‑sex in a position that is designated by rule or procedure for female students.”
Under the proposal, female student athletes would be allowed to compete in men’s sports “if a corresponding athletic competition designated for female students is not offered or available.”
“It just protects those female, biological female, athletes — not only with the safety issues, but just the fairness issues,” state senator and bill sponsor Wendy Schuler said of the legislation, as reported by The Laramie Reporter.
“We just need to make sure that our biological female athletes have every opportunity to compete on a level playing field where they’re safe, where it’s fair, and we just need to safeguard the integrity of women’s sports,” she added.
This is not the only bill being considered by the state legislature that pertains to transgender-identifying athletes, as noted by Wyoming Public Radio.
State lawmakers are also considering H.B. 60, which focuses on “amending student eligibility requirements in interscholastic activities,” as well as H.B. 274, which considers “amending the prohibition on students of the male sex from competing on a team designated for students of the female sex to include institutions of higher education.”