Virginia Lawmaker Introduces Transgender Athlete Ban

A Virginia lawmaker has unveiled a bill designed to prevent transgender athletes from dominating girls' and women's sports.

It's a piece of common-sense legislation in the eyes of most rational folks, but it'll still no doubt be cause for heated debate.

The bill was proposed by Virginia State Delegate Karen Greenhalgh who represents the state's 85th District, which includes Virginia Beach.

H.B. 1387, as it's known, requires that sports be categorized based on biological sex at both schools and universities. It also stipulates that those teams be categorized as male, female, or co-ed teams.

Additionally, the Washington Post reported that the bill will also prohibit public schools from competing against private schools that do not follow these guidelines.

The bill would apply not just to interscholastic or intercollegiate teams, but also club and intramural programs.

Student-athletes would be required to submit a form that verifies their biological sex. These forms would need to be signed by a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant.

Additionally, the proposed law would create a "civil cause of action" for any student who suffers harm from a "knowing violation" of the bill.

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas's success competing against women — despite being biologically male — brought a lot of attention to the issue. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Virginia's Bill Focuses on Protecting Women's Sports

Transgender athletes competing in sports based on their gender identity as opposed to their biological sex has been an increasingly hot-button topic. The most notable instance in recent years is University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas.

Thomas, a transgender woman, competed in the NCAA against women. While there, the Penn swimmer broke records and was even nominated for the NCAA's "Woman of the Year" award.

This created a lot of frustration from competitors as well as discomfort in the locker room.

Earlier this year, the World swimming organization voted to ban biological men from competing against women.

This isn't the first time Virginia has taken steps toward directing schools on how to handle transgender athletes.

Governor Glenn Youngkin's administration released guidelines on how schools should require students to use bathrooms, and locker rooms, and play on teams according to their biological sex.

There were student walkouts in opposition to those guidelines and some cities made it clear that they wouldn't follow them.

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