Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked two similar proposals that would have required public school student-athletes — both K-12 and collegiate — to participate on sports teams that align with their birth gender, not with how they identify. The panel also rejected a measure that would have required public schools to out transgender students to their parents.
After sometimes testy exchanges, the Senate Education and Health Subcommittee by a voice vote simultaneously killed Senate Bill 723 , sponsored by Sen. Tammy Brankley Mulchi, R-Mecklenburg County, and SB 68 , which Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg, reintroduced after it failed last year.
Between both proposals, Mulchi’s bill was broader as it applied to transgender students of all ages, from K-12 to higher education, while Peake’s legislation was more narrowly focused, including only high school students in grades nine to 12. Peake’s measure also would have permitted students who had transitioned from male to female before puberty to play on girls’ teams.