After much contention, the Florida House on Wednesday has officially passed the bill that would exclude transgender females from competing in girls' and women's sports.
In a 77-70 vote for its passage, HB 1475, dubbed as the Fairness in Women's Sports Act, would only recognize a female student's biological sex instead of gender identity as requirement for admission on girls' or women's sports team, Breitbart reported.
The legislation states the intent is "to maintain opportunities for female athletes to demonstrate their skill, strength, and athletic abilities" and "to promote sex equality by requiring the designation of separate sex-specific athletic teams or sports."
An allowance for "a dispute regarding a student's sex" was provided in the bill with a proposed resolution. The school or institution will ask the student to "provide a health examination and consent form or other statement signed by the student's personal health care provider which must verify the student's biological sex."
Bill sponsor Florida Rep. Kaylee Tuck (R) clarified that the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act" does not prohibit trans students' participation on sports and athletic teams but that "they play based on their biological gender." She avowed that the purpose of the bill is to "strictly to preserve the safety, integrity, fairness, and competitiveness of women's sports."
Other GOP legislators backed her on Wednesday including Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka (R) who was reportedly a former tennis player and coach.
"This is about giving women and girls an equal chance to succeed. It's simple, it's clear. I've reviewed it," she said.
Those opposing the bill argued that it would only encourage more stigma and potential bullying in school against trans students.
House Democrat and Orlando Rep. Anna Eskamani questions the bid for the preservation of fairness in women's sports as contended by Rep. Tuck. She pinned the supporting statements for the passage of the bill as more of an attack on LGBTQ rights than a genuine concern for female athletes.
"I don't care how many times you tell yourself this is about women's sports and not LGBTQ rights or discrimination, because that is wrong," she said.
Other Democrat representatives also tried to use NCAA's statement on Monday about holding championship events "only on locations where hosts can commit to providing an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination," as leverage to push back against the passage of the bill.
Additionally, the statement said that NCAA's "approach" for transwomen to compete is to have them undergo a "testosterone suppression treatment."
Rep. James Bush, D-Miami, differed in his stance and was the only Democrat to vote in favor of the Women's Act.
"I stand today not as a Democrat, not as a Republican," he declared. "I stand today as a concerned parent of two former college football players."
Bush had also reportedly said that he was once a coach and teacher.
Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando), who is an openly gay lawmaker, told reporters prior to the Wednesday vote that the bill is "purely political, and it plays on the fears and the ignorance about the transgender community in order to score partisan points."
Other states that have also passed similar laws maintaining women's and girls' sports exclusively for biological females are Idaho, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
