Following the footsteps of Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Dakota, legislators from North Carolina have introduced a bill urging women the liberty not to compete with biological males in sports.
FaithWire reported that North Carolina has introduced the Save Women's Sports Act on Monday so that "women are not forced to compete against men playing on women's sports teams".
The Save Women's Sports Act or House Bill 358, according to the North Carolina General Assembly website, is primarily sponsored by four legislators: Representatives Mark Brody, Pat McElraft, Diane Wheatley, and Jimmy Dixon. The bill is also supported by 44 other legislators.
Aimed to "protect the opportunities for women and girls in athletics," the legislators identified in the bill the reasons why women should not be forced to play with biological women--transgender females--in women's sports team. It cited that there are "inherent differences between men and women" that range from "chromosomal and hormonal differences to physiological differences" since "men have 'denser, stronger bones tendons, and ligaments'" and "have higher natural levels of testoterone," which enables them to "generate higher speed and power during physical activity."
"The biological differences between females and males, especially as they relate to natural levels of testosterone, 'explain the male and female secondary sex characteristics which develop during puberty and have lifelong effects, including those most important for success in sport: categorically different strength, speed, and endurance'," the bill stressed.
The 5-paged Save Women's Sports Act cited several legal cases on the matter, as well as, recent scientific studies that prove allowing transgender females into women's sports would be to the disadvantage of biological females.
As per FaithWire, North Carolina's lawmakers referenced the December British Journal of Sports Medicine study that discovered biological males still have a great advantage over females in sports despite suppressing their testosterone levels for two years.
"The benefits that natural testosterone provides to male athletes are not diminished through the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. A recent study on the impact of such treatments found that policies like those of the International Olympic Committee that require biological males to undergo at least one year of testosterone suppression before competing in women's sports do not create a level playing field," the bill said.
In similar news, The Guardian reported in December that "Trans women retain 12% edge in tests two years after transitioning" based on the same study of the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The study also showed that "trans women performed 31% more push-ups and 15% more sit-ups in one minute on average than a biological women younger than 30 in the air force--and ran 1.5 miles 21% faster" before starting treatment for their hormones or testosterone levels and retained a 12% advantage after two years of hormone treatment.
The a recent update on the study was tweeted last February 12 by the British Journal of Sports Medicine and stated that "transwomen still retained an advantage in run times on the mile and a half run compared to the average time for ciswomen 2 ½ years after starting medical transition."
