TN governor signs transgender sports bill, will require students to prove their sex before playing

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Friday signed a bill into law that will prohibit transgender students from playing on the team of the sex with which they identify, one of numerous such bills currently working their way through statehouses around the country.

Tennessee’s H.B. 3 directs that "a student's gender for purposes of participation in a public middle school or high school interscholastic athletic activity or event must be determined by the student's sex at the time of the student's birth, as indicated on the student's original birth certificate."

The rule effectively bars transgender athletes from selecting a team based on their internal sense of "gender identity."

"I signed the bill to preserve women's athletics and ensure fair competition," Lee said in a tweet following the signing. 

"This legislation responds to damaging federal policies that stand in opposition to the years of progress made under Title IX and I commend members of the General Assembly for their bipartisan work," he added.