Virginia advances bill requiring students to play on teams aligned with their biological sex

The Virginia state House is moving forward with a bill that would require transgender public school athletes to compete on teams that align with their biological sex. 

Virginia Beach Republican Karen Greenhalgh said her bill on student sports is meant "to protect our girls and young women from being forced to compete against biological males," local outlet WTOP reported Monday. "Similarly gifted and trained males will always have the physical advantage over females, which is the reason we have women’s sports."

The legislation cleared the Post-Secondary and Higher Ed subcommittee Monday in a 6-4 vote and will be introduced to the entire subcommittee Wednesday, according to official state records. The bill has 17 sponsors in the GOP-controlled House and three in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

The proposed legislation would require public school students to submit documentation from a medical professional within the past 12 months attesting to their biological sex and that they are fit to compete. 

"We have had transgender youth living in the Commonwealth, and there’s been no takeover of women’s sports," Fairfax Democrat Eileen Filler-Corn, who voted against the bill on Monday, said.

"It’s not how many women are going to have their dreams crushed — it’s that it can happen, and we need to make sure that it doesn’t," Greenhalgh said.