South Carolina Rep. Trantham Files New Discriminatory Bill Restricting Transgender Students from School Athletics

The policy has been rejected twice in the past month – but a new identical anti-transgender bill, H.4153, has been proposed and will be heard by the House Special Laws subcommittee on Thursday, April 8. 

Tomorrow at 9:00am, the South Carolina Special Laws Subcommittee will consider H.4153, a bill that would prohibit transgender youth in middle and high school from participating in student athletics. The bill is nearly identical to measures that have already been rejected twice in the 2021 legislative session – first on March 16 when the House Judiciary Committee tabled H.3477 and then shortly after when lawmakers tried to include the bill through the South Carolina budget. 

South Carolinians are only permitted to testify on the bill in person on Thursday, April 8. 

SC United for Justice & Equality, a coalition of more than 30 organizations committed to LGBTQ equality in SC, is working against the bill. 

Ivy Hill (they/them pronouns), a leader in the SC United for Justice & Equality coalition, condemned the last-minute push today. Hill is also the Executive Director of Gender Benders and the Community Health Program Director of the Campaign for Southern Equality. They said:

“This latest effort to sneak anti-transgender proposals into law in South Carolina is abhorrent: Twice already, leaders in Columbia have rejected this bill, an ugly attempt to target transgender kids, and it’s well past time for us to move beyond this manufactured problem. Rep. Trantham and other anti-transgender politicians think that we won’t notice their desperate last-ditch attempts to endanger trans youth – but our powerful grassroots movement of LGBTQ advocates and allies in South Carolina is here and ready to fight. No one needs to be saved from transgender youth – but transgender youth and basic human dignity need to be saved from divisive representatives like Rep. Trantham and this shameful proposal.”

The South Carolina High School League already has a reasonable policy in place to protect transgender youth while ensuring a level playing field and a safe, friendly environment. The policy is working and has bipartisan support, including the support of Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman, who urged lawmakers to reject H.3477.

Other anti-transgender bills are pending in South Carolina. In March, lawmakers introduced H.4047, which would prohibit transgender people under the age of 18 from receiving essential medical care and create a school climate where they are unable to be themselves. The bill would make it a felony for medical professionals to provide transition-related care to transgender minors. Conviction could result in up to a 20-year prison sentence for the medical provider.

Learn more at www.SouthCarolinaUnited.org/Trans-Athletes