Rep. Cole Hefner, R-Mount Pleasant, told the committee that his bill also is a safety measure, designed to protect girls from "biological males" who can have larger bodies, denser bones and stronger muscles, particularly in contact sports.
"The safety aspect is common sense," Hefner said. "I mean, we can look around the room and that's common sense. And it's science, and there are experts here that can speak to that. But how many girls, biological girls, that have worked their whole life to get that scholarship?"
He said the bill would codify school athletics rules by basing gender determination by each student's original birth certificate — though girls would continue to be allowed to compete in boys sports if a comparable girls team is not available.