Florida House Passes Bill to Ban Transgender Athletes from Playing Female Sports
By Space Coast Daily // April 14, 2021
Bill passes with 77-40 vote
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – The Florida House passed “The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” on Wednesday after a 77-40 vote, which will ban transgender athletes from competing in female high school sports and college sports in Florida.
The bill, HB 1475, will make athletes’ participation in events based upon the “biological sex” of the athlete, otherwise known as the sex of the individual assigned on the person’s date of birth.
The vote sets the stage for the House to try to reach an agreement on the issue with the Senate, which has a bill that differs from the House measure.
On Monday, the NCAA released a statement that threatened to pull championship host sites from states that ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s and girls’ sports.
“When determining where championships are held, NCAA policy directs that only locations where hosts can commit to providing an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination should be selected,” the statement reads.
The message was a clear response to the Florida House as it prepared to take up House Bill 1475.
Sen. Rick Scott was not pleased with the NCAA’s threat on Tuesday, calling the threat “woke elitist psychobabble.”
“The NCAA likes to threaten Florida and other states. Well, here’s a threat to the NCAA – the American people are not going to allow biological males to compete in women’s sports. It’s not going to happen,” said Sen. Rick Scott.
“If you keep threatening the public with your woke elitist psychobabble, the NCAA will not last much longer. Florida cannot be replaced, but you can be replaced.”
The vote readies the stage for the House to reach an agreement on the issue with the Senate, which currently has a bill that differs from the House bill.
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