S 860

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Bill 860
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)
A senate RESOLUTION
TO call on Congress to REAFFIRM TITLE IX'S
PROTECTIONs THAT AFFORD every woman and girl equal opportunities in athletics
and to urge the supreme Court of the United States to uphold THE authority OF
EVERY STATE to ensure women's sports are reserved for females ONLY.
Whereas, with respect
to biological sex, a person is either male or female; and
Whereas, there are
inherent and enduring biological differences between males and females that put
males at a competitive advantage in sports and jeopardize women's safety and
privacy when they have to compete against males; and
Whereas, for more than
fifty years, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. Section
1681, et seq.) has guaranteed that no person shall, on the basis of sex, be
excluded from participation in or denied the benefits of any federally funded education
program; and
Whereas, Title IX's
protections have historically recognized the biological differences between
males and females, including sex-specific athletic teams in educational
institutions to ensure equal opportunities for women and girls; and
Whereas, having
separate sex-specific teams furthers efforts to promote sex equality by
providing opportunities for female athletes to demonstrate their skill,
strength, and athletic abilities while also providing them with opportunities
to obtain recognition, accolades, college scholarships, and the numerous other
long-term benefits that flow from success in athletic endeavors; and
Whereas, allowing males
to compete in women's sports reverses fifty years of advancement for women; and
Whereas, science and
common sense tell us that males generally have bigger bodies, larger hearts and
lungs, denser bones, and stronger muscles than females, giving them a
competitive advantage that cannot be undone with testosterone suppression; and
Whereas, in 2022, a
male named Lia Thomas broke six records at the Ivy League Women's
Championships, won four women's Ivy League championships, and won a women's
NCAA championship in the 500-yard freestyle, beating two former Olympic
medalists; and
Whereas, allowing males
to compete in contact sports creates significant risks of physical harm; and
Whereas, in North
Carolina, seventeen-year-old Payton McNabb suffered partial paralysis after
competing against a male volleyball player who spiked the ball so hard it
caused her severe head and neck injuries; and
Whereas, maintaining
separate female sports teams based on sex promotes the safety of female
athletes by protecting them from predictable and preventable injuries that
could result from forcing girls to compete against male athletes; and
Whereas, allowing men
into female-only spaces, including locker rooms, changing areas, restrooms, and
overnight sleeping accommodations, erases the privacy and safety those spaces
were built to protect; and
Whereas, in West
Virginia, a seventh-grade girl named Adaleia Cross was forced to share a locker
room and compete with a male athlete. That athlete sexually harassed Adaleia in
the girls' locker room and took her spot in a championship track-and-field
event. The distress robbed her of much of her passion for sports; and
Whereas, no person
should have to compromise their dignity or privacy to validate someone else's
subjective perception of their identity; and
Whereas, South Carolina
enacted the Save Women's Sports Act in 2022, joining more than half the country
in protecting fairness in women's sports; and
Whereas, the South
Carolina Senate recognizes and respects the physiological differences between
the two sexes and is committed to protecting fairness in women's sports and
safeguarding women's safety and privacy; and
Whereas, the South
Carolina Senate calls on Congress to enact federal legislation to reaffirm that
Title IX guarantees every woman and girl equal opportunities in athletics and
that allowing males to compete on women's teams or access women's private
spaces violates Title IX; and
Whereas, the South
Carolina Senate urges the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold each
state's authority to ensure the category of women's sports are reserved for
females only and allow states to restore common sense, fairness, and safety in
women's sports by recognizing biological truth. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate:
That the members of the
South Carolina Senate, by this resolution,
call on Congress to reaffirm Title IX's protections that afford every woman and
girl equal opportunities in athletics and urge the Supreme Court of the United States
to uphold the authority of every state to ensure women's sports are reserved
for females only.
Be it further resolved
that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the members of South Carolina's
Congressional delegation and to the Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United
States.
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This web page was last updated on January 28, 2026 at 01:54 PM