The South Carolina Republican House majority on Tuesday rejected more than 1,000 amendments by Democrats and passed a bill that would block it. Transgender students From playing sports for girls or women in college to public school.
The Democrats’ delaying strategy was largely symbolic, but it closed the vote for several hours before the bill passed 82-28 on Tuesday evening. The bill was just a routine step away from going to the South Carolina Senate for consideration. That chamber is also dominated by Republicans.
If passed and legislated, the bill would force South Carolina to join a few more conservative states. Transgender students To compete with the sex listed in their birth certificate.
Between the four large boxes of corrections and a tornado warning that emptied the chamber, the debate dragged on for about eight hours. But the Republican House majority passed the bill at 9:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Related A dozen states There is Already passed Similar LawAnd Transgender athletes Intermediate propaganda has become a problem in states like Pennsylvania. But Republicans are not in the lockstep, with GOP governors Indiana And Utah veto Prohibition in their state.
Jeffrey Collins / AP
Republican Speaker J. Lucas on Tuesday threw out about 600 amendment proposals, saying they were almost identical to small changes, such as changing the name of a school in each proposal.
Following these rulings, Democrats have come down even further, with the author of most of the changes saying that postponing the House for a few hours was a victory.
“Today we’ve seen many of my colleagues stand up for people who often don’t have a voice,” said John King, a Democrat from Rock Hill.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. An amendment has been passed that would create a girls’ wrestling team in high school.
Bill’s sponsor, Ashley Trantham, took to the stage just before the vote, thanking people in South Carolina who fought for two years to get the bill passed. It failed in a House committee in 2021.
“It’s because of your actions that South Carolina is one step closer to preserving women’s sports,” said a Republican from Pelzer.
Jeffrey Collins / AP
The South Carolina High School League says a transgender athlete can play on a case-by-case basis for any team and has heard fewer than five requests. Molly Spearman, the elected Republican superintendent of education, also opposes the proposal.
Democrats say Republicans should be ashamed to isolate people who are already behaving badly in most parts of society.
“Leave these transgender kids alone. Less than 1% of them, “said Rep. Crystal Matthews is a Democrat from Ladson
Before Tuesday’s debate began, Democrats submitted four full boxes of amendments to amend the bill – approximately 1,000 -. Republicans immediately introduced a rule limiting the debate to just three minutes on each amendment. If Democrats could take their full time and ask for a two-minute long vote, the debate could escalate over the weekend.
Some Democrat amendments would make significant changes to the bill, such as allowing a public high school to opt out of a requirement, or requiring women to have the same number of assistant coaches or facilities as men’s teams in sports.
Others will do things like naming the “United States Act discrimination capital” proposal or naming individual schools or allowing school bands to play only in women’s sports events.
The debate was delayed for about an hour after the House chambers were evacuated for a tornado alert for Colombia.
A similar bill made it to the Senate floor but was not debated. The showdown came as the bill faced a deadline this week that would require at least one chamber to pass or a two-thirds vote to consider.
Of the 43 Democrats in the House, at least a dozen have talked about amendments. When their time was up, Lucas suddenly interrupted them.
Correspondent Annie McDaniel was talking about mental health problems and statistics on suicide rates among transgender youth when Lucas called her “Mrs.” McDaniel, your revision is over. “
“Okay,” said a Democrat from Winsboro. “I’ll be back to finish telling you about this.”
