For the third year in a row, lawmakers in Missouri are attempting to indefinitely bar transgender athletes from playing for sports teams that align with their gender identity.
The House voted 98-37 Thursday to remove the 2027 sunset from the current ban, which applies to private, public and charter schools for all competitions through the collegiate level.
Bill sponsor Rep. Brian Seitz, R-Branson, said the issue is a matter of fairness for women in sports.
"Inclusion should not come at the expense of competitive equality for women," Seitz said during floor debate earlier this week.
Seitz cited the National Collegiate Athletic Association's policy-change last year that allows transgender athletes to practice with, but not compete for, women's teams. The NCAA's move came one day after President Trump signed an executive order to restrict girls' and women's sports to people who were assigned as female at birth.
"To date, 26 (other) states have enacted policies to protect equal athletic opportunities for women and girls," Seitz said. "And here, all we're doing is removing a sunset from Missouri statute."
In a compromise with Democrats, the sunset was added by the Senate when the ban was initially approved in 2023.
Seitz also pointed to a 2022 St. Louis University/YouGov poll indicating that 65% of Missourians disapprove of transgender athletes playing for their preferred teams.
Democrats who spoke against the legislation said the issue affects few people in the state and the House should be focused on other issues, such as funding for education or sex abuse by coaches.
In 2024, NCAA president Charlie Baker testified before the U.S. Senate that there were less than 10 openly transgender people out of more than 500,000 athletes in the organization.
In 2022, the Missouri State High School Activities Association had approved 12 transgender students for competition since 2012, according to the Missouri Independent.
Rep. Wick Thomas, D-Kansas City, who is transgender, said the legislation has been used to denigrate women.
"I have heard women and girls called weak or inferior by the sponsors of this bill more times this week than there were ever trans kids in the state of Missouri who wanted to play sports with their friends," Thomas said Thursday.
The bill could invite scrutiny of young girls' bodies, Thomas and other Democrats added.
Rep. Mark Boyko, D-Kirkwood, said his daughter has competed against a transgender athlete, and he initially felt it was unfair.
"I watched my daughter play against a trans woman who was stronger and bigger than she was," Boyko said. "And yet, when the match ended, their smiles were equally large, their fist bumps were equally genuine."
Boyko said MSHSAA's mission is to promote citizenship and community rather than the best athlete.
"If you ever have me pick between my own daughter getting yet another medal…and somebody else's daughter finding a place where she can smile and fist bump and feel like she belongs – a feeling that lasts a lifetime – I know what I'll choose," Boyko said.
Earlier this month, the House passed a similar bill to remove the sunset from the ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
HB 1663 now joins that legislation in the Senate, where controversial topics have been frequently tabled this session due to Democratic filibusters.
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