(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
A Maryland House of Delegates committee on Wednesday is scheduled to hold a hearing on a bill that would bar transgender children from joining school sports teams consistent with their gender identity.
State Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County) introduced House Bill 47, which is also called the Fairness in Girls’ Sports Act. State Dels. Lauren Arikan (R-Harford County), Brian Chisholm (R-Anne Arundel County), Mark Fisher (R-Calvert County), Robin Grammer, Jr. (R-Baltimore County), Thomas Hutchinson (R-Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot and Wicomico Counties), Nicholaus Kipke (R-Anne Arundel County), Robert Long (R-Baltimore County), Nino Mangione (R-Baltimore County), Susan McComas (R-Harford County), April Miller (R-Frederick County), Matthew Morgan (R-St. Mary’s County), Todd Morgan (R-Calvert and St. Mary’s Counties), Rachel Munoz (R-Anne Arundel County), Ryan Nawrocki (R-Baltimore County), Stuart Michael Schmidt, Jr. (R-Anne Arundel County) and Chris Tomlinson (R-Frederick and Carroll Counties) have co-sponsored the measure.
The House Ways and Means Committee will consider it.
“Policies with regard to participation in sports are easy to create; there should be no special allowances or rules for gender identity,” said Szeliga in a statement, according to WJLA. “Bodies play sports, not identities.”
“As a society, we can celebrate the differences of individuals but hold bodies accountable in sports,” added the Baltimore County Republican. “The future of every female athlete counts on it.”
The House Ways and Means Committee in 2022 killed the same bill that Szeliga introduced.
Democrats control both houses of the Maryland General Assembly.
Governor Wes Moore, who is also a Democrat, last May signed the Trans Health Equity Act, which requires Maryland’s Medicaid program to cover gender-affirming treatments. The law took effect on Jan. 1.
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