The Maryland State House in Annapolis, Md. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
A Maryland House of Delegates committee on Thursday killed a bill that would have barred 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. More than a dozen other Republican lawmakers co-sponsored the measure.
The House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday held a hearing on HB 47. State Dels. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) and Kris Fair (D-Frederick County), who are both gay, are among the committee members who voted to kill the measure.
“Yesterday, my committee heard testimony on the Save Women’s Sports Act to ban transgender children from playing in high school sports,” said Vogel on his X account after the vote.
“Just now I moved unfavorable on the bill and the majority of my colleagues joined me in voting it down,” he added. “The bill is dead.”
The Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee on Feb. 7 is scheduled to hold a hearing on an identical bill, Senate Bill 381, that state Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-Somerset, Worcester and Wicomico Counties) introduced in the Maryland Senate.
The House Ways and Means Committee in 2022 killed the Save Women’s Sports Act that Szeliga introduced during that year’s legislative session.
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