Schools would limit girls’ and women’s teams based on birth sex

Covered schools would label teams and sports as male, female, or mixed and exclude male students from female teams. The rules would cover school and college competition, intramural sports, and clubs sponsored by Pennsylvania public schools, covered public and state-related colleges, or other schools competing against them. Sex would be determined by reproductive anatomy and genetics existing at birth. These rules would not restrict students’ eligibility for teams for their sex or mixed teams. The rules would take effect 60 days after the bill becomes law.

Government bodies, licensing and accrediting groups, and sports organizations would be barred from accepting complaints, investigating, or taking adverse action over separate female teams. The protection would cover schools and colleges maintaining separate female teams in school competition, college competition, intramural sports, or clubs. The protection would apply when the complaint, investigation, or adverse action concerns maintaining separate teams or sports for female students. The protection would take effect 60 days after the bill becomes law.

Students and schools meeting these conditions could seek court orders, money for harm, and other remedies allowed by law. These lawsuits would cover students harmed by team-rule violations or reporting retaliation and schools harmed by violations of their protection. Students could sue their school or college if a known violation of the team rules costs them an athletic opportunity or causes direct or indirect harm. Students could sue schools, colleges, or sports organizations for retaliation after reporting a violation to their staff or a federal or state school oversight agency. Schools and colleges could sue government bodies, licensing and accrediting groups, or sports organizations when a violation of the protection for female teams causes direct or indirect harm. Students could also seek lawyer fees and court costs. These rights would take effect 60 days after the bill becomes law. Lawsuits must be filed no later than two years after the underlying harm occurs.