What will this bill do?

• Requires an intercollegiate or intramural athletic team or sport sponsored by a school to be expressly designated as one of the following based on the sex of the intended participants:

  • “Males", "men", or "boys";

  • “Females", "women", or "girls"; or

  • "Coed" or "mixed".

• Prohibits an athletic team or sport designated for "females", "women", or "girls" from being open to students of the male sex.

• Prohibits a government entity, a licensing or accrediting organization, or an athletic association or organization from entertaining a complaint, opening an investigation, or taking any other adverse action against an institution for maintaining separate intercollegiate or intramural athletic teams or sports for students of the female sex.

• Prohibits the state, a political subdivision, or an entity that receives public funding from the state or from a political subdivision from using an athletic facility, stadium, field, structure, or other property owned by or under the control of the state, political subdivision, or entity for an athletic event conducted exclusively for males or exclusively for females in which an individual of the opposite sex who is under eighteen years of age or who is enrolled in high school is allowed to participate.
  

Read the bill.
See also House Bill 1249.

Why is this bill needed?

• Male athletes are bigger, stronger, faster, possess better hand-eye coordination, and are more spatially aware than their female counterparts, all of which clearly give men the advantage.  Women are put in a considerably vulnerable position when made to compete against males, especially in a contact sport as women are more likely to be injured when colliding with a man verses another woman.  Males even have the advantage after one year of gender-affirming hormone therapy.  A study by the British Journal of Medicine showed that trans-women (males) still had a 9% faster average run speed after the one year period of testosterone suppression that is recommended by World Athletics for inclusion in women’s events. 

• Trans athletes are currently in the minority, but as transgenderism ideology becomes more mainstream, there will be more and more males who will want to compete in women’s sports.  If we do not pass legislation to protect women’s sports, the scholarships, awards, and opportunities that sports provide will once again be dominated by men and boys. Female athletes across the country are losing medals, records, and opportunities to males who are pretending to be women. It’s time to protect women and girls in North Dakota from being forced to compete against males.

What is the current status of the bill?

HB 1489 passed both chambers and was signed into law by Governor Burgum on April 11th, 2023.