Tennessee Bill Would Require Transgender Student Athletes To Play As Birth Sex

If you're wondering just how big of an issue transgenders in sports has become, take a look at this clip of "Mary Gregory" - a transgender woman who broke 4 world records in women's powerlifting.

Or, watch this short clip of transgender athlete "Hannah Mouncey" towering over her born-female competitors:

It's not just weight-lifting, either.

Last October, "Rachel McKinnon" who was born a male broke the world record for women's track cycling:

Tennessee's bill would seek to combat the unfairness of all this.

But, it's not without its critics.

Transgender Olympic athlete Chris Mosier has condemned the bill on Twitter:

Do you think Tennessee's trans-athletes bill should pass?

CBS News has more details on the bill:

A Tennessee bill that would regulate which teams transgender student-athletes could play on is gaining widespread attention and criticism this week. House Bill 1572, which was introduced by state Representative Bruce Griffey, would penalize schools who don't follow the mandate. 

Under the bill, if any elementary or secondary school willfully or intentionally allows a transgender girl to play on a "girls' team," or a transgender boy to play on a "boy's team" they will be "immediately ineligible to continue to receive public funds of any type from this state or a local government," CBS Nashville affiliate WTVF reports.

Griffey says the bill is not meant to punish or discriminate. It's about fair competitions, he said. However, many critics disagree, including transgender athlete Chris Mosier. 

The Washington Examiner also said:

A representative in Tennessee introduced a bill that would require student-athletes to play on the sports team of the gender they were assigned at birth. 

          

Tennessee House Bill 1572, also called the Girls Athletic Protection Act, would forbid transgender students from playing sports on a team of their choosing by mandating that all athletes play sports based on their sex. School administrators who tried to sidestep the legislation would face fines up to $10,000 if they helped a transgender student try to participate on a different team. 

          

The legislation would "ensure that student-athletes participate in school-sanctioned sports based on the student's biological sex as indicated on certificate issued at time of birth."

          

Republican Rep. Bruce Griffey, the representative from Paris, Tennessee, who introduced the legislation, argued that the bill was necessary to protect female athletes. He told the Tennessee Star, "We are seeing more and more transgender athletes competing and posting victories in traditionally gendered sports competitions and doing so to the detriment of girls and women biologically born female.”

          

He added, “Boys and men, due to testosterone levels, bigger bone structure, greater lung capacity, and larger heart size, have physical advantages in sports relative to girls and women."

Transgender Olympic triathlete Chris Mosier condemned the proposed legislation on Twitter, saying: “Republican lawmaker Bruce Griffey in Tennessee has introduced TN HB 1572, a bill that would prevent trans athletes in schools from playing on teams that match their gender identity. Schools could be fined $10,000 for allowing trans students to play as the correct gender.”