PIERRE — A bill to require transgender students to participate in South Dakota high school athletics based on their sex at birth rather than their gender identity was killed by a Senate committee on Thursday.

The Senate Education Committee passed in a 5-2 vote moving Senate Bill 49 to the 41st legislative day, effectively killing the bill on Thursday morning, after an hour of testimony. If it had passed, the bill would have voided the South Dakota High School Activities Association's policy, adopted in 2015, that allows transgender students to participate on sports teams that reflect their gender identities rather than the sex listed on their birth certificate.

The 2015 policy was created after the Legislature told SDHSAA to create a standard because schools were requesting it. The policy meets South Dakota's standards and the needs of South Dakotans, said Sen. Troy Heinert, D-Mission.

"It's not like we have kids showing up to school in a dress one day saying, 'I want to be on the basketball team.' That is not how this works. Our policy makes sure that everyone is protected, including the trans kids," Heinert said. "It's our job to give them the best life that we can and if playing a sport adds to their enrichment, why would we stand in the way?"

Sen. Blake Curd, R-Sioux Falls, said it's concerning when they try to boil down a complex issue into a state statute. There's room for refinement in the SDHSAA policy, he said, but he opposed the bill because of its exclusionary nature.

Sen. Phil Jensen, R-Rapid City, said he didn't consider the bill discriminatory.

"This is not a bathroom bill. This is a fairness in competition bill ... and I personally bristle at the thought of some groups' attempts to intimidate and bully those of us that are attempting to protect and preserve the gains that young women have made in this country," Jensen said.

The SDHSAA "made a serious error and are intent on preserving that error" when it adopted its policy in 2015 because it elevates the importance of a student's gender identity over the importance of fair competition, said bill author Sen. Jim Bolin, R-Canton. He added that the current policy allows children who are born male to compete in girls sports. He also pointed out that the students can use the policy beginning in seventh grade.

"A person could claim this status at the age of 12 or 13 ... have it validated and have five or six years of competition with no restraint on unfair advantage," he said. "If the current procedure remains in place, I'm convinced that at some time in the future, we will have those who are chromosomally male winning events and championships in sports designated for girls."

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SDHSAA Executive Director Dan Swartos opposed the bill, saying that the job of schools and the association is to serve all South Dakota students and the policy allows them to do that.

"While not explicitly stated, this is a ban on transgender participation in our sponsored activities," Swartos said. "I think it's important to note that this bill will not eliminate students who identify as transgender from our schools. Those kids will still be in our schools and our schools will still be faced with the question of how to handle this issue."

A small number of South Dakota students have used the policy since it was adopted in 2015, and none have placed in top positions in state competitions, thus it hasn't given any students an unfair advantage since it was adopted, according to Swartos.

The bill doesn't address whether students currently using the policy would be grandfathered in and doesn't include instructions for South Dakota schools under federal Indian Education jurisdiction because it would create a conflict between state and federal laws, he said.

Susan, a Sioux Falls mother of a transgender son who declined to give her last name to protect her son's identity, said she felt relieved after the committee declined to support the bill. She said in her testimony that the bill could cause harm by singling out transgender children.

"(My son) still has a couple more years before high school, but as a mom, I want him to have the opportunity to do so," she said.

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Numerous school and business groups, including the Sioux Falls School District and Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce, testified against the legislation, saying it's discriminatory and could cause businesses to move out of state, as well as open school districts up to lawsuits. Business groups pointed to the impact businesses have felt after other states adopted regulations on transgender bathroom bills.

In defense of his bill, Bolin reiterated that his bill is about fairness in high school sports competition and not about locker rooms or shower rooms, nor is it an issue that should be left to local control.

Vaughan Hennen, a Madison school staffer reading a statement from Madison LGBTQ students, said the bill hurts LBGTQ students who are already disproportionately disciplined in schools, have lower graduation rates and grades, and are victims of harassment and violence.

"Show the youth of our state that, like a majority of our peers, you have no problem with our identity," Hennen read.

Several groups stood in support of the bill, agreeing with Bolin that the policy creates unfair advantages for students. The standard of fairness in high school sports is "broken" when a student of one sex is allowed to compete against the other sex because it creates unfair advantages and exclusion in sports, said Norman Woods, executive director of Family Heritage Alliance. Florence Thompson, a lobbyist for South Dakota Parents Involved in Education, said the bill was necessary to protect girls from injuries and unfair competition.

"So many years have been spent getting girls to an equal status in sports so that they could compete," Thompson said. "We're in the process of tearing down all of that progress that's been made."