NASHVILLE, TENN. — Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Wednesday advocated for banning transgender girls from playing on middle and high school sports teams, saying transgender athletes will “destroy women’s sports.”
“I do believe that transgenders participating in women’s sports will destroy women’s sports,” Lee, who is up for reelection next year, told reporters. “It will ruin the opportunity for girls to earn scholarships. It will put a glass ceiling back over women that hasn’t been there in some time. I think it’s bad for women and for women’s sports.”
Lee’s comments come as Tennessee Republicans began advancing a proposal this week requiring student athletes to prove that the student’s sex matches the student’s “original” birth certificate in order to participate in public school sports.