Kristi Noem drafts bill banning trans athletes in female sports amid Lia Thomas backlash

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"Only female athletes, based on their biological sex, may participate in any team, sport, or athletic event designated as being for females, women, or girls," the bill reads. "This is about fairness," Noem said in a statement. "Every young woman deserves an equal playing field where she can achieve success, but common sense tells us that males have an unfair physical advantage over females in athletic competition. It is for those reasons that only girls should be competing in girls' sports. Women have fought long and hard for equal athletic opportunities, and South Dakota will defend them, but we have to do it in a smart way," she added.   

Noem's bill came after the House failed to override her veto of Bill 1217 that would have made trans women and girls' participation in school sports illegal. She faced quite the backlash from her Republican peers when she vetoed the bill earlier this year, explaining that she feared the bill wouldn't withstand legal challenges and that she had plans for a stronger bill. "This legislation does not have the problematic provisions that were included in last year's House Bill 1217," Noem said. "Those flawed provisions would have led to litigation for our state, as well as for the families of young South Dakota athletes – male and female alike."

Noem's draft proposal excludes the HB1217 requirement that athletes provide a written statement verifying they haven't taken any performance-enhancing drugs. It also eliminates an "onerous paperwork requirement" for parents to report on their ward's gender. "Given HB 1217's problematic provisions, there was a higher risk of the entire bill being enjoined if South Dakota were to be sued by the NCAA. If that had happened, no girls in South Dakota would have been protected (at K-12 or collegiate level)," Noem's spokesman Ian Fury told Fox News in a statement. "Now that other states have linked arms, as Governor Noem urged at the time, she is excited to protect girls' sports at both the K-12 and collegiate level, just as she's done with her executive orders."

After vetoing HB1217, Noem signed two executive orders aimed at preventing trans athletes from taking part in school and college sports in South Dakota. The orders reportedly cited Title IX which was created to bolster opportunities and benefits for women in sports that equal those of men. Meanwhile, the orders also point to the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which provides for equal protection under the law for all citizens. They argue that current policies, including the NCAA regulations for trans athletes, potentially "threaten to diminish opportunities for women."