Bill Aiming To Ban Transgender Girls From Competitive Sports Passes In The Senate

The Save Women's Sports Bill (SB-2) passed in the Senate Thursday morning.  

The Bill also passed on party lines out of the House as HB 4245 on Wednesday.  

Related: Bill Seeking To Ban Transgender Girls From Competitive Sports Passes House 

The bill would prevent transgender girls from playing on female sports teams at Oklahoma schools. 

One argument discussed was the biological differences between women and men and whether there is evidence that men had a physical advantage.  

During the debate on the Senate floor, Sen. Julia Kirt (OKC-D) asked, "What is the evidence for categorical dominance by men?"  

Sen. Julie Daniels' (Bartlesville - R) argument focused on the idea that this bill's intention is to make sure biological female athletes don't have opportunities taken away from them.  

"Male and female is a biological reality, men have physical advantages over women," Daniels said. "This is not something I need to explain, this is something known to everyone." 

The bill passed 37-7.  

Cindy Nguyen, policy director at ACLU Oklahoma says this came as a surprise to her. 

"Last year the senate refused to hear it and this bill was just reintroduced this morning, it was actually a carryover bill," Nguyen said. "No one expected it to move as quickly as it did."  

A similar bill was introduced last year, it was passed out of the House, but stalled in the Senate.  

Governor Stitt has 5 days to decide whether to sign the bill into law. 

To view the Senate debate click here.