HB1229 - Elementary & secondary schools & higher educational institutions; student participation in sports.

1 Co-Sponsor

Elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education; student participation in sports; access to restrooms and changing rooms. Requires each interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a public school, or any other school that is a member of the Virginia High School League, or by a public institution of higher education to be expressly designated as one of the following based on biological sex: (i) males, men, or boys; (ii) females, women, or girls; or (iii) coed or mixed if participation on such team or sport is open to both males, men, or boys and females, women, or girls. The bill prohibits any such team or sport that is expressly designated for females, women, or girls from being open to students whose biological sex is male. The bill creates a civil cause of action for any student that suffers harm as a result of a knowing violation of a provision of the bill by a school or institution or as a result of the student's reporting a violation of a provision of the bill by a school, institution, athletic association, or organization. The bill also limits access to any restroom or changing room that is capable of being accessed by more than one individual at one time in any public elementary or secondary school building or building owned or controlled by any public institution of higher education exclusively to individuals of the same biological sex.