Bill Text: TX SB15 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to requiring public institution of higher education students who compete in intercollegiate athletic competitions to compete based on biological sex.
Sponsorship: Broadly Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2023-06-18 - Effective on 9/1/23 [SB15 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB15-Enrolled.html
| S.B. No. 15 | ||
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| relating to requiring public institution of higher education | ||
| students who compete in intercollegiate athletic competitions to | ||
| compete based on biological sex. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Save Women's Sports | ||
| Act. | ||
| SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Section 51.980 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 51.980. INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC COMPETITION BASED ON | ||
| BIOLOGICAL SEX. (a) In this section: | ||
| (1) "Athletic competition" means any athletic display | ||
| between teams or individuals, such as a contest, exhibition, | ||
| performance, or sport. | ||
| (2) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning | ||
| assigned by Section 61.003. | ||
| (b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an | ||
| intercollegiate athletic team sponsored or authorized by an | ||
| institution of higher education may not allow: | ||
| (1) a student to compete on the team in an | ||
| intercollegiate athletic competition sponsored or authorized by | ||
| the institution that is designated for the biological sex opposite | ||
| to the student's biological sex; or | ||
| (2) a male student to compete on the team in a | ||
| mixed-sex intercollegiate athletic competition sponsored or | ||
| authorized by the institution in a position that is designated by | ||
| rule or procedure for female students. | ||
| (c) An intercollegiate athletic team described by | ||
| Subsection (b) may allow a female student to compete in an | ||
| intercollegiate athletic competition that is designated for male | ||
| students if a corresponding intercollegiate athletic competition | ||
| designated for female students is not offered or available. | ||
| (d) For purposes of this section: | ||
| (1) a student's biological sex is the biological sex | ||
| correctly stated on: | ||
| (A) the student's official birth certificate, as | ||
| described by Subdivision (2); or | ||
| (B) if the student's official birth certificate | ||
| described by Paragraph (A) is unobtainable, another government | ||
| record that accurately states the student's biological sex; and | ||
| (2) a statement of a student's biological sex on the | ||
| student's official birth certificate is considered to have | ||
| correctly stated the student's biological sex only if the statement | ||
| was: | ||
| (A) entered at or near the time of the student's | ||
| birth; or | ||
| (B) modified to correct a scrivener or clerical | ||
| error in the student's biological sex. | ||
| (e) An institution of higher education or an | ||
| intercollegiate athletic team described by Subsection (b) may not | ||
| retaliate against a person for reporting a violation of this | ||
| section. | ||
| (f) A person may bring a civil action for injunctive relief | ||
| against an institution of higher education or an intercollegiate | ||
| athletic team described by Subsection (b) that violates this | ||
| section. | ||
| (g) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall | ||
| adopt rules to implement this section. The rules must ensure | ||
| compliance with state and federal law regarding the confidentiality | ||
| of student medical information, including Chapter 181, Health and | ||
| Safety Code, and the Health Insurance Portability and | ||
| Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. Section 1320d et seq.). | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act applies to any intercollegiate athletic | ||
| competition sponsored or authorized by a public institution of | ||
| higher education that occurs on or after the effective date of this | ||
| Act. | ||
| SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
| a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
| provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
| Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
| Act takes effect September 1, 2023. | ||
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| I hereby certify that S.B. No. 15 passed the Senate on | ||
| March 29, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 19, Nays 10, | ||
| two present not voting; and that the Senate concurred in House | ||
| amendment on May 26, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 19, | ||
| Nays 12. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| I hereby certify that S.B. No. 15 passed the House, with | ||
| amendment, on May 18, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 95, | ||
| Nays 50, three present not voting. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
| Approved: | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Date | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Governor | ||
