HB 1205 - AS INTRODUCED
2024 SESSION
24-2414
09/10
HOUSE BILL 1205
AN ACT relative to women's school sports.
SPONSORS: Rep. Andrus, Merr. 5; Rep. L. Turcotte, Straf. 4; Rep. Colcombe, Hills. 30; Rep. Ouellet, Coos 3; Rep. Sellers, Graf. 18; Rep. K. Perez, Rock. 16; Rep. Wood, Merr. 13; Rep. Moffett, Merr. 4; Rep. Seidel, Hills. 29; Sen. Gannon, Dist 23; Sen. Ward, Dist 8; Sen. Pearl, Dist 17
COMMITTEE: Education
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ANALYSIS
This bill requires schools to designate athletics by sex and prohibits biological males from participating in female athletics. This bill further creates various causes of action based on violations of the provisions in the bill.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24-2414
09/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to women's school sports.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Short Title. This bill may be known and cited as the “fairness in women's sports act.”
2 New Section; School Athletics. Amend RSA 193 by inserting after section 40 the following new section:
193:41 School Athletics.
I. For purposes of this section:
(a) “School” means any of the following:
(1) A school that provides instruction in any combination of kindergarten programs;
(2) A public elementary or secondary school grades one through 12, maintained and operated by a school district;
(3) A nonpublic school offering any of the grades kindergarten through 12;
(4) A public two-year or four-year institution of higher learning.
(b) “Student” means an individual enrolled at a school.
(c) “Biological sex” means an individual’s physical form as a male or female based solely on the individual’s reproductive biology and genetics (chromosomes) at birth.
(d) “Female” means an individual whose biological sex determined at birth is female. As used in this section, “women” or “girls” refers to biological females.
(e) “Male” means an individual whose biological sex determined at birth is male. As used in this section, “men” or “boys” refers to biological males.
II. An interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a school must be expressly designated as one of the following based on the biological sex at birth of the intended participants:
(a) “Males”, “men”, or “boys”;
(b) “Females”, “women”, or “girls”; or
(c) “Coed” or “mixed”.
III. An athletic team or sport designated for “females”, “women”, or “girls” shall not be open to students of the male sex where selection for such teams is based upon competitive skill or the activity involved is a contact sport.
IV. Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict the eligibility of any student to participate in interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic teams or sports designated as “males”, “men”, or “boys” or designated as “coed” or “mixed”, except that selection for a team may still be based on those who try out and possess the requisite skill to make the team.
V. A private school or a private institution sponsoring an athletic team or sport in which its students or teams compete against a public school or institution must also comply with this section for the applicable team or sport.
VI. For purposes of this section, the sex of a student for the purpose of determining eligibility to participate in an athletic activity or sport shall be determined by the student’s biological sex on the student’s official birth certificate or certificate issued upon adoption, and is considered to have correctly stated the student’s biological sex only if the certificate was:
(a) Issued at or near the time of the student’s birth; or
(b) Modified to correct any type of scrivener or clerical error in the student’s biological sex.
VII. A government entity, a licensing or accrediting organization, or an athletic association or organization shall not entertain a complaint, open an investigation, or take any other adverse action against a school for maintaining separate interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic teams or sports for students of the female sex.
VIII. Any student aggrieved by a violation of this section may bring an action against a school district, state institution of higher education, or private school or institution alleged to be responsible for the alleged violation. The aggrieved student may seek injunctive relief and actual damages, as well as reasonable attorney’s fee and court costs, if the student substantially prevails.
IX. In any private action brought pursuant to this section, the identity of a minor student shall remain private and anonymous.
X. A school that suffers direct or indirect harm as a result of a violation of this chapter has a private cause of action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other relief available under law against the government entity, licensing or accrediting organization, or athletic association or organization.
XI. A civil action must be initiated within 2 years after the harm occurred. A person that prevails on a claim brought pursuant to this section is entitled to monetary damages, including damages for any psychological, emotional, or physical harm suffered, reasonable attorney's fees and costs, and any other appropriate relief.
3 Severability. If a provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are severable.