North Carolina Republicans Introduce Bills on Transgender Issues After Supermajority Victory

Rep. Tricia Cotham, 2023. Courtesy of the North Carolina General Assembly

After securing a supermajority in both chambers of the North Carolina legislature, Republican lawmakers wasted no time in introducing legislation regarding transgender student-athletes.

State Republicans introduced a number of bills on April 5. The most noteworthy pertain to contentious issues in the national spotlight: the rights of high school transgender student-athletes to play on the sports team of the gender with which they identify, and the rights of transgender youth to receive the healthcare for the gender they choose.

And State Rep. Tricia Cotham announced that she would be switching party affiliations from Democrat to Republican, giving her new party the supermajority in both state legislative chambers.

The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act and the School Athletic Transparency bill would prohibit individuals who are born male and identify as female from participating in high school athletics. The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act states, “Athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex.”

The School Athletic Transparency Act strengthens the standing of state Republican legislators that, “Sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

The Youth Health Protection Act, which would prohibit transgender youth from receiving puberty blockers or certain surgeries such as a mastectomy or the removal of healthy or non-diseased body parts or tissue, was perhaps the most consequential piece of legislation passed on Wednesday.

According to WRAL, the Senate deadline to file bills for the year is April 6, which adds gravity to the April 5 actions. The deadline for the House is April 25.

Cotham spoke to the reasons that contributed to her decision to switch parties, saying “I will not be bullied,” during an interview on Fox & Friends First on April 6.

“I am a free thinker. I stand firm on that because we do have freedom in this country, and I have the right to free thought unbeknownst to what they actually believe.”

Her faith was another issue, she said, along with “wearing camo.”

“I’m a very strong woman of faith. That is extremely important to me. I display that loudly and proudly, and I’ve prayed several times in our beautiful chamber and had many comments and then things sent around about, ‘Please do not do that,’ ‘Please do not pray to Jesus,’” the state representative said. “I was told that if I wore camo that I was not a good person and a real Democrat. The list really goes on and on.”

“This is when you have extremists take over the party with radical groups that also help to control the party,” Cotham said. “This is what happens.”