Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB 228, requiring K-12 school sports participation be based on sex assigned at birth

On March 26, 2021, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 228 into law as Public Chapter No. 40, requiring that a student's eligibility to participate in public middle school or high school interscholastic athletics be determined by the sex indicated on the student's original birth certificate, with students lacking such a certificate required to provide and pay for other evidence. Kindergarten through fourth grade was exempted; the law took effect immediately, applying to the 2021-2022 school year and each year after, and barred transgender students from playing on school sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

The act was formally assigned as Public Chapter No. 40 of the 112th Tennessee General Assembly on April 6, 2021. It became the foundation for a series of later Tennessee laws restricting transgender students' access to school facilities and athletics, including a 2021 law creating a private right of action against schools over bathroom access and a 2022 law extending a parallel sports ban to public college athletics.

Updates

2024-03-29 — Federal court granted as-applied injunction for a transgender athlete [5]

U.S. District Chief Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. ruled that Tennessee could not enforce the law and a related state athletic-association policy against a transgender teen seeking a spot on his high school boys' golf team, while leaving the law itself in place for other students. The court's mixed summary judgment order granted each side's motion in part on the plaintiff's equal-protection and Title IX claims, and permanently enjoined enforcement of the law as applied to him.