South Carolina Gov. McMaster signed H4608, barring transgender athletes from school sports teams
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed H4608, the "Save Women's Sports Act," into law on May 16, 2022, after it passed the House 70-33 and the Senate 30-10. The law requires K-12 and public postsecondary athletic teams to be designated by sex at birth, barring transgender women and girls from competing on female-designated teams.
Actors
On May 16, 2022, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed H4608, the "Save Women's Sports Act," into law as Act No. 193, R218, after it passed the House 70-33 and the Senate 30-10. The law requires K-12 and public postsecondary school athletic teams to be designated by "biological sex at birth," bars transgender women and girls from competing on female-designated teams, and conditions school-district funding of interscholastic athletic associations on those associations imposing the same sex-at-birth restriction on wrestling teams.
Updates
2026-06-30 — SCOTUS ruling on other states' bans reinforced South Carolina's law [3, 4]
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that West Virginia's and Idaho's transgender-athlete sports bans do not violate the Constitution or Title IX, a decision that left South Carolina's H4608 intact and is expected to reinforce similar laws in roughly two dozen other states. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who had joined an amicus brief in the underlying cases, said he had "strongly supported the Save Women's Sports law in South Carolina" and called the ruling "a landmark" for it.
Why we recorded this
Sports-eligibility rules are one of the ways governments single out transgender people for exclusion from ordinary school life based solely on gender identity. South Carolina's Save Women's Sports Act requires K-12 and public college athletic teams to be assigned by sex at birth, barring transgender women and girls from the team matching their gender identity, and conditions school-district funding of athletic associations on those associations adopting the same restriction for wrestling.
Sources
- 2021-2022 Bill 4608: Save Women's Sports Act — South Carolina Legislature Online primary accessed July 18, 2026
- Gov. McMaster signs transgender sports bill into law — WIS-TV secondary accessed July 18, 2026
- Alan Wilson statement on Supreme Court transgender-athletics ruling — Office of the South Carolina Attorney General (Alan Wilson) primary accessed July 18, 2026
- US Supreme Court upholds state bans on transgender athletes in girls' sports, leaving SC law intact — The Post and Courier secondary accessed July 18, 2026
See also
- South Carolina enacted FY2022-23 budget Proviso 23.4, barring MUSC from using state funds for gender-affirming care for transgender minors under 16
- South Carolina Gov. McMaster signed H4624 banning gender-affirming care for minors and requiring schools to out trans students
- South Carolina enacted a budget proviso barring transgender K-12 students from restrooms matching their gender identity
- South Carolina enacted a budget proviso barring state funds for gender-affirming care for transgender youth under 16 at MUSC
- South Carolina enacted a law barring transgender students from school restrooms matching their gender identity
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