March 2021 — Timeline — Standing Record

Mar 26

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

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 228 into law on March 26, 2021, enacting Public Chapter No. 40 and requiring that a student's eligibility for public middle and high school interscholastic athletics be determined by the sex indicated on the student's original birth certificate. The law exempted kindergarten through grade 4, took effect immediately for the 2021-2022 school year, and barred transgender students from competing on teams consistent with their gender identity.

Discriminatory policy

Mar 25

Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson signed SB354, barring transgender athletes from girls' and women's school sports

On March 25, 2021, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed SB354, the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act," into law as Act 461 of 2021. The law limits K-12 and college athletic teams designated for females to students whose biological sex is female, barring transgender girls and women from competing on those teams, and creates a private cause of action for a student or school harmed by a violation. Sponsored by Sen. Missy Irvin and Rep. Jim Barker, the bill passed the Arkansas Senate on March 10, 2021, and the House on March 22, 2021, before reaching Hutchinson's desk.

Discriminatory policy

Mar 11

Mississippi Gov. Reeves signed SB 2536 banning transgender students from women's and girls' school sports

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed SB 2536, the "Mississippi Fairness Act," on March 11, 2021, barring transgender students from competing on women's and girls' sports teams at the state's public K-12 schools and universities. The bill designates those teams as not "open to students of the male sex" without establishing how sex is determined or how eligibility disputes are resolved. It was the first anti- transgender law enacted in the United States that year.