Republicans in the Florida Legislature passed a bill Wednesday prohibiting transgender female athletes from playing on female sports teams at public schools, drawing discrimination complaints from Democrats.
Transgender female athletes would be limited to playing coed sports or on teams with male athletes under the legislation, which restricts female teams to individuals identified as female on their birth certificate.
The bill applies to high school and college sports sponsored by public schools, including intramural and club teams.
The controversial legislation appeared to have stalled after it failed to clear a final Senate committee, but it was added as amendment to a charter school bill by House Republicans Wednesday.
The amended bill then cleared the House and Senate after hours of emotional testimony and now heads to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Transgender sports bills have been introduced across the country in recent years, drawing heated debate.
The NCAA has vowed not to hold championship games in states that pass bills viewed as discriminatory against transgender individuals. The NCAA threatening to pull all championships from the state, which could jeopardize a $75 million economic impact.
“The Legislature finds that requiring the designation of separate sex-specific athletic teams or sports is necessary to maintain fairness for women’s athletic opportunities,” the Florida legislation reads.