1,000 amendments can’t stall SC transgender sports bill

By JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Democrats lined up more than 1,000 amendments in a symbolic attempt to delay a vote on a bill that would ban transgender students from playing girls’ or women’s sports in public schools and colleges. Between the four boxes of amendments and a tornado warning that evacuated the chamber, they stretched Tuesday’s debate for nearly seven hours. But the Republican majority won, passing the bill on an 82-28 vote about 9:15 p.m. The legislation would require athletes to compete with the gender listed on their birth certificates. About a dozen states have already passed similar legislation. The bill needs one more routine approval before heading to the state Senate.