An Alabama House representative filed a bill to limit transgender students playing sports in public colleges and universities.
House Bill 261 would allow students "deprived of an athletic opportunity or suffers direct or indirect harm" from violations of the law to bring lawsuits.
The legislation is the latest in a string of bills from Alabama Republicans involving transgender youth. In the past two years, the Legislature has approved laws banning transgender athletes from competing in high school sports that align with their sex and banning transgender medical procedures for children.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, said Thursday that the bill is about "protecting women in sports."
"This has nothing to do with transgender students," she said. "This is a bill that protects women in sports."
Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, a leading opponent of previous bills targeting transgender youth, called the bill, filed Wednesday, a "solution in search of a problem."
"This kind of boogey-man, straw-man stuff, it's not even a real issue here in the state when we just have so much more, more pressing issues right now," he said Thursday.
(READ MORE: US would bar full ban on trans athletes but allow exceptions)
Rafferty said he thinks the bills last year were not solving problems, either.
"It's just baffling that we're still trying to pick on this vulnerable group of folks while we have real issues that are affecting everyone," he said.
Harleigh Walker, a 16-year-old transgender girl living in Auburn, agreed. Walker said she feels that people are painting an inaccurate picture of transgender athletes having an advantage over cisgender athletes.
"And it's not like I have this huge, you know, buildup of testosterone," Walker said. "It's not like, you know, I'm trying to, you know, get into girls' sports just so I can have an advantage."
Studies have found few transgender individuals competing in high school or college sports.
An analysis by The 74, a nonprofit news organization covering U.S. education issues, found that participation in girls' sports has actually increased in recent years despite concerns about transgender athletes. According to Inside Higher Ed, 32 transgender students have openly competed in college sports across the country. There are about 480,000 athletes competing in the NCAA.
DuBose said the bill is a preventative measure, and she does not know of any athletes in Alabama who would be affected by the bill if it becomes law.
The Biden administration announced Thursday plans to advance a rule that would protect the participation of transgender athletes in some sports. Under Biden's rule, a school would have to show a particular need to place restrictions on specific sports or grades and show that it was taking steps to reduce harms to those affected.
Walker said it's an "unproductive bill." She said Alabama has high rates of poverty and low scores in education, but lawmakers are focusing on transgender people.
"And I just think it's just repetitive at this point," she said. "And we're not solving anything."
Republican leadership in both chambers said Thursday they support the bill.
"I heard this morning that women's rights folks are coming out now, and I wondered where they had been, you know, because of the transgenders being involved in women's sports," said Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville. "It's just not right."
Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, R-Jasper, said he believed the Legislature had made its feelings clear.
"I think the issue on the topic of boys competing in boys' sports and girls competing in girls' sports has been answered by this legislature without question," Reed said. "That's how we feel about that issue, period."
Beyond the Alabama statehouse, there have been arguments that transgender women have impact on women's sports. The World Athletics Council also restricted transgender athletes in international competition. Science reports that there is no definitive data that transgender women have advantages in playing sports.
Walker said the bill would require her to compete with boys, which would be uncomfortable for everyone.
"If I wanted to compete in any sport, whatsoever, I would have to compete with the boys, and as a female-presenting individual, you know how awkward that is for me as a person and for all the other people on the team," she said.
Under the bill, transgender men would be restricted to play in women's sports, and transgender women would be restricted to men's teams, regardless of medical transition.
"So, this bill is all about protecting women," she said. "And protecting women in sports and protecting their opportunities."
(READ MORE: Georgia law will ban most transgender surgeries, hormone replacement for kids under 18)
Walker said bills like this are contributing to her desire to leave Alabama when she's an adult.
"I have nowhere to go but extremely, extremely far away," she said. "I have to leave everything I've grown up behind."
Read more at AlabamaReflector.com.