Bill > HB2565

This bill establishes guidelines for student participation in athletic competitions based on biological sex, defining athletics as interscholastic games, contests, and activities, and sex as the biological categories of male and female determined by reproductive biology and genome at birth. The bill declares a public policy aimed at ensuring athletic opportunities for females to remedy past sex-based discrimination. It prohibits students from competing in athletics designated for the biological sex opposite to their birth certificate, with an exception allowing females to compete in male-designated competitions if no corresponding female competition exists. The bill requires birth certificate sex designations to be entered at or near birth or corrected for scrivener's errors. Schools that violate these guidelines will lose state funding, and students deprived of athletic opportunities can seek legal remedies including injunctive relief and attorney's fees. The state's education departments are tasked with creating implementation rules while ensuring student medical information confidentiality. The bill includes provisions to invalidate the entire section if any part is found unconstitutional and removes a previous expiration date, suggesting these rules are intended to be permanent.

https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB2565&year=2026&code=R