NM
New Mexico Senate Bill SB459

New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

New Mexico Senate Bill SB459 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
OldNewDifferences
11 underscored material = new
22 [bracketed material] = delete
33 1
44 2
55 3
66 4
77 5
88 6
99 7
1010 8
1111 9
1212 10
1313 11
1414 12
1515 13
1616 14
1717 15
1818 16
1919 17
2020 18
2121 19
2222 20
2323 21
2424 22
2525 23
2626 24
2727 25
2828 SENATE BILL 459
2929 57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 2025
3030 INTRODUCED BY
3131 Jay C. Block and Nicole Tobiassen
3232 AN ACT
3333 RELATING TO HUMAN RIGHTS; ENACTING THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN'S
3434 SPORTS ACT; PROVIDING DEFINITIONS; REQUIRING EQUAL ATHLETIC
3535 OPPORTUNITIES FOR MALES AND FEMALES; REQUIRING SEPARATE
3636 ATHLETIC OPPORTUNITIES IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; REQUIRING
3737 DESIGNATION OF ATHLETIC TEAMS, SPORTS, ATHLETIC COMPETITIONS
3838 AND ATHLETIC EVENTS AS FOR EITHER SEX SEPARATELY OR AS
3939 COEDUCATIONAL; PROHIBITING MALE PARTICIPATION FOR, AGAINST OR
4040 WITH ATHLETIC TEAMS DESIGNATED FOR FEMALES; ALLOWING MALE
4141 ATHLETES TO PARTICIPATE AS PRACTICE PLAYERS ON TEAMS DESIGNATED
4242 FOR FEMALES IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; PROVIDING PRIVATE CAUSES
4343 OF ACTION.
4444 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
4545 SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--This act may be
4646 cited as the "Protection of Women's Sports Act".
4747 .230852.1 underscored material = new
4848 [bracketed material] = delete
4949 1
5050 2
5151 3
5252 4
5353 5
5454 6
5555 7
5656 8
5757 9
5858 10
5959 11
6060 12
6161 13
6262 14
6363 15
6464 16
6565 17
6666 18
6767 19
6868 20
6969 21
7070 22
7171 23
7272 24
7373 25
7474 SECTION 2. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the
7575 Protection of Women's Sports Act:
7676 A. "athletic association" means a governing body
7777 for athletic competition or sport or an organization of
7878 athletic conferences;
7979 B. "athletic club" means a privately or publicly
8080 operated organization that operates sports teams, trains
8181 athletes for competition or allows athletes or athletic teams
8282 to use its facilities on a regular basis;
8383 C. "athletic event" means a competition, contest,
8484 game, jamboree, scrimmage, tournament, showcase, combine or
8585 tryout related to a sport or physical activity;
8686 D. "boy" means a person who is a juvenile male;
8787 E. "compete" means to participate in an athletic
8888 event or other event after which teams or participants are
8989 designated as winners, roster spots are determined or prizes
9090 awarded;
9191 F. "female" means the organism of the human species
9292 that, from conception, is meant to produce the large
9393 reproductive cell;
9494 G. "gender identity" means a person's internal and
9595 subjective sense of self that is disconnected from biological
9696 reality and sex;
9797 H. "girl" means a person who is a juvenile female;
9898 I. "male" means the organism of the human species
9999 .230852.1
100100 - 2 - underscored material = new
101101 [bracketed material] = delete
102102 1
103103 2
104104 3
105105 4
106106 5
107107 6
108108 7
109109 8
110110 9
111111 10
112112 11
113113 12
114114 13
115115 14
116116 15
117117 16
118118 17
119119 18
120120 19
121121 20
122122 21
123123 22
124124 23
125125 24
126126 25
127127 that, from conception, is meant to produce the small
128128 reproductive cell;
129129 J. "man" means a person who is an adult male;
130130 K. "public educational institution" means a public
131131 school, school district or public post-secondary educational
132132 institution;
133133 L. "sex" means a person's immutable biological
134134 classification as male or female and is not a synonym of or
135135 does not include the concept of gender identity;
136136 M. "team" means a group of people that participate
137137 in athletic or physical competitions for the same organization,
138138 school, club, college, university or cause; and
139139 N. "woman" means a person who is an adult female.
140140 SECTION 3. [NEW MATERIAL] ATHLETIC OPPORTUNITIES--
141141 SEPARATE ATHLETIC TEAMS.--
142142 A. A public educational institution that offers,
143143 operates or sponsors interscholastic or intercollegiate
144144 athletics shall provide equal athletic opportunities for both
145145 sexes.
146146 B. Notwithstanding the requirements of Subsection A
147147 of this section, a public educational institution or private
148148 athletic club located within this state may operate or sponsor
149149 single-sex teams and provide that selection for such teams is
150150 based upon competitive skill or that the activity involved is a
151151 contact sport.
152152 .230852.1
153153 - 3 - underscored material = new
154154 [bracketed material] = delete
155155 1
156156 2
157157 3
158158 4
159159 5
160160 6
161161 7
162162 8
163163 9
164164 10
165165 11
166166 12
167167 13
168168 14
169169 15
170170 16
171171 17
172172 18
173173 19
174174 20
175175 21
176176 22
177177 23
178178 24
179179 25
180180 SECTION 4. [NEW MATERIAL] DESIGNATION OF ATHLETIC
181181 OPPORTUNITIES.--
182182 A. All public educational institutions and athletic
183183 clubs that participate in athletic competitions or events with
184184 or against other institutions or clubs must designate each
185185 athletic team, sport, athletic competition or athletic event as
186186 a:
187187 (1) team, sport, competition or event for
188188 males, men or boys;
189189 (2) team, sport, competition or event for
190190 females, women or girls; or
191191 (3) a coeducational or mixed team, sport,
192192 competition or event.
193193 B. An individual who competes in any sport,
194194 athletic competition or athletic event designated for females,
195195 women or girls must be biologically female. The sex listed on
196196 a participant's birth certificate may be relied on to establish
197197 the participant's eligibility pursuant to this section if the
198198 sex designated on the birth certificate was designated at or
199199 near the time of the participant's birth.
200200 SECTION 5. [NEW MATERIAL] WOMEN'S ATHLETIC COMPETITION
201201 PROTECTIONS.--A public educational institution, an athletic
202202 club or an athletic association that operates, sponsors or
203203 permits athletic competitions or events shall not allow a male
204204 to compete for, against or with a team designated for females,
205205 .230852.1
206206 - 4 - underscored material = new
207207 [bracketed material] = delete
208208 1
209209 2
210210 3
211211 4
212212 5
213213 6
214214 7
215215 8
216216 9
217217 10
218218 11
219219 12
220220 13
221221 14
222222 15
223223 16
224224 17
225225 18
226226 19
227227 20
228228 21
229229 22
230230 23
231231 24
232232 25
233233 women or girls or to compete in an event designated for
234234 females, women or girls.
235235 SECTION 6. [NEW MATERIAL] MALE PRACTICE PLAYERS--
236236 PERMITTED.--Nothing in the Protection of Women's Sports Act
237237 shall prohibit a public educational institution, an athletic
238238 club or an athletic association from allowing male athletes to
239239 participate as practice players on teams designated for
240240 females, women or girls; provided that no such player takes a
241241 roster spot, opportunity to compete, scholarship or spot at the
242242 school from a female.
243243 SECTION 7. [NEW MATERIAL] COMPLIANCE.--
244244 A. A governmental entity, a licensing or
245245 accrediting organization or an athletic association shall not
246246 consider a complaint, open an investigation or take adverse
247247 action against a public educational institution for complying
248248 with the Protection of Women's Sports Act.
249249 B. A licensing or accrediting organization or an
250250 athletic association that receives public money or is otherwise
251251 in contract with the state or a political subdivision of the
252252 state that does not comply with the Protection of Women's
253253 Sports Act shall be subject to revocation of public money,
254254 disqualification from receiving public money in the future or
255255 contract termination.
256256 SECTION 8. [NEW MATERIAL] CAUSE OF ACTION--REMEDIES.--
257257 A. An individual who is deprived of an athletic
258258 .230852.1
259259 - 5 - underscored material = new
260260 [bracketed material] = delete
261261 1
262262 2
263263 3
264264 4
265265 5
266266 6
267267 7
268268 8
269269 9
270270 10
271271 11
272272 12
273273 13
274274 14
275275 15
276276 16
277277 17
278278 18
279279 19
280280 20
281281 21
282282 22
283283 23
284284 24
285285 25
286286 opportunity or who suffers or who will suffer direct or
287287 indirect harm resulting from a violation of the Protection of
288288 Women's Sports Act may bring a private cause of action for
289289 injunctive relief, compensatory damages and legal fees against
290290 the violating entity.
291291 B. A public educational institution, an athletic
292292 association or an athletic club that suffers or will suffer
293293 direct or indirect harm as a result of a violation of the
294294 Protection of Women's Sports Act may bring a private cause of
295295 action against the violating entity for injunctive relief and
296296 compensatory damages.
297297 C. An individual, a team or an athletic club
298298 subjected to retaliation or other adverse action as a result of
299299 reporting a violation of the Protection of Women's Sports Act
300300 to an employee or representative of a public educational
301301 institution, an athletic association or an athletic club or
302302 subjected to retaliation or other adverse action as a result of
303303 reporting a violation of that act to a state or federal
304304 government entity with oversight authority may bring a private
305305 cause of action against the retaliating entity for injunctive
306306 relief, damages and any other relief available under law.
307307 D. An action brought pursuant to this section shall
308308 be commenced within one year of the event giving rise to the
309309 complaint.
310310 - 6 -
311311 .230852.1