In a latest attempt to target transgender rights, the Republican-controlled House has passed a bill that would prohibit transgender women and girls from participating in female school athletics. The bill, titled the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act and authored by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., would amend Title IX, which was created in 1972 to protect women’s sports and promote gender equality in athletics, to disallow schools receiving federal funding from allowing “people whose sex is male” to compete in sports designated for females.
The bill passed with a vote of 219-203, but is expected to not progress in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Moreover, President Joe Biden has already stated that he would veto the measure, citing that the bill targets people for who they are and is therefore discriminatory.
Republicans have been intensifying their political attacks on transgender athletes since University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who had competed on the men’s swim team, became the first transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship. More than a dozen GOP-led states have since enacted bans on transgender athletes, and Republicans have also been pushing for state laws to restrict gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
Democrats have accused Republicans of targeting transgender people to build their political brand and raise money from conservative donors, and they argue that Steube’s bill would make life even harder for individuals who already face bullying, depression, and thoughts of suicide. Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., a leader of the Equality Caucus, which advocates for LGBTQ rights on Capitol Hill, said that the bill “makes school sports less fair by singling out and banning transgender women and girls as young as kindergarten from participating on school sports teams with their friends.”
The Biden administration has proposed new regulations this month that would prohibit categorical bans on trans athletes at schools receiving federal funding but allow some restrictions at more elite levels of competition, taking into account differences in age, grade, and level of competition. The Education Department expects that “elementary school students would generally be able to participate on school sports teams consistent with their gender identity where considerations may be different for competitive high school and college teams.”
As the country grapples with issues surrounding transgender rights, the debate over transgender participation in sports is becoming increasingly contentious, with both sides arguing that their perspective is the most equitable. However, it remains to be seen whether the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act or any similar legislation will ever become law.