House passes ban on transgender students in girls sports
washington — The House passed a Republican measure Tuesday that would ban transgender girls and women from participating in school sports teams consistent with their gender identity, after Republicans focused on the issue during the 2024 campaign.
this billThe bill, known as the “Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act,” would amend Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in schools, to recognize that a person’s “sex” is “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” . ” Schools that allow “persons of the gender assigned to be male to participate in sports or activities designated for females or girls” could lose federal funding.
The bill passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 218 in favor, 206 against, and 1 present. Two Democrats joined all Republicans in supporting the bill. One Democrat voted to be present.
“The vast majority of Americans believe that men don’t belong in women’s sports, and we have to let common sense prevail,” Florida Republican Rep. Greg Staub, who sponsored the bill, said during floor debate before the vote.
About 3% of high school students identify as transgender, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. polling recent years found lack of support for transgender athletes to participate in sports teams that match their gender identity, and approx. half of the states Limit participation of transgender athletes.
House Republicans passed the bill in 2023 without Democratic support. The Senate, then controlled by Democrats, did not accept the proposal. House Republicans have vowed to prioritize the issue again this year after Republican campaigns spent tens of millions of dollars last year on ads depicting the issue as a threat to girls and women in sports. A similar measure was reintroduced in the Republican-controlled Senate.
During the live debate, Republicans argued that these athletes have biological advantages that are unfair and unsafe for other girls and women. Democrats opposed to the measure said it opened the door to invasive genital exams on girls.
“We’ve seen examples of harassment and questioning of girls who may not fit into stereotypical female roles,” said Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore.
But some moderate Democrats have expressed some concerns about this issue, especially after the Democrats lost the 2024 election. One of those Democrats was Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, who voted against the ban when it came up for debate in 2023 but has since Questioning his party’s message About transgender rights.
“Democrats spend too much time trying not to offend anyone instead of being brutally honest about the challenges that many Americans face,” Moulton Tell New York Times. “I have two little girls and I don’t want them to be run over on the sports field by men or former male athletes, but as a Democrat I should be afraid to say that.”
