WASHINGTON — The House passed a bill Tuesday that would ban transgender girls and women from competing on school sports teams that match their gender identity, after Republicans seized on the issue during the 2024 campaign. was approved.
The bill, known as the “Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act,” would amend Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in schools, by defining a person’s “sex” as “only based on that person’s reproductive biology and genetics.” It is acknowledged that the birth. Schools that allow “persons of the male gender to participate in athletic programs or activities designated for women or girls” risk losing federal funding.
The bill passed in the House of Representatives with 218 votes in favor, 206 votes against, and one vote present. Two Democrats from Texas, Rep. Henry Cuellar and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, joined all Republicans in supporting the bill. Democratic Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina voted present.
“The overwhelming majority of Americans believe that men should not participate in women’s sports,” Republican Rep. Greg Steube (Florida), who introduced the bill, said in a floor debate before the vote. “I believe that common sense must prevail.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 3% of high school students identify as transgender. Recent polls have found that there is a lack of support for transgender athletes to play on sports teams that match their gender identity, with about half of states restricting their participation.
House Republicans passed the bill in 2023 without support from Democrats. The Senate, which had a Democratic majority at the time, did not take up the issue. House Republicans have vowed to prioritize the issue again this year after Republican campaigns last year spent tens of millions of dollars on ads characterizing the issue as a threat to girls and women in sports. A similar bill was reintroduced in the Republican-controlled Senate.
In floor debate, Republicans argued that these athletes have a biological advantage that would be unfair and unsafe for other girls and women. Democratic lawmakers opposed to the bill argued it would open the door to invasive genital examinations of young girls.
“We’re already seeing examples of harassment and interrogation of girls who may not conform to typical female roles,” said Democratic Rep. Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon.
However, many moderate Democrats have expressed concerns about the issue, especially after the party’s loss in the 2024 election. One such Democrat is Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, who voted against the ban when it came up for a vote in 2023, but has since voted against it. questioned his party’s message About transgender rights.
“Democrats spend too much time trying to avoid offending someone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges facing many Americans,” Moulton told the New York Times. ”, he said. “I have two little girls. I don’t want them to get run over by a man, or a former male athlete, on the field, but as a Democrat I should be scared to say that.”
Moulton voted against the bill, which passed Tuesday.
