Ron Johnson reintroduces bill to ban transgender student-athletes from participating in school sports

Sen. Ron Johnson has re-signed a Republican bill that would ban transgender students from competing on sports teams that do not match their birth gender.

Senate Democrats blocked the bill last year. But with Republicans in control of Congress and the White House, LGBTQ+ advocacy groups are gearing up for a new battle in the fight for transgender rights.

Johnson is leading the Republican Senate to reintroduce the Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would amend Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sexual discrimination in K-12 schools and colleges that receive federal funding. He is one of 28 members of the Diet.

Johnson’s office said in a statement that the bill is a response to Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration’s decision to “put a wrecking ball on Title IX.”

Johnson’s office said the Republican bill filed Tuesday would treat a student’s gender as “recognized solely based on an individual’s reproductive biology, genetics, and birth.” The bill would also prohibit schools receiving federal funding from having sports programs that “allow men to participate in women’s sporting events.”

This refers to the U.S. Department of Education’s April 2024 update to Title IX regulations to include gender identity and expression in the definition of sex-based discrimination. This revised version did not include language regarding student athletics.

The Biden administration has proposed rule changes that would allow schools to restrict transgender students’ participation in school sports while making blanket bans on transgender athletes a violation of Title IX. This proposed rule was repealed on December 20th.

Johnson’s office did not respond to WPR’s request for comment on this story.

Johnson and 28 other Republican senators first introduced the bill in March 2023, but Democrats, who held the Senate majority at the time, referred the bill to a committee at the end of the 118th Congress. The bill was scrapped.

LGBTQ+ advocates say targeting trans students is about politics, not protecting girls

Abigail Swetz is the executive director of Fair Wisconsin, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization. She said WPR Johnson’s bill and political attack ads focused on trans students are not about protecting women, but rather about scoring political points.

“Politicians are playing a really bad game with a small portion of the population,” Swetz said. “And I think the idea of ​​forcing someone to not belong based on their desire to belong is really dangerous.”

Brian Jukems is the senior director of policy and education at GSAFE, another LGBTQ+ youth advocacy organization. He said schools and the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association are already addressing the issue of transgender athletes.

“They’ve been working on this issue for years, but this seems to be an example of Johnson wanting big government to be deeply involved in local control issues,” Jukems said.

Political battles lead to lawsuits and school board divisions

For years, the issue of transgender children and student athletes has been a political lightning rod. It has become a major focus of Republican campaign advertising in the presidential and congressional races leading up to the November election.

At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last summer, Johnson referenced transgender student-athletes and accused Democrats of pushing a “fringe agenda” that he called a “clear and present danger to America.” .

An ESPN investigation found that since 2020, 23 states have enacted laws restricting transgender athletes from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

Last year, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a bill by Republican state legislators that would have prohibited students born biologically male from playing on girls’ sports teams in K-12 schools. It accused them of perpetuating “hateful and discriminatory speech.” In response, Rep. Barb Dietrich (R-Oconomowoc) called it a “misogynistic veto” and claimed Evers is “again opposing women.”

Biden’s changes to Title IX were scheduled to take effect in August 2024, but a federal judge in Kansas issued an injunction that applies to Kansas, Alaska and Wyoming, blocking Biden’s changes. Schools attended by members of conservative groups that are suing for the same were also targeted.

Several Wisconsin school boards, including the Kettle Moraine, Marton, Elmbrook, Menomonee Falls and Winneconne school boards, will hold off on adopting federal Title IX changes amid a federal injunction. or decided to exclude language regarding gender identity. As a result, GSAFE and Fair Wisconsin filed at least five federal Title IX complaints against Wisconsin schools.

The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents also suspended work on updating Title IX regulations last year, citing a federal injunction.