House Republicans pass bill banning transgender girls from participating in women’s sports

Republicans in the US House of Representatives passed legislation that would restrict the participation of transgender girls from participating in school sports in the gender with which they identify.

The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023 passed on an exclusively party-line vote with 219 Republicans voting for it and 203 Democrats voting against the legislation.

The bill would make it a violation for any organisation that “operates, sponsors, or facilitates athletic programs or activities” and receives federal dollars to allow a person who is assigned male at birth to participate in an athletic program designated for girls. It would also recognise eligibility “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

The legislation comes as similar bills have proliferated in state legislatures that Republicans control. Republicans have also made transgender females’ participation in women’s sports a hallmark of campaign ads and former president Donald Trump has also focused on the subject in his campaign speeches.

The White House released a statement earlier this week saying that it would oppose such legislation.

“Politicians should not dictate a one-size-fits-all requirement that forces coaches to remove kids from their teams,” the Biden administration said. “At a time when transgender youth already face a nationwide mental health crisis, with half of transgender youth in a recent survey saying they have seriously considered suicide, a national law that further stigmatizes these children is completely unnecessary, hurts families and students, and would only put students at greater risk.”’

Recently, the Biden administration proposed its own rules that would prohibit outright bans on transgender athletes participating in sports that align with the gender with which they identify. But the proposal would also allow schools to implement rules that determine the eligibility criteria that could include some restrictions against transgender athletes, specifically citing “fairness in competition” and “competitive high school and college athletic environments.”

Multiple LGBT+ rights groups denounced the legislation.

“Rather than focus their energy on doing literally anything to improve the lives of children, House Republicans have prioritized attacking transgender youth purely as a political ploy,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said in a statement. “They know this bill will not become law because President Biden has already signaled his intention to veto it, so this is purely a waste of time at the expense of an already marginalized population.”

Casey Pick, director of law and policy at the Trevor Project, also denounced the bill.

“We can protect the progress women have made in sports and promote fairness, while also fostering the inclusion of transgender women and girls,” she said in a statement. “As our nation continues to face a mental health crisis and an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ state laws, our elected officials in Congress should focus their time and our taxpayer dollars on making our schools safe and mental health care more accessible — not pushing trans young people further to the sidelines.”

The bill is unlikely to pass in the Democratic-controlled Senate.