House Passes Bill Barring Transgender Athletes From Women’s Sports

Authored by Jackson Richman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The House of Representatives passed a bill on April 20 that would prohibit taxpayer-funded institutions from allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s and girls’ sports in schools.

The vote tally fell along party lines, 219–203.

The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, H.R. 734, introduced by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), would amend Title IX to recognize sex as “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

Title IX protects against sex discrimination in education.

The bill states that “it shall be a violation for a recipient of federal financial assistance who operates, sponsors, or facilitates athletic programs or activities to permit a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls.”

Steube, on the House floor, said his bill is meant to ensure fairness in women’s sports.

“Congress in 1972 created Title IX to protect women’s sports, to enable women to have an equal playing field in athletics, and in worship to their trans idols, the [Biden] administration wants to flip that on its head. It’s insane,” he said.

“Parents do not want biological men in locker rooms with their daughters, nor do they believe it’s equitable a male can compete with women in female athletics.”

Some Democrats, however, described the measure as an attempt at bullying transgender students.

Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) said on the House floor: “This bill is about bullying children. Stop bullying children.”

“House Republicans are choosing to bully and belittle trans children,” said Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.). “This is about attacking a small group of children, and it is shameful.”

The measure comes as the Biden administration has proposed a regulation that would largely prohibit bans on transgender sports participation.

Bill Unlikely to Move Forward

Despite the bill passing the GOP-controlled House, it is likely dead on arrival in the Senate. Even if the Democrat-controlled Senate were to take it up and pass it, the White House has said that President Joe Biden would veto it.

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