House Republicans pass ban on transgender athletes competing with women, girls

Despite the fact that the bill has no chance of being approved by the Senate and is threatened with a veto from the president, members of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives voted on Thursday to pass historic federal legislation that would prohibit transgender athletes from competing on school sports teams with women and girls. This was a political messaging priority for the Republican Party.

After the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act” was approved by a vote of 219-203 along party lines, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy praised the legislation outside of the Capitol building.

McCarthy stated that “today is a great day for the United States of America, as well as a great day for girls and women, and for fairness in sports.” “Prior to the most recent election, Republicans in the House of Representatives vowed their commitment to the participation of American women and girls in sports. Today, we decided to keep that,” he went on to say.

The measure would redefine the definition of sex in Title IX to one that is “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” Following its failure to get out of committee during the previous two sessions of Congress, during which the Democrats controlled the House, Representative Greg Steube of Florida, a Republican, proposed the proposal in February.