WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House voted Tuesday to pass a bill that would ban transgender women and girls from participating in women’s and girls’ school sports.
The bill, called the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” mainly transmitted along partisan lines, with 218 votes for and 206 against the ban. Only two Democrats, Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar of Texas, voted in favor of the bill while one Democrat, Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina, voted present.
The bill would be amend Title IX to recognize gender “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” according to its text. Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on sex and gender in schools.
Any school that violates the law could lose its federal funding.
“Quite simply, men should not participate in women’s sports. End of story,” Rep. Rudy Yakym, R-Ind., said after voting for the bill. “And as a father of two, we need to protect our daughters who play sports from men who play their sport and dominate them in a sporting competition.”
“What does the average American congressman know about this? »
Democrats spoke out against the bill, saying it was simply a political talking point.
“This is simply a disgusting bill,” said Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla. “I think it just shows people that they spent this whole election saying, ‘Oh, we’re going to fight for workers, we’re going to fix the economy.’ We’re, you know, we’re two, three weeks in, and we still haven’t seen any of this.
Rep. John Larson, Democrat of Connecticut, said that while there are arguments to be made on the issue, the place to make it is not Congress.
“That is why there is a separation of powers and states, and local governments and agencies are better equipped to make this decision based on input from the community, the state and various regulatory agencies . What does the average American congressman know about this, other than the very gripping and emotional decision itself? he said.
The bill faces an uphill climb in the Senate, where seven Democrats must join Republicans to advance the bill to a final vote. President Joe Biden is not expected to sign the bill.
But Yakym said he was confident the bill would be adopted by the upper house.
“I mean, this is something the American people spoke out loud about during the election cycle,” he said. “And we all want to be united.”