The House of Representatives approves the bill to veto trans women from competing in women's school sports

By Scott Wong -

The House of Representatives, controlled by the majority of the Republican Party, approved a bill on Thursday that prohibits transgender women and girls from competing in girls' school sports.

The norm does not have the approval of the Senate.

The bill, authored by Republican Rep. Greg Steube (Fla.), would amend Title IX to bar schools receiving federal funding from allowing people “whose sex is male” to participate in sports designated for women or girls.

[Fear among the trans community due to the focus of the Nashville shooting on gender identity: “We are terrified,” they lament]

The text was approved by 219 votes in favor and 203 against, but it will not survive in the Senate, where the Democrats have control.

The White House has also said that President Joe Biden would veto the measure, which "addresses people for who they are and is therefore discriminatory," if it came to his table.

The Law for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sport defines sex as "based solely on a person's reproductive biology and genetics at birth."

“Congress created Title IX in 1972 to protect women's sports, so that women would have a level playing field in athletics, and in worship of their trans idols, the [Biden] Administration wants to turn that around.

She is crazy,” Steube declared in a speech delivered on Wednesday.

"Parents don't want biological men in the locker room with their daughters, nor do they think it's fair for a boy to compete with women in women's track and field," she said.

Representative Greg Steube, R-Fla., at a Committee on Oversight and Reform business meeting in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2019. Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call via AP

Democrats have accused Republicans of going after transgender people to bolster their political brand and raise funds from conservative donors.

And they argue that Steube's bill would target and make life more difficult for people already struggling with bullying, depression and suicidal thoughts.

The bill "makes school sports less fair by targeting and barring transgender women and girls as young as kindergarten from participating in school sports teams with their friends," said Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., leader of the Equality Caucus, which advocates for LGBTQ rights on Capitol Hill.

[A trans girl will be able to participate in the girls' school team after a decision by the Supreme Court]

“We know that transgender students already face widespread bullying and discrimination,” he said Wednesday.

"Increasing their pain by targeting their participation in school sports is both wrong and dangerous."

Republicans stepped up their political attacks on transgender athletes after University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who had competed on the men's swim team, switched to the women's swim team after coming out as a transgender woman and becoming the first woman transgender to win a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) swimming championship.

Since then, more than a dozen GOP-led states have enacted bans against transgender athletes.

Republicans have also pushed for state laws to restrict gender-affirming care to transgender minors.

Record of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in state legislatures so far in 2023

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The Biden administration intervened this month by proposing a new rule that would prohibit outright bans on transgender athletes at centers that receive federal funding, but would allow some restrictions at the most elite levels of competition.

The summary of the proposal says that the rules must take into account the differences of age, grade and level of competition.

The Department of Education "expects that [...] elementary school students will generally be able to participate in school sports teams consistent with their gender identity, while considerations may be different for competitive high school and college teams," says the Department of Education. summary.