Dive Brief:
- House Republicans signaled last week that one of their top legislative priorities will be passing a bill that would restrict transgender students’ participation in sports.
- House lawmakers last week outlined 12 priority pieces of legislation for the Republican-controlled chamber, including the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. The bill would amend Title IX to prohibit federally funded colleges or K-12 schools from allowing transgender girls and women to participate on sports teams aligning with their gender identity.
- Rep. Greg Steube, a Republican from Florida, reintroduced the bill Friday with the backing of 56 other GOP lawmakers. Lawmakers plan to consider the proposed legislation on the House floor in the “coming weeks,” according to a recent announcement from House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Dive Insight:
Steube has been attempting to pass the anti-transgender proposal for several years. In 2023, House lawmakers passed the bill, 219-203, but Senate lawmakers never voted on companion legislation in their chamber.
GOP lawmakers may have an easier time passing the proposal now that they have control of the presidency, the Senate and the House. “Republicans have promised to protect women’s sports, and under President Trump’s leadership, we will fulfill this promise,” Steube said in a Friday statement.
The bill’s text says it doesn’t prohibit institutions from “permitting males to train or practice” with women’s teams so long as “no female is deprived of a roster spot” or other athletic benefits.
President-elect Donald Trump has expressed support for such a measure, vowing during campaign rallies that his administration would keep “men out of women’s sports,” PBS reported. He has also promised to undo the Biden administration’s widely contested Title IX rule, which provides protections for LGBTQI+ students but has been blocked in at least 26 states.
The Biden administration had also proposed a separate Title IX rule on athletics that would have prohibited blanket bans on transgender athletes participating on teams aligning with their gender identities. However, the administration withdrew the proposal in late December, citing numerous legal challenges over athletic eligibility under Title IX.
Opponents of Steube’s bill have argued that it would create barriers for transgender students, who already face heightened risk of experiencing violence and mental health issues.
In 2023, when House Republicans passed the measure, California Democrat Mark Takano said the bill would make “school sports less fair by singling out and banning transgender women and girls as young as kindergarten from participating on school sports teams with their friends,” NBC News reported.
“We know transgender students already face widespread bullying and discrimination,” Takano said at the time. “Adding to their pain by targeting their participation in school sports is both wrong and dangerous.”
