Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) is seeking to prevent his state from losing federal funding for defining the term "sex" as based on biological anatomy, anticipating trouble from the Biden administration on the issue of transgender rights.
In April, Tennessee passed legislation that defined sex as a "person's immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth and evidence of a person's biological sex," a measure meant to prohibit interpreting the term sex to refer to gender identity.
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Before the law's passage, the state's Fiscal Review Committee warned the legislature that defining sex on a biological basis could jeopardize nearly $2 billion through federal grant programs.
"I’ve had enough of federal government overreach from this administration," Green told the Washington Examiner. "It’s time to be proactive and ensure that President Biden can’t hold federal funds hostage if state governments don’t bow to his radical progressive agenda."
Tennessee could lose $1.3 billion of federal education funding and $750,000 of federal grants dedicated to helping women and children.
Green's new bill is similar to one he proposed in June, intended to protect states with abortion bans from losing federal funding under Title X, which covers birth control, pregnancy testing, and cancer screenings for low-income state residents.
"My bill will protect states that define men and women according to their biological sex from being targeted by out-of-control and overreaching federal agencies," Green said. "The Biden administration has already weaponized Title X funding against states that choose to promote life instead of abortion, and it is laying the groundwork to punish states that choose the commonsense definition of ‘sex.’"
Green's bill explicitly prevents the federal government from withholding or revoking funds from states that define sex as a characteristic "as determined by the anatomy or genetics of the individual at the time of birth."
Tennessee has one of the strictest bans on gender transition medicine for minors in the United States, blocking access to puberty blockers and hormone therapies as well as invasive surgeries.
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Earlier this month, attorneys for Tennessean teenagers and their guardians called on the Supreme Court to weigh in on the ban after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled in Sept. that the gender transition medicine bans in Tennessee and Kentucky were constitutional.
"Tennesseans won’t be intimidated by President Biden, and neither should other states," Green said.