House Republicans voted Tuesday to prohibit biological males from participating in girls’ and women’s scholastic sports, taking prompt action on one of President-elect Donald Trump’s priority issues despite a wall of Democratic opposition.
The House voted 218-206 to approve H.R. 28, which would amend Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments to ban institutions that receive federal funding from allowing “a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designed for women or girls.”
Two Democrats voted with the Republican majority, while one voted “present.”
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain said afterward that keeping male-born athletes who identify as female out of girls’ and women’s sports should hardly require an act of Congress.
“The fact Congress had to enact legislation to keep men out of young girls’ locker rooms is insane,” said the Michigan Republican in a statement. “For fifty years, we fought for women’s rights, and I will not let Democrats destroy that progress on my watch.”
The vote marked the second time the Republican-controlled House has passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. The bill won approval on a party-line vote in 2023, but died in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Republicans now hold a slim 52-47 majority in the Senate, but would need 60 votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster and send the legislation to Mr. Trump once he assumes the presidency on Jan. 20.
During Tuesday’s floor debate, Rep. Greg Steube, the bill’s sponsor, referred to polls showing that a majority of Americans “believe that men don’t belong in women’s sports, and that we must allow common sense to prevail.”
“My bill will deliver upon the mandate the American people gave Congress to restore the integrity of women’s sports, just as Title IX intended,” the Florida Republican said. “Now is our time to act.”
House Democrats fiercely contested the GOP-authored legislation, calling it a discriminatory bill that would hurt transgender students and put girls and women at risk of invasive examinations to prove their sex.
“It allows adults — not medical professionals, just random adults — to demand to inspect your child’s genitals without parental consent,” said Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts Democrat. “To the members of Congress who support this legislation: You are putting the safety of children across this nation at risk, and why? Because you want to vilify and harm trans kids.”
Democrats underscored their argument with a sign on the House floor labeling the bill as the “GOP Child Predator Empowerment Act.”
The legislation says that “sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” but nothing about exams.
Rep. Tim Walberg, Michigan Republican, forcefully repudiated the allegations, saying that biological sex would be determined by a student’s birth certificate.
“I’m shocked. I’m shocked at that description of this legislation, and would ask where in the world that information is found in this bill,” Mr. Walberg said. “There is no requirement for inspections, and there’s no necessary effort other than going to a person’s birth certificate.”
Democrats also argued that the bill represents a problem in search of a solution, citing the National Collegiate Athletics Association, which recently said it has 510,000 athletes but fewer than 10 of them are transgender.
“The rare cases Republicans cite are outliers, not evidence of a systemic issue,” said Rep. Jerry Nadler, New York Democrat.
Republicans did cite a number of examples, including North Carolina high school volleyball player Payton McNabb, who sustained a concussion in 2022 after being hit in the head with a ball spiked by a male-born competitor.
Hundreds of female collegiate swimmers competed against or shared locker rooms with Lia Thomas, the male-to-female athlete who won an NCAA women’s swimming title in 2022.
Republicans brought to the floor a poster showing two of those female swimmers: Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlon, who have asked why nobody ever protected them from being exposed to a fully intact male in their locker rooms as they undressed.
“I ask the same of the Democrat colleagues: Why aren’t they willing to protect the women and the girls from this invasion of privacy?” asked Mr. Walberg.
Twenty-seven states now have laws or regulations barring male-born students from competing in female sports based on gender identity in K-12 or collegiate sports, or both.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.