House Passes Bill Banning Transgender Athletes from Women's Sports

The House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday that would prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women's and girls' sports at schools and institutions that receive federal funding. The legislation, which also seeks to amend federal law to define "sex" solely based on a person's reproductive biology and genetics at birth, was approved largely along party lines in a 218-206 vote.

Only two Texas Democrats, Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, voted in favor of the measure. Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., voted present, and no Republicans opposed the bill. The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration.

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., the sponsor of the bill, argued that it is necessary to protect women's sports. "The distinction between men and women is clear and evident, and the erasure of this division has been promulgated by those in the radical left who seek to dismantle the core foundation of our society," Steube stated on the House floor prior to the vote. "We must never let our country and the American way of life surrender to this immoral ideology."

Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., the only woman in Congress with experience playing Division I college sports, countered that Republicans are using the bill to insert themselves into decisions that are not their concern. "I have long placed my trust in the governing bodies of sports — the experts who have dedicated their lives to these games — to create fair and responsible rules for participation," Trahan said in her floor remarks.

Trahan and other Democrats have labeled the bill as the "Child Predator Empowerment Act," arguing that it jeopardizes the safety of children in schools and could expose them to questioning and inspection of their bodies.

The bill passed the House in the previous Congress in April 2023 with no Democratic support and did not advance in the Senate, which was then controlled by Democrats. Republicans now hold the majority in the Senate.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who last week upheld a ban barring transgender people from using single-sex bathrooms that align with their gender identities near the House floor, stated on Tuesday that Republicans "have yet again stood up for women."

"I'm a Bible-believing Christian, I make no apology about that. But whether you regard that as the truth or not, it’s also nature. It’s biology," Johnson said at a news conference following the vote.