On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 734, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023. The bill passed along party lines, with no Democrats voting for it.
Penned by Florida Republican Greg Steube, the bill is not likely to see a vote in the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.
In addition, the White House has promised a veto should the bill ever reach Joe Biden’s desk.
“Instead of addressing the pressing issues that families and students face today — such as raising teacher pay, keeping guns out of schools, addressing the mental health crisis our youth face, and helping students learn and recover academically from unprecedented disruptions — Congressional Republicans have instead chosen to prioritize policies that discriminate against children,” a White House policy statement read. “If the President were presented with H.R. 734, he would veto it.”
The House action echoes the actions of at least 20 states, who have already banned biological males from competing against female athletes.
One victim of the transgender push to move into female sports is Riley Gaines, a former top-tier female swimmer in the NCAA. Gaines lost a chance at a trophy in last year’s 200 meter freestyle final at the NCAA Women’s Championships when she finished in a tie with biologically male swimmer Lia Thomas. Thomas was awarded the trophy and Gaines was sent her fifth-place award in the mail so that the male swimmer could be shown in a photo op.
Thomas had originally competed as a male in 2017, where he was ranked 554th in the 200-meter freestyle and 65th in the 500-meter freestyle — an event he won when competing as a woman.
“I feel grateful for the leadership of Greg Steube, for the leadership of Speaker McCarthy, Virginia Foxx, Claudia Tenney — all the co-sponsors of this bill for standing up for women,” Gaines told Fox News. “It’s almost ironic — the left was the party that embraced women and fought for women’s rights and now we’ve seen this narrative being totally flipped.”
“It just shows the war on women is underway and the Democrats will pay for this in 2024,” Gaines asserted.
Earlier this month, Gaines was physically assaulted by transgender activists at San Francisco State University when she spoke about the issue of transgender athletes at a Turning Point USA event. Gaines was barricaded inside a classroom for several hours before the angry mob could be disbursed.
“The Left’s fervent support of the radical trans agenda has come at the expense of women’s rights across the country. Parents do not want biological men in locker rooms with their daughters, nor do they believe its equitable that a male can compete with women in female athletics,” said Steube after the bill’s passage. “That is the whole purpose behind the creation of Title IX. Yet the Left wants to destroy Title IX by allowing biological men to erase women’s sports.”
On the other hand, Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) accused Republicans of exploiting transgender children to score political points that will ultimately mean nothing given that the bill is unlikely to go further given Democrat resistance.
“These bills tell some of the most vulnerable children in our country that they do not belong,” Jayapal stated. “Shame on you.”
Wisconsin Republican Mark Pocan agreed: “Trans kids deserve the right to be equal members of their school communities, learn sportsmanship, and challenge themselves outside of the classroom, including by participating in school sports,” the Democrat said in a statement.
North Carolina Republican Virginia Foxx, on the other hand, called the bill’s passage, “a monumental win for women and girls across our country.”
“The perverse, biological fantasies of the left are both dangerous and a direct threat to women’s sports and all female athletes across our country,” Foxx said. “The Biden administration is doubling down on this insanity by pushing regulations that will upend the laws twenty states have on the books protecting women’s sports. Harm is being done to women athletes and the American people know this is wrong.”
Given the Senate’s reticence to even take up the bill and Biden’s promise of a veto, Thursday’s passage is simply a symbolic action.
While biological male athletes competing in female sports is certainly disturbing and a cause for concern for several reasons, conservative Americans need to keep in mind that this issue is completely outside the realm of the federal government. The U.S. government has no constitutional authority to be involved in education in any capacity. This issue should be left up to the states.
