On Tuesday, the GOP-led House passed legislation aimed at protecting women’s sports leagues by preventing male athletes who identify as females from competing.
Two Democrats—Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX)—joined 216 Republicans in supporting the Protection of Women and Girls Act. Meanwhile, 206 Democrats, some of whom argued that the bill would have invasive consequences and is backed by “bigoted folks,” voted against the legislation.
“Only 2 members on the Left voted to protect women’s sports,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) said in a post to X, responding to former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines who celebrated the passage of the legislation. “The Left really hates women don’t they?”
If enacted, the bill would “amend the Education Amendments of 1972 to provide that for purposes of determining compliance with title IX of such Act in athletics, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” The bill adds language saying it would be a violation for recipients of federal aid to allow a person whose sex is male to participate in a sports program for women or girls.
Also included in the legislation is a provision directing the comptroller general to conduct a study that would look at “the adverse psychological, developmental, participatory, and sociological results to girls of allowing males to compete, be members of a sports team, or participants in athletic programs, that are designed for girls.”
Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) reintroduced the Protection of Women and Girls Act this month, after it had previously passed the House in 2023 with no Democratic support and failed to receive a vote in the Democrat-led Senate during the last Congress.
“The radical left is not in step with the American people on the issue of protecting women’s sports,” Steube said in a statement. “Americans have loudly spoken that they do not want men stealing sports records from women, entering their daughters’ locker rooms, replacing female athletes on teams, and taking their daughters’ scholarship opportunities.”
Now, the bill has a better chance of passing as Republicans control both chambers of Congress, and, starting next week, the White House as well. President-elect Donald Trump suggested during a Fox News town hall in October that he supported banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, the Daily Wire noted.
“My legislation stands for truth, safety, and reality: men have no place in women’s sports,” Steube said. “Republicans have promised to protect women’s sports, and under President Trump’s leadership, we will fulfill this promise.”
Ironically, Democrats spent decades beginning in the early 1970s pushing for “women’s rights” in all aspects of American society. The party continues to push for the passage of the “equal rights amendment.” But the embrace of biological men competing in all-female sporting events is a recent change and a reflection of the party’s hard-left shift since Barack Obama’s presidency. Famously, President Joe Biden’s lone Supreme Court appointment, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, could not define a woman during her confirmation hearing.
Late last month, the Senate voted to pass the $895 billion Defense Authorization Bill, despite a provision on transgender care that caused concern among some Democrats, sending it to Biden’s desk for final approval.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was approved 85 to 14 by senators, surpassing the 60 votes needed in the 100-member chamber. The bill moved forward even with the inclusion of a controversial measure that would ban certain gender-affirming care for transgender children of service members, The Hill reported.
The must-pass legislation, which usually receives broad bipartisan support, faced opposition this time after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) added last-minute language restricting the use of TRICARE funds — the health care program for active-duty service members — for gender-affirming care for children 18 and under of military members.
This change prompted a handful of Democrats to vote against the bill, including Sens. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), and Ed Markey (Mass.).
