House Republicans have advanced two bills that would prevent transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
The bills, H.R. 5, the Parents Bill of Rights Act, and H.R. 734, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023, have both advanced to the House floor.
H.R. 5 aims to “ensure the rights of parents are honored and protected in the Nation’s public schools.”
“It doesn’t matter [what] the color of your skin [is] or your wealth, when you have a child that is the most important thing in your life… one thing we know in this country, education is the great equalizer. We [want parents] to feel empowered and that’s what we’re doing here,” said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
H.R. 734, meanwhile, seeks to 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.”
“It shall be a violation of subsection for a recipient of Federal financial assistance who operates, sponsors, or facilitates athletic programs or activities to permit a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls,” read the legislation. “For the purposes of this subsection, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”
This comes as transgender athletes have been the subject of debate about whether biologically born male athletes should compete against naturally born women in sporting events.
Last July, University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas came under fire from former college athletes after receiving an NCAA “Woman of the Year” nomination.
Kim Jones, a former All-American tennis player whose daughter competed against Thomas, called the nomination “humiliating” and “devastating,” accusing UPenn of sending a message that “women don’t matter.”
“[The message is] they’re not even worthy of dignity and comfort in their locker rooms. And this nomination is just the embodiment of that message. It’s really frustrating to understand where the current NCAA and Ivy League and especially Penn’s stance is on the value of women in modern society,” Jones during an interview on “Fox & Friends First.”
