Families speak out for transgender youth at Supreme Court
Families of transgender youth tells how their lives could change if Supreme Court bans gender-affirming care.
WASHINGTON – The Republican-controlled House voted to pass a bill on Tuesday that would ban transgender women and girls from participating in women’s and girls’ school sports.
The bill, dubbed the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” passed mostly along party lines, with 218 voting in favor of it and 206 opposed to the ban. Only two Democrats, Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar of Texas, voted in favor of the bill while one Democrat, Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina, voted present.
The bill would amend Title IX to recognize sex “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” according to its text. Title IX is a federal civil rights law that bans sex and gender-based discrimination in schools.
Any school that violates the act could lose federal funding.
“Quite simply, men should not be playing in women’s sports Period. End of story,” said Rep. Rudy Yakym, R-Ind., coming out of voting for the bill. “And as a father of two, we’ve got to protect our daughters who are playing sports from having men play in their sports and overpower them in a sports competition.”
‘What does the average United States congressman know about this?’
Democrats railed against the bill, saying that it is merely a political talking point.
“It’s just a disgusting bill,” said Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla. “I think it just shows people, they spent this entire election saying, ‘Oh, we’re gonna fight for working people, we’re gonna fix the economy. We’re, you know, we’re two, three weeks in, and we still haven’t seen any of that.”
Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., said that while there are arguments to be made on the issue, the place to do it is not Congress.
“That’s why there’s a separation of powers and states and local governments and agencies that are better equipped to make this decision based on the input from the community and from the state and the various regulatory agencies. What does the average United States congressman know about this, other than the very riveting, emotional decision itself?” he said.
The bill faces an uphill climb in the Senate, where seven Democrats must join Republicans to advance the legislation to a final vote. President Joe Biden is not expected to sign the bill into law.
But Yakym said he was confident it would pass the upper chamber.
“I mean, this is something that the American people clearly spoke on during the election cycle,” he said. “And we all want to be united.”