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GOP trans sports bill exposes children to genital inspections by sexual predators, Democrats warn

AOC Hakeem Jefferies
Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

(1) WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES - NOVEMBER 19: Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks during a press conference advocating for temporary protected status for Ecuadorian immigrants outside the U.S. Capitol building in Washington DC, United States on November 19, 2024.

(2) UNITED STATES - JANUARY 8: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., conducts his weekly news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on Wednesday, January 8, 2025.

Democrats say the bill would open the door for sexual predators to exploit young people.

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After the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed an exclusionary anti-trans bill, the so-called Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025, on Tuesday, Democrats sounded the alarm about how the bill exposes children to genital checks and exploitation by sexual predators. The legislation, which bans transgender girls and women from competing in schoolsports aligned with their gender identity, passed narrowly on a 218-206 vote, with two DemocratsTexas U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez — voting in favor.

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The measure seeks to amend Title IX to mandate that sex in athletics be defined “solely based on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” It prohibits individuals whose sex assigned at birth is male from participating in athletic programs designated for women or girls if those programs receive federal funding. It also calls for a study to assess the potential psychological and developmental harm to cisgender girls if transgender girls are allowed to participate in women’s sports.

Democratic lawmakers and LGBTQ+ advocates have condemned the bill, which they call the “GOP Child Predator Empowerment Act,” arguing that it would lead to invasive practices targeting children and reinforce discrimination against transgender youth.

Ocasio-Cortez takes to the House floor: “Not today”

On the House floor, Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered a scathing critique of the bill, accusing Republicans of using it to impose narrow and harmful gender norms under the pretense of fairness in sports.

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“Here we are today Republicans who have voted against the Violence Against Women Act, who have taken away the right of all women to choose and have control over their own body, who, as women are bleeding out in parking lots across the country, standing there allowing us to die, now want to pretend today that they care about women,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And why? To open up gender and, yes, genital examinations into little girls in this country, in the so-called name of attacking trans girls. And to that, today, what we have to say are two words: not today.”

She warned that the bill’s lack of enforcement mechanisms creates space for harmful practices. “The majority right now says there’s no place in this bill that says it opens up for genital examinations. Well, here’s the thing. There’s no enforcement mechanism in this bill, and when there is no enforcement mechanism, you open the door to every enforcement mechanism.”

Ocasio-Cortez also pointed to the broader implications for all women and girls, not just transgender athletes. “What this also opens the door for is for women to try to perform a very specific kind of femininity for the very kind of men who are drafting this bill and to open up questioning of who is a woman because of how we look, how we present ourselves, and yes, what we choose to do with our bodies.”

Jeffries on MSNBC says its “federal government overreach”

Later, on MSNBC’sAll in With Chris Hayes, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York congressman, criticized the legislation as a dangerous overreach that risks harming children under the guise of sports fairness.

“House Democrats believe that fairness and safety in sports, particularly as it relates to our children, our girls and boys who are playing either non-competitive sports, recreational sports, and competitive sports all across the country, these are important principles and we support that,” Jeffries said. “However, House Republicans are not serious about addressing any issues related to competition and safety.”

Jeffries highlighted the bill’s potential to enable exploitation. “Effectively, what it would do is sanction, without any guardrails, adults, including predators, for engaging in inspections of genitalia in children as young as four years old.”

The Houuse minority leader pointed to recent cases of sexual abuse in football, gymnastics, and wrestling programs.

“To have the federal government weigh in aggressively and sanction this type of invasive inspections clearly would create a situation where childhood predators would be unleashed on the children of this country,” he said.

When Hayes described the bill’s enforcement mechanism as “essentially genital checks,” Jeffries agreed, “That’s correct. That’s the plain reading of the bill, and that’s why we characterized it as such.”

LGBTQ+ rights groups condemn the bill

LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations have joined lawmakers in condemning the bill. GLSEN executive director Melanie Willingham-Jaggers criticized it in a statement to The Advocate.

“Instead of focusing on the shared needs of the American people, House Republicans showed they will continue to cater to the extreme and seek to impose their radically limited expectations of gender on the next generation,” Willingham-Jaggers said. “This bill is not just an attack on trans inclusion, but also a disturbing signal that all girls could be questioned, and even subjected to harassment, if they do not align with a specific view of femininity. If this is a top priority of the new Congress, then it is an alarming signal of what other insidious attacks on free expression and gender equality are in store in the coming months.”

Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director of Advocates for Trans Equality, released a statement after the vote. He said that politicians going after transgender people are ignoring the issues faced by most Americans to go after trans youth who only want to play sports with their friends and classmates.


"This discriminatory bill is an unconscionable attack on transgender girls and women across the country. Every child deserves a quality education, including the ability to participate in athletic programs. This bill is not motivated out of concern for women and girls in athletics, but animus toward a small group of vulnerable students," Heng-Lehtinen said. "We know that school policy, whether made at the local, state, or national level, has profound impacts on bullying and harassment of LGBTQI+ students. If this bill is signed into law, it makes every school less safe for transgender students and their peers."

Heng-Lehtinen continued: "Extremist lawmakers emboldened by the incoming administration plan to systematically weaken civil rights protections for all Americans, and they are starting right now."

In a statement, HRC President Kelley Robinson called out the legislation as harmful.

“We all want sports to be fair, students to be safe, and young people to have the opportunity to participate alongside their peers,” said Robinson. “But this kind of blanket ban deprives kids of those things. This bill would expose young people to harassment and discrimination, emboldening people to question the gender of kids who don’t fit a narrow view of how they’re supposed to dress or look. It could even expose children to invasive, inappropriate questions and examinations. Participating in sports is about learning the values of teamwork, dedication, and perseverance. And for so many students, sports are about finding somewhere to belong. We should want that for all kids – not partisan policies that make life harder for them.”

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