Out Congress members outraged as anti-LGBTQ+ bills advance

Committees in the U.S. House of Representatives approved two anti-LGBTQ+ bills Thursday, leading to condemnation from LGBTQ+ reps and allies in the Congressional Equality Caucus.

House Resolution 7187, the so-called Protection of Women in Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, would require all national governing bodies for amateur sports to bar transgender girls and women from participating in athletic events for females. This would affect Olympic teams, national championships, and more.

The Equal Campus Access Act, part of a broader bill (HR 7683), would require public colleges and universities to recognize student religious groups that discriminate against LGBTQ+ people and other students if the school wants to receive federal funds under the Higher Education Act.

HR 7187 was approved by the House Judiciary Committee and HR 7683 by the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Both were backed by Republicans and will now go to the full House, which has a slight Republican majority, but if that chamber passes them, they will likely stall in the Senate, where Democrats are in control. The House passed a different anti-trans sports bill last year, but it has not received a Senate vote.

“Once again, House Republicans are attacking trans people,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, said in a Thursday press release. “Republicans already voted to ban trans women and girls from participating in school sports last year, and now they want to limit trans Americans’ rights further by banning them from playing sports in a wide range of settings. Transgender people deserve to participate in all parts of society, including athletics. Republicans need to stop their obsession with attacking transgender people and tackle the actual problems Americans face.”

“HR 7187 is a hate bill. Period.” added Rep. Becca Balint, a Vermont Democrat, cochair of the Equality Caucus, and a member of the House Judiciary Committee. “Time and time again, Republicans hide behind promoting women and girls in sports. But these continued attacks have real consequences. The countless anti LGBTQIA+ attacks from Republicans only stand to incite violence and ultimately remove trans people from public life. But I want trans girls and women to know: You deserve to participate and thrive in the sports you love.”

Balint spoke passionately against the bill in the committee meeting. “So here we are, spending time once again, using our valuable time to pick on a class of people in this country,” she said. “I believe I'm the only person on this committee who represents the LGBTQ community. Though, I always say that we know of. And I have to tell you, I've been absolutely stunned by the amount of time and energy that we have spent in this Congress talking about trans kids, their parents, gay Americans, that somehow my community is the source of all that is wrong in this country.”

Rep. Becca Balint slams Republicans for trans hate billswww.youtube.com

“This is about basic humanity,” she continued. “This is about dignity. And it is no secret, if you are paying attention, that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have decided that this congressional term would be about bringing up the issue of trans kids and their families and gay Americans relentlessly. Amendments and bills and riders constantly, as if we have nothing better to do than to demonize our fellow citizens. Because that's what we're talking about here. It's about constantly trying to get Americans. To hate one another. It is about dehumanizing children. Children.

“And as a former teacher, I can tell you it is hard enough to be an adolescent without getting all of these messages from our elected officials that somehow, they are not worthy. They are not loved. And some of the rhetoric that I hear right now in this body is about making them less than human. And all they want to do is live their lives, attend school, have friends, participate in sports, know that their government is not using every opportunity to fan the flames of fear and hatred.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Judiciary Committee member who has a trans daughter, also spoke out against the bill. “I am the proud mother of a trans daughter, and every time these bills come up, I ask you to think about what it would be like if your daughter was the one that you were talking about,” said Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington State. “What would it be like if you were telling her she doesn’t have the right to be who she is?”

“This cruel, discriminatory legislation is nothing more than an attempt to score cheap political points at the expense of transgender Americans,” Jayapal, cochair of the Equality Caucus’s Transgender Equality Task Force, added in the press release. “This bill tells some of our country’s most vulnerable individuals that they do not belong and targets a group that experiences disproportionately high rates of discrimination and harassment. Republicans don’t actually care about protecting women’s and girls’ sports — if they did, they would focus on the lack of financial resources and prominent wage gaps. But instead, they’re co-opting language from the women’s rights movement to go after gender inclusivity and trans Americans. Countless sport’s governing bodies and organizations have rejected categorical bans on trans athletes, and so should we. I will continue to fight for the right of trans individuals to participate in all aspects of society and live full lives full of dignity, respect, and equality.”

In another release, Pocan denounced HR 7683. “Forcing LGBTQI+ students to fund on-campus groups that are actively discriminating against them is insulting,” he said. “Student organizations are an important part of every student’s college experience; everyone should be free to participate without fear of discrimination. Making public universities choose between their federal funding and protecting LGBTQI+ and other minority students from discrimination is cruel.”