Democrats in the U.S. Senate on Monday evening blocked a Republican-led attempt to enshrine discrimination against transgender athletes in federal law. The lawmakers rejected the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. The bill, part of a more considerable conservative effort to roll back LGBTQ+ rights, failed to garner enough votes needed to advance.
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After senators voted to confirm President Donald Trump's pick for education secretary, professional wrestling magnate Linda McMahon, the upper chamber considered moving forward with the anti-trans legislation. The bill was stopped by a cloture vote, which is a procedural motion that requires 60 votes to end debate and move forward. The vote was 51 to 45.
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The legislation, introduced in the House of Representatives byFloridaGOP Rep. Greg Steube and passed by Republicans earlier this year with the support of two Democrats, sought to rewrite Title IX protections by defining sex in athletics solely based on “reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” If enacted, the bill would have effectively barred transgender women and girls from participating in federally funded school and college sports.
The bill also called for federal studies on the impact of transgender inclusion in women’s sports and potential “adverse psychological and developmental effects” on cisgender athletes. There is no evidence that transgender athletes are a danger to cisgender peers. While it did not mandate physical examinations to determine an athlete’s sex, critics warned that its enforcement could lead to intrusive scrutiny of all female athletes.
“As anyone paying attention to the actions of the Trump administration can tell you, this bill is simply one part of a sweeping effort to push transgender people out of public life altogether,” said the American Civil Liberties Union's national director of policy and government affairs, Mike Zamore, in a statement. “We need more attention on actually ensuring fair and equal opportunity for all girls and women, not inflicting invasive and humiliating checks and bullying on kids to serve adults’ political purposes."
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The bill’s failure comes amid a broader, coordinated effort by Republicans to legislate transgender people out of public life. Just last month, Trump signed an executive order titled “No Men in Women’s Sports." Trump used the signing ceremony as an opportunity to spew inflammatory rhetoric, falsely claiming that men have “invaded” women’s sports and that male athletes are “beating up and injuring” women—a claim that has been debunked time and time again.
Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson applauded the Senate’s rejection of the bill, emphasizing the damaging impact of such policies. “Every child should have the opportunity to experience the simple joys of being young and making memories with their friends. But bills like these send the message that transgender kids don’t deserve the same opportunities to thrive as their peers simply because of who they are. And they are impossible to enforce without putting all kids at risk of invasive questions or physical examinations just because someone doesn’t look or dress like everyone else,” Robinson said in a statement to The Advocate.
Amnesty International USA's director of gender, sexuality, and identity programs, Karla Gonzales Garcia, also praised the senators who blocked the bill in a statement to The Advocate. "Thank you to the lawmakers who voted against a bill that promotes discrimination and stigma, bars transgender youth from sports, and spreads disinformation about what it means to be transgender. Your votes ensured that this bill - an attack on human rights - failed to pass today," she said.
Related: Trump signs executive order banning federal support of gender-affirming care for anyone under 19
Trump’s executive order, which threatened to strip federal funding from schools and colleges that failed to comply with his ban on transgender athletes, has already triggered legal challenges. Civil rights advocates and legal experts have pointed out that executive orders cannot override federal civil rights protections, including those under Title IX, and the order is expected to be tied up in court for months.
Related: Donald Trump to target transgender rights & diversity with dozens of ‘Day One’ executive orders
“We should want all of our kids to have the chance to be on a team, problem solve with others, learn valuable skills, and find places to belong,” Robinson said. “Thank you to the leaders who stood up today, pushed back against those playing politics with young people’s lives, and declared that ours should be a nation where every child feels valued.”
Editor's note: This story was updated with additional reporting.
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