On Thursday, House Republicans voted to pass legislation that would uphold Title IX protections and prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. The legislation passed the House with no votes from Democrats. According to CNN, Biden has indicated that he would veto it if it goes to his desk.
To recap, the Biden administration is currently pushing an agenda to allow Title IX protections on the basis of sex to include the concept of “gender identity.” This would allow men who identify as women to compete in women’s sports. Townhall covers regularly how men who identify as women and believe they are “transgender” have robbed biological females of awards and opportunities.
A bill filed by Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) and Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) in the Senate called the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023” would protect women’s sports from males, Townhall reported that the bill was introduced on Feb. 1 as part of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
The bill passed the House with no Democrats voting in favor of the legislation to protect women’s rights.
BREAKING: The House has voted in favor of protecting women's sports.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 20, 2023
Zero Democrats voted for it. pic.twitter.com/gBSMZM6Tox
Ahead of the vote, several House Republican women issued remarks on Capitol Hill about the legislation.
“The perverse biological fantasies of the left are both dangerous and a direct threat to women’s sports and all female athletes across our country,” Rep. Virgnia Foxx (R-NC) told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday. “The the Biden administration is doubling down on this insanity by pushing regulations that will upend the laws 20 states have on the books protecting women’s sports…the American people know this is wrong.”
“The strides of women in sports should never be sacrificed to appease the radical woke mobs on the Left,” she concluded.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) called the left’s push to include men in women’s sports “complete and total bulls***” and said it’s “cruel” to force women to use changing rooms and other facilities with male-bodied athletes.
“Because of all the glass ceilings that we have broken…we need to protect women and girls. This is the first step. There’s a lot of talk in the mainstream media about women’s rights. Well, today Republicans are leading the fight for women’s rights everywhere,” Mace said.
"If you talk to women leaders today, so many had opportunities when it came to sports growing up," Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said. "I myself played varsity lacrosse, I also rowed crew in high school. To have that opportunity to learn leadership, to learn discipline, to learn teamwork is so, so important. This is about protecting women’s sports, now and into the future. We anticipate this will be passed today. It is a winning issue across America -- standing up for the future of women and girls.”
“I am appalled that we are having to defend women in women’s sports,” Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) told reporters. “You can be whoever you want to be….but what about my rights? What about the rights of my daughters? That is where we’ve lost our minds. Title IX was supposed to be the saving grace, but the radical left has thrown that to the wayside.”
On Feb. 1, former University of Kentucky Swimmer Riley Gaines told reporters on Capitol Hill that women were forced to share a locker room with Will “Lia” Thomas, a male who identified as a woman and competed, and won, races against women.
This video speaks for itself.‼️When female athletes questioned having to share a locker room with a biological male, they were gaslit into thinking they should seek counseling.@Riley_Gaines_ shares an emotional testimony on Capitol Hill on National Girls & Women in Sports Day. pic.twitter.com/Rhs97Fu8qy
— Independent Women's Forum (@IWF) February 1, 2023
“It is just so wild that you can turn around [in the locker room] and see a 6’4 biological man pull his pants watching you undress. And no one is willing to stick up for you?” Gaines said, adding that the women competing against Thomas “exist to validate a male’s identity.”