House Republicans on Thursday approved legislation that would bar transgender women and girls from participating in athletic programs designated for women, part of a nationwide push by conservatives to restrict transgender rights as they make culture issues a centerpiece of their political message.
The bill, approved entirely along party lines on a 219-203 vote, was the latest attempt by House Republicans to take up a potent social issue that has rallied their base and been championed at the state level by Republican lawmakers.
The bill has no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate or being signed by President Joe Biden. In a statement of administration policy, the White House said Biden would veto it if it made its way to his desk. A national ban that does not take into account competitiveness or grade level “targets people for who they are and therefore is discriminatory,” the White House said.
Last month, House Republicans approved legislation that would mandate that schools make library catalogs and curricula public, and require parental consent before honoring a student’s request to change their gender-identifying pronouns.
Democrats argued that the legislation to bar transgender women from participating in women’s sports helped to fuel a hate campaign against transgender children, a vulnerable population with high rates of bullying, depression, anxiety and attempts at suicide.
And they criticised Republicans for harnessing a few examples from the ranks of elite sports of transgender women competing against and beating other women — examples, they argued, that have little to do with elementary and middle school students who simply want to be included in school activities.
“These bills tell some of the most vulnerable children in our country that they do not belong,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., whose daughter is transgender. She added, “Don’t use our kids as punching bags and put them in danger.”
Democrats also argued that enforcing such a bill would require invasive examinations.
“How do you verify a girl’s, quote, reproductive anatomy?” Jayapal said. “If a young girl, if your daughter doesn’t look feminine enough, is she subject to examination? This is absolutely absurd.”
About 1.3 million adults and 300,000 children in the United States identify as transgender. Twenty-one states have enacted laws to bar transgender athletes from participating in sports aligned with their gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a think tank that tracks LGBTQ laws.