Bill to Ban Biological Males from Women’s Sports Blocked by Democrats

Senate Democrats voted late Monday afternoon to block a bill that would have prevented biological males from participating in women’s sports from reaching the floor.

The vote failed along party lines, with 51 Republicans in favor of ending debate and bringing it to the floor, and 43 Democrats and two nominal independents who caucus with them voting against. Two Democrats and two Republicans didn’t vote. The bill fell short of the threshold of 60 needed to end debate by nine votes.

The bill proceeded roughly along party lines as it went through Congress, as only two Democrats had voted to pass the bill in the House, introduced by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. It would have codified into law President Donald Trump’s Feb. 5 executive order denying federal funding to schools that allow transgender-identifying male athletes to compete against females.

The American public broadly supports such measures, as evidenced by a Jan. 19 New York Times poll, which found that 79% of respondents said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in girls and women’s sports. That includes 67% of Democrats polled.

The bill would have amended Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to recognize that “sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

The bill would have cut off federal funding to institutions that “permit a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls.”

According to the website SheWon.org, which tracks this issue, to date 791 female athletes have been deprived of 1,121 awards in 545 competitions across 43 different sports by transgender competitors.

Tuberville, himself a former college football coach, urged Senate Democrats to support the bill on X the day of the vote.

“Nearly 80% of America agrees: Men don’t belong in women’s sports, locker rooms, or showers,” he wrote.

“Today, the Senate has the opportunity to stand up for women’s sports and PERMANENTLY restore Title IX protections. I hope my [Senate Democratic] colleagues will join me this evening.”

But Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., denounced the law in debate Monday, calling it a violation of privacy and arguing that there are too few transgender college athletes to justify it.

“This infringes on the privacy of girls and women. It is a dangerous use of the powers of government to target children and their families,” Durbin said. “Put yourself in the shoes of these families for just a moment. Imagine being the parent of a trans kid and telling your child they are not even allowed to play on the same sports team as their friends at school because a politician said they couldn’t.”

The Riley Gaines Act, which is a similar law, passed in Georgia in February, signaling an increased movement to prohibit transgender male athletes from participating in female sports. 

Elizabeth Mitchell and Peter Parisi contributed to this report.

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