President Biden would veto legislation to bar transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports teams when it reaches his desk, the White House warned Monday, condemning the bill as “unnecessary” and discriminatory by House Republicans .
“If HR 734 were presented to the President, he would veto it,” the White House said in an administrative policy statement Monday.
The measure, known as the “Women and Girls in Sports Protection Act,” would amend Title IX, the state civil rights statute that prohibits sex discrimination in education, to recognize gender as something that “exclusively based on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”
The measure was introduced in February by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), who said in a statement at the time that transgender athletes “have no place in women’s sports.” This is Steube’s third attempt to pass the bill, which failed to make progress during the last two congresses when Democrats controlled the House.
While the Republicans now have the majority in the lower house, the bill has no chance in the Senate with a Democratic majority.
“As a national ban that does not take into account competitiveness or grade level, HR 734 targets people for who they are and is therefore discriminatory,” the White House said Monday. “Politicians should not dictate a one-size-fits-all rule that forces coaches to remove children from their teams.”
The Biden administration earlier this month targeted recent state-led efforts to broadly ban transgender athletes from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity in a list of proposed changes to Title IX.
The government proposal, which is subject to public comment, would ban states or school districts from enacting uniform policies that “categorically” ban transgender athletes from participating in sports teams that match their gender identity, but it stops short of Ban schools from enacting rules that limit athletic participation based on a set of gender-related “eligibility criteria.”
K-12 schools under the proposal would retain the option to restrict transgender athletes’ participation in sports if they determine that their inclusion would undermine competitive fairness or increase the risk of sports-related injuries, a senior Education Department official said this month to reporters.
Some LGBTQ advocates have criticized the proposal, which they say provides guidelines for schools to legally ban transgender athletes from sport.
The White House said Monday it condemned efforts by Steube and the House GOP to impose an “absolute ban” on transgender athletes.
“As a national ban that does not take into account competitiveness or grade level, HR 734 targets people for who they are and is therefore discriminatory,” it said.
“At a time when transgender youth are already facing a nationwide mental health crisis and half of transgender youth in a recent survey said they had serious thoughts of suicide, a national law that further stigmatizes these children is Totally unnecessary, harms families and students, and would only put students at greater risk,” the White House added. “Discrimination has no place in our nation’s schools or on our playing fields.”
Shooting of black teenager who went into wrong house investigated US ambassador visits WSJ reporter jailed in Russia calls for release
HR 734, which has 93 Republican co-sponsors, is scheduled to be heard before the House Committee on Rules on Monday.
At least 21 states have passed laws or policies since 2020 barring transgender athletes from participating in sports teams consistent with their gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project, which tracks laws affecting the country’s LGBTQ community.
More than 460 state bills targeting the rights of LGBTQ Americans, including the most anti-transgender laws on record, were introduced to state legislatures nationwide this year.
Copyright 2023 Nextstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, transcribed or redistributed.
Comments are closed.