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House Pushes Title IX Amendment on Transgender Athletes

The House vote on this bill highlights the ongoing clash between gender inclusion and traditional definitions in sports.

House Pushes Title IX Amendment on Transgender Athletes
House Pushes Title IX Amendment on Transgender Athletes. Credit | REUTERS


United States: House of Representatives may approve the legislation endorsed by Trump on Tuesday that would, in effect, exclude transgender Girls and women from Scholastic athletic programs through the threat of stripping them of Federal grants, as reported by Reuters.

The bill well-known as the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025” was passed in the Republican-run House in the previous term, with the Democrats voting against it, and the bill was never considered by the then-Democratic Senate in the United States.

Background and Legislative History

It has been reported that Tuesday’s bill has been given a direct shot at a House vote by House Republican leadership, and it is likely to face animus from House Democrats in the same view. In the Senate, where Republicans will have a 53-47 majority, they will be able to call the bill, though they may not pass it given the fact that this house does not pass most bills without a 60-vote majority.

According to the CDC data released in October, about 3% of American high school students reported being transgender. However, 25 states in the USA now have some laws preventing Transgender student-athletes from competition, as available from the Movement Advancement Project, a Transgender think tank.

Transgender has become the center of political debates in the U.S. for the past decade but recently shifted to sports activity where some of the transgender college athletes rose to prominence, like Lia Thomas, a swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania, who became a national collegiate champion in women swimmer in 2022.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association, at the present time, reviews transgender competitions on the basis of sports activity and also concerns itself with the policies of the various international sports institutions.

In order to compel schools to adhere to stringent gender definitions “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” this week’s bill would amend the historic 1972 Title IX legislation that prohibited sex-based discrimination. This would prevent students who were assigned male at birth but have since interchange their gender from participating in sports.

The bill allows a trans woman to participate or train with a female or girls’ team as long as no female is prejudiced.

Support and Opposition

“Men have no place in women’s sports,” the bill’s author, Representative Greg Steube, whose constituent competed against Thomas in swimming, said in a statement. “Republicans have promised to protect women’s sports, and under President Trump’s leadership, we will fulfill this promise.”

In October, Trump stated on Fox News that he would be in favor of such restrictions, stating, “The president forbids it. You simply don’t allow it to occur.

Numerous civil rights, equality, and Democratic organizations have voiced their opposition to this bill.

“School athletics are very often the centerpiece of communities across the country, and denying transgender, nonbinary, and intersex youth the chance to participate only serves to deny them an opportunity to be part of that community, further isolating and stigmatizing these youth,” said a letter to congressional members written by more than 200 national groups organized as the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, as reported by Reuters.

Historic First for Transgender Representation

Democrat Sarah McBride became the first transgender member of Congress this month since her campaign focused on economic justice, unionization of workers, affordable health care, and child care.

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