By Bo Erickson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote on Tuesday on a bill supported by Republican President-elect Donald Trump to essentially ban transgender girls and women from competing in school sports by withholding federal funds from schools that do not comply.
The bill, called the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025,” passed the Republican-controlled House last term with no Democratic support, but the measure was not taken up by the then-Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate.
Tuesday’s bill has been fast-tracked to a vote by House Republican leadership and is expected to face similar opposition from House Democrats. With a 53-47 Senate majority, Republicans would be able to bring the bill up for a vote but may not be able to pass it given the chamber’s filibuster rule that requires 60 members to agree on most legislation.
About 3% of American high school students identify as transgender, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in October. But across the U.S., 25 states so far have implemented some laws limiting transgender student-athletes from participating in competition, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a think tank that advocates for transgender rights.
Transgender rights have emerged as a political flashpoint in the U.S. over the past decade, with focus turning to sports participation in recent years as a few transgender college athletes have achieved success, like Lia Thomas, who won a national collegiate title in women’s swimming in 2022.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association currently considers transgender competition rules on a sport by sport basis and takes into consideration the policies followed by prominent world sport governing associations.
This week’s bill proposes to amend the landmark 1972 Title IX legislation that outlawed sex-based discrimination to force schools to follow strict gender definitions “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” meaning students assigned male at birth who have since transitioned genders would not be eligible for athletic competition.
The bill permits transgender women to practice and train with women or girls’ athletic teams “so long as no female is deprived” of opportunities.
“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.”
Trump in October told Fox News he would support such limitations, saying, “The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”
Many Democrats, civil rights and equality groups have spoken out against 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.
Democratic Representative Sarah McBride this month was sworn in as Congress’s first openly transgender member, after a campaign focused on economic issues, including protections for unions and affordable healthcare and childcare.
(Reporting by Bo Erickson; Editing by Scott Malone and Bill Berkrot)
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