Laws to prevent trans athletes from participating in girls and women's sports failed to advance in the Senate Monday after Democrats voted against it.
Protection of women and girls in the sports law failed to clear the first procedural hurdles with 51-45 votes. It took 60 votes to move forward. This would have called for at least seven Democrats to vote with all Republicans to make it go. The bill cleared the House in January with almost entirely party-affiliated votes.
The measure, sponsored by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), attempted to amend Title IX, the federal civil rights law against sex discrimination, and ban schools from allowing transgender students to compete in athletic events “designated for women or girls.” Sex is defined as “based solely on reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”
The February 5 executive order signed by President Trump would effectively codified the law to prohibit transgender student-athletes from joining female and female sports teams.
Senate Republicans were hoping for resistance from Democrats who blocked the same bill in 2022.
Senate Majority Leader John Tune (Rs.D.) said that the vote that night would be “time to choose for Democrats.”
“If Democrats vote to oppose this law, they need to answer the women and girls who vote to deprive them of their rights,” he said.
Tuber Building Pressurized Swing State Democrats Measurements will be carried out on Monday in a series of posts on Social Platform X.
He then argued that the question of whether to restrict trans athletes from participating in sports was not a recent partisan issue. New York Times/Ipsos poll 79% of Americans believe that trans athletes should not be allowed to participate in women's track and field sports.
“This doesn't have to be a Republican or democratic issue,” Tuberville said. “This is about standing up for girls and women. I know my Democrat colleagues care too.”
recentlyPew Research Center SurveyAmericans have found that they are more supportive of policies restricting transgender rights, including those that require athletes to compete in sports teams that suit birth sex.
Opponents of policies that prevent trans athletes from participating in girls and women's sports said such restrictions would further segregate trans youth and condemn their identities.
They say such policies also burn public speculation about whether female athletes are transgender or not, whether they look feminine enough to compete in women's sports.
“What Republicans do today are stirring up the culture war and inventing the issues of splitting people into one another,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said Monday.
House Democrats, who voted against the bill in January, all but two voted against the bill, said the measure opened the door to sexual abuse and led to invasive scrutiny of the girls' bodies and called it the “Children Empowerment Act.”
“A bill like this sends a message that trans children don't deserve the same opportunity to thrive just like their peers, and it's impossible to enforce all children without putting them at risk of invasive questions or physical examinations just because someone doesn't look or dress them like others.”
Half of the country has passed laws prohibiting transgender students from participating in sports that match their gender identity, but the exact number of trans student-athletes remains unknown.
NCAA President Charlie Baker told Senate committee in December that of more than 510,000 NCAA athletes, fewer than 10 are transgender. The NCAA banned trans athletes from competing in February following Trump's executive order.
