(The Lion) — The U.S. Senate will hold a procedural vote on a much-anticipated bill Monday, meant to indicate where Republicans and Democrats stand on keeping men out of women’s sports.
The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act would ban transgender-identifying males from competing in K-12 schools that receive federal funding, Axios reports.
With 53 Republicans in the Senate, the measure is highly unlikely to receive the 60 votes necessary to pass. It would need seven Democrats to cross over, and most congressional Democrats appear unwilling to publicly oppose males competing in girls’ sports.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, a former NCAA Division I college football coach, is the bill’s most vocal proponent in the Senate.
“President Trump ran on the issue of saving women’s sports and won in a landslide,” Tuberville said in a recent press release. “70% of Americans agree—men don’t belong in women’s sports or locker rooms. I have said many times that I think Title IX is one of the best things to come out of Washington.
“I am welcoming my first granddaughter this spring and won’t stop fighting until her rights to fairly compete are protected,” he added. “I hope every one of my colleagues will join me in standing up for our daughters, nieces, and granddaughters by voting for this critical bill.”
The proposal passed 218-206 in the U.S. House last month, mostly along party lines, with two Democrats in support. Other Democrats who have previously said they oppose males competing in women’s sports, such as Reps. Tom Suozzi, D-New York, and Seth Moulton, D-Massachusetts, nevertheless voted against it.
Moulton said he opposed it because he has no problem with young elementary school-aged boys and girls playing co-ed sports against each other.
“My kids play co-ed sports today just as I did when I was their age, and I don’t want any kids their age subjected to the invasive violations of personal privacy this bill allows,” he said in a press release.
“To be clear, I firmly believe that there should be reasonable restrictions on transgender athletes in competitive sports,” he added. “This is a matter of safety and fairness for female athletes who have worked exceptionally hard to compete.”
Moulton’s oldest daughter is 6.
A New York Times poll released last month found that 79% of Americans oppose letting transgender-identifying athletes compete in girls’ sports, while 18% support it.
Currently, 30 states prohibit biological males from playing girls’ sports – 25 by state law and five by rules drafted by athletic governing bodies (Alaska, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Nebraska). Georgia lawmakers hope to make their state the 31st in the coming weeks by passing a law.
