Washington(CNN) The House is expected to vote Thursday on a GOP-led bill that would ban transgender athletes from women’s sports and girls at federally funded schools and educational institutions.
The bill is not expected to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House has issued a veto threat. But the vote shows Republicans are working to raise the issue — and it comes amid a GOP-led push in states across the country to pass similar bills barring the participation of transgender athletes. in games.
The House bill would prohibit transgender women and girls from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity. It seeks to change federal law to require that “sex be determined solely based on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” for the purpose of determining compliance with Title IX in athletics, according to the legislative text.
Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational programs or activities that receive funding from the federal government, and applies to schools and other educational institutions.
The bill would not “prohibit schools or institutions from allowing boys to practice against women’s sports teams,” according to a fact sheet from the House committee on Education and the Workforce.
The fact sheet also states that under the bill, “a recipient of federal education funds violates Title IX’s prohibition against sex discrimination if the recipient operates, sponsors, or conducts athletic programs or activities and allows a person whose gender is male to participate in an athletic. program or activity designated for girls or women.”
The bill — titled “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act” — was introduced by Republican Rep. Greg Steube of Florida.
Republicans argue that transgender women have a physical advantage over cisgender women in sports and thus their participation may limit opportunities for others.
Democrats say policies barring the participation of transgender athletes in team sports increase the discrimination faced by trans people, especially young trans people. And they argue that Republicans are seeking to undermine the rights of LGBTQIA students by advancing the bill.
“Trans children deserve the right to be equal members of their school communities, learn sportsmanship, and challenge themselves outside the classroom, including participating in school sports,” said Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin in a statement.
The House vote comes as GOP-led states across the country continue to push various anti-trans measures, including bills intended to keep transgender students from playing on sports teams. which is consistent with their gender identity.
Those bills echo a larger effort to tougher laws aimed at the LGBTQIA community. The American Civil Liberties Union says it has tracked more than 450 anti-LGBTQ bills in the US.
The White House has confirmed that President Joe Biden will veto the bill, although it is not expected to reach the president’s desk.
“Discrimination has no place in our nation’s schools or on our playgrounds,” the administration’s policy statement for the bill reads.
“At a time when transgender youth are already facing a national mental health crisis, with half of transgender youth in a recent survey saying they seriously considering suicide, a national law that further stigmatizes these children is unnecessary, hurts families and students, only puts students at greater risk,” it said.
Responding to White House veto threat on Twitter, Steube SAYS that the Biden administration has “turned its back on female athletes.”
“The Left not only encourages transgender individuals to invade women’s sports, but they celebrate while women are removed from podiums and shunned on the sidelines. There is nothing fair about that,” he wrote. said Steube.
In addition to promising a veto, the Biden administration has taken other steps to address the participation of transgender athletes in sports.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration proposed a new federal rule change that would allow schools to implement certain restrictions on transgender student athletes, but opposed the policies as ” categorically” prohibits students from participating in sports teams that correspond to their gender.
CNN’s Devan Cole contributed to this report.