Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) introduced a bill with Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) on Thursday which would restrict federal funds from going to schools that allow boys and men to compete against girls and women in sports.
Gabbard and Mullin described the legislation, entitled the Protect Women’s Sports Act, as an extension of Title IX civil rights protections to girls and women. In a joint statement, they wrote:
Since its creation, Title IX has been confronted by various challenges, often resulting in nuanced or situational solutions to the circumstances. This has included considering the fairness of an individual of one sex to play on a team designated for another sex when no such team is available to the individual, such as women’s field hockey or men’s football. This bill protects the sex-based intention of Title IX protections by reaffirming the biological sex-based distinctions between men and women in athletics.
Gabbard and Mullin added, “Given the average difference in abilities conferred by biological sex, this bill would clarify Title IX protections for female athletes is based on biological sex.”
Title IX’s provision of “equal opportunity for women and girls in high school and college sports” is being “weakened” by the allowance of boys and men to compete against them, said Gabbard, emphasizing “the general biological distinction between men and women athletes based on sex.”
The Protect Women’s Sports Act will “ensure women and girls in sports have the opportunity to compete and excel on a level playing field,” Gabbard held.
Mullin said:
Title IX was designed to give women and girls an equal chance to succeed, including in sports. Allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports diminishes that equality and takes away from the original intent of Title IX. As the father of three girls involved in athletics, I want them to be able to compete on a level playing field. I am proud to lead this bill that will safeguard the integrity of women’s sports and ensure female athletes can compete fairly.
HuffPost noted Title IX’s link to federal funds:
Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in educational programs that receive federal financial assistance. The new bill would bar schools from receiving such funds if they permit “a person whose biological sex at birth is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls.”
Left-wing and news media and political figures derided the proposed legislation as “anti-transgender” and “transphobic”:
Breitbart News reported on growing public opposition to males who claim to be women competing in sports against females.