The U.S. House passed Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act on Wednesday. It will now move onto the Senate, where it faces an uphill battle.
The bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.).
The legislation’s goal is to ensure both Title IX protection for female athletes and fair, safe competition in women’s sports throughout the United States.
In March, Tuberville (R-Auburn) led the effort with 26 other senators to reintroduce the Senate’s version of the bill.
“Throughout my coaching career, I saw the incomparable success of Title IX and the educational and personal opportunities sports have provided to millions of female athletes,” he said at the time. “For more than 50 years, this law has empowered young women to grow personally, compete professionally, and receive scholarships to further their education. The positive impacts of a fair playing field in women’s sports are unmatched, but the Biden administration is forcing female athletes to the sidelines by allowing biological males to compete where they do not belong.
“It’s unfair, it’s unsafe, and it’s wrong. We cannot stand by and let girls and women in sports lose to the radical left’s agenda.”
When the new policy was enacted in April by the US Department of Education, Tuberville immediately condemned it.
“The Biden administration’s policies have already taken a sledgehammer to Title IX, and this proposed rule is another example of Joe Biden doing the bidding of the radical left,” he said. “This new rule is a disservice to every girl in this country who dreams of becoming a student athlete. I urge the Biden administration to listen to parents, teachers, and coaches, and not to follow through with these misguided policies.”
Tuberville also called on Congress to act on the issue and pass the legislation.
“Our colleagues in Congress will have to consider every option available to nullify this harmful new rule, including passing my legislation, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.”
The legislation also has significant support from pro-life groups. One of those group is Independent Women’s Voice.
Carrie Lukas, vice president of the group, said that the process of making female athletes compete against male athletes is both unfair and discriminatory.
“More than 50 years ago, Congress enacted Title IX to ensure equal opportunity in all aspects of education, including athletics,” said Lukas. “But without single-sex teams and single-sex competition, equal athletic opportunity is but a farce. Forcing female athletes to compete against biological males is unfair.
“But it’s also discriminatory. Allowing biological males to take awards, roster spots, scholarships, or spots at a school from female athletes violates Title IX’s prohibition of discrimination ‘on the basis of sex.’”
The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act in detail would do two things in particular.
It would ensure Title IX provisions treat gender as “recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” and also ban recipients of federal funding from operating, sponsoring, or facilitating athletic programs that that permit a male to participate in a women’s sporting event.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
