The House passed on Thursday the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, a bill that would amend Title IX to prevent men from competing against women in school sports.
No Democrat voted in favor of the measure, which passed 219 to 203.
The bill would clarify that in the Education Amendments of 1972, the term “sex” as mentioned under the Title IX section “shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”
The bill would work to withhold funding from schools receiving federal financial assistance should they violate Title IX by allowing transgender athletes to compete in sports programs designed for the opposite sex.
“It’s about muscle mass and it’s about fairness,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said at a press conference flanked by colleagues and three female student athletes who had been forced to compete against men and lost out on opportunities because of it.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy addresses reporters in Washington, DC, after passage of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act April 20, 2023. (Breitbart News)
The legislation comes after President Joe Biden’s Department of Education ramped up efforts this month to allow men who say they are women into women’s athletics through a Title IX rule proposal.
Though the bill is not expected to advance in the Senate, the Biden administration announced that if it were to make it to the president’s desk, he would veto it.
The White House contended the bill “targets people for who they are and therefore is discriminatory.”
“Transgender youth already face a nationwide mental health crisis,” the White House stated.
House Republican Conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) told Breitbart News that regardless of Biden’s position, Republicans “are going to continue driving this agenda, and we’re going to win in 2024 to pass this into law.”
Stefanik joined roughly 20 other Republican women the morning of the bill’s passage to celebrate their efforts to preserve female competition in sports.
One of the women, Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), has been an outspoken advocate on the issue and frequently elevates and encourages Riley Gaines, who rose to prominence after tying with male athlete Lia Thomas in a collegiate national swimming championship.
Rep. Lisa McClain speaks at a press conference on the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act at the U.S. Capitol, April 20, 2023. (Breitbart News)
“Listen, I am a live and let live person. You can be whatever you want to be,” McClain said. “You want to be transgender? That’s your right, but what about my rights? What about the rights of my daughters? That is where we have lost our minds.”
Write to Ashley Oliver at aoliver@breitbart.com. Follow her on Twitter at @asholiver.