Senate Democrats block transgender sports ban

• Democrats in the U.S. Senate used the filibuster to block the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. The bill aimed to limit participation in school sports to a participant’s biological sex assigned at birth.

• The act sought to define sex based on reproductive biology and genetics at birth. It also disqualifies transgender women from competing in women’s sports and had support from the Trump administration.
• President Trump signed an executive order banning trans athletes born as biological males from participating in women’s sports. It led the NCAA to change its rules to comply with the order.

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Democrats in the U.S. Senate utilized the filibuster to block a Republican bill that, if enacted, would have limited participation in school sports to a participant’s biological sex assigned at birth. The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act needed 60 senators to support breaking a filibuster with all members present and voting. The final tally was 51-45 along partisan lines. 

The act would have codified a change to Title IX. This federal law bars sex-based discrimination in education to define sex as based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth. It would disqualify transgender women from competing in sports designated for women or girls.

“Well, at least now the American people know the truth,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said in a post to X shortly after the bill failed. “Even after (President Donald Trump’s) landslide election, Democrats STILL support men competing in women’s sports. This is far from over. I’ll NEVER stop fighting to protect women and girls.”

The Trump administration expressed support for the bill, saying it “would expressly recognize what is already federal law — that it is an illegal act of discrimination for a man to participate in a federally funded athletic program or activity designated for women or girls.”

Trump signed an executive order on Feb. 5 that bans trans athletes born as biological males from participating in women’s sports.

The Biden administration’s Title IX guidance required schools to allow transgender students to participate in sports and use locker rooms and facilities that align with their gender identity.

NCAA officials said that fewer than 10 transgender athletes competed at the collegiate level prior to Trump’s order. Shortly after, the association changed its rules to comply with the order.