Equality Caucus Condemns Republicans' New Federal Ban on Transgender Athletes
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WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Congressional Equality Caucus released the following statement after Republicans on the House Committee on the Judiciary reported H.R. 7187, a new transgender athlete ban, favorably out of committee: |
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“Once again, House Republicans are attacking trans people,” said Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02), Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus. “Republicans already voted to ban trans women and girls from participating in school sports last year, and now they want to limit trans Americans’ rights further by banning them from playing sports in a wide range of settings. Transgender people deserve to participate in all parts of society, including athletics. Republicans need to stop their obsession with attacking transgender people and tackle the actual problems Americans face.”
“HR 7181 is a hate bill. Period” said Rep. Becca Balint (VT-AL), Co-Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus and a member of the House Judiciary Committee. “Time and time again, Republicans hide behind promoting women and girls in sports. But these continued attacks have real consequences. The countless anti LGBTQIA+ attacks from Republicans only stand to incite violence and ultimately remove trans people from public life. But I want trans girls and women to know: you deserve to participate and thrive in the sports you love.”
“This cruel, discriminatory legislation is nothing more than an attempt to score cheap political points at the expense of transgender Americans. This bill tells some of our country’s most vulnerable individuals that they do not belong and targets a group that experiences disproportionately high rates of discrimination and harassment,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Co-Chair of the Equality Caucus’s Transgender Equality Task Force and a member of the House Judiciary Committee. “Republicans don’t actually care about protecting women’s and girls’ sports – if they did, they would focus on the lack of financial resources and prominent wage gaps. But instead, they’re coopting language from the women’s rights movement to go after gender inclusivity and trans Americans. Countless sport’s governing bodies and organizations have rejected categorical bans on trans athletes, and so should we. I will continue to fight for the right of trans individuals to participate in all aspects of society and live full lives full of dignity, respect, and equality.”
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BACKGROUND
Pursuant to the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) certifies, for each sport on the program of the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan-American or Parapan Games, “an amateur sports organization, a high-performance management organization, or a Paralympic sports organization” as the national governing body (NGB) for that sport. NGBs are the official coordinating bodies within their sport in the U.S., developing grassroots participation in their sport and sanctioning domestic and international competitions in the U.S., such as national championships and Olympic trials, among other responsibilities. For some sports, the NGB oversees virtually all competitions and activities including youth club teams, adult club teams, and the national team (e.g., USRowing).
H.R. 7187, the so-called “Protection of Women in Olympic and Amateur Sports Act” would require all NGBs to ban transgender girls and women from participating in athletic events for girls and women. Specifically, the bill would amend the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act and add a new eligibility requirement that an amateur sports organization, in order to be eligible to be certified or continue to be certified as an NGB, must ban trans girls and trans women from participating in amateur athletic competitions designated for girls and women. Additionally, the bill adds new definitions of “male,” “female,” and “sex” to the Ted Stevens Act that erases the existence of transgender, intersex, and non-binary people.
This bill would have far-reaching consequences, banning transgender girls and women at all levels and all ages, including those who haven’t gone through puberty, from a wide range of athletic opportunities and limiting opportunities for intersex and non-binary people too.
In 2023, House Republicans voted to ban transgender girls from school sports teams. Today’s vote is the latest attack against the LGBTQI+ community in the 118th congress. In 2023 alone, House Republicans introduced more than 55 anti-LGBTQI+ bills and held more than 50 anti-LGBTQI+ votes on the House floor—the majority of which targeted the transgender community.
Even at the most elite level, sports bodies have rejected H.R. 7187’s approach. In November 2021, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) released the Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations and in 2022, the USOPC affirmed its support for the 2021 IOC framework and issued its own guiding principles. Both policies reject categorical bans on transgender participation across all sports.
Many civil rights and women’s rights organizations oppose H.R. 7187. For example, the Women's Sports Foundation and National Women's Law Center wrote a letter to the committee—joined by 50 women’s rights, gender justice, and sport governance organizations, including USA Fencing—opposing the bill.
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