House Passes Legislation to Protect Women and Girls in Sports
The House passed a bill on Tuesday requiring all federally-funded schools to defend the safety and the rights of women and girls.
The measure, also known as the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, would restrict women's sports to those who are born female.
The bill makes it a violation of Title IX rules to allow transgender females – those who are born male – to take part in women's athletics. It covers most middle schools, high schools, and colleges.
It passed the Republican-led House 218 to 206 and now heads to the Senate, where the GOP has a three-seat majority.
When a reporter asked House Speaker Mike Johnson how he could defend the bill from a Christian standpoint, Johnson cited the book of Genesis which makes it clear that "God created them male and female."
Speaker Johnson uses the Bible to shred ignorant reporter
— Terry Schilling (@Schilling1776) January 15, 2025
Reporter: Where in scripture does it say male and female?@SpeakerJohnson: GENESIS pic.twitter.com/OfGl32wmQR
"This comports with commonsense," Johnson explained. "It's biology. And biology is not bigotry as we say. Anyone who would accuse the supporters of this legislation otherwise is ill-informed. This is to protect women and girls. It's very clear."
The House's decision to pass the legislation comes less than a week after a federal district court in Kentucky ruled that the Biden administration unlawfully attempted to change the meaning of "sex" in Title IX to include "gender identity."
As CBN News reported, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a non-profit legal group, and the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Indiana, and West Virginia sued in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, which ruled that the Biden administration rule change exceeded authority and was "arbitrary and capricious agency action."
"When Title IX is viewed in its entirety, it is abundantly clear that discrimination on the basis of sex means discrimination on the basis of being a male or female," the court wrote in its opinion. "As this Court and others have explained, expanding the meaning of 'on the basis of sex' to include 'gender identity' turns Title IX on its head."
"Title IX," the court continued, allows "males and females to be separated based on the enduring physical differences between the sexes."
The U.S. Department of Education is no longer allowed to enforce its LGBTQ reinterpretation of the rule anywhere.
Former collegiate swimmer and women's rights activist, Riley Gaines, stood with House lawmakers saying it is "necessary and urgent" to protect girls and women.
WATCH NOW! Riley Gaines destroys the pro-trans argument that boys should be able to compete in girls' sports.
— Terry Schilling (@Schilling1776) January 14, 2025
No one has done more to protect our daughters than @Riley_Gaines_ — THANK YOU! pic.twitter.com/2ojI2CE58t
"I'm mad that we, as women, have to beg for equal rights," she said in a press conference. "Men do not belong in women's sports. And with the House passage of the Protection of Women in Sports Act, we are one step closer as a nation in making sure that not one more male athlete is able to take a trophy, a roster spot, playing time, resources, or an opportunity to compete from a woman."
**Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***
