The United States House of Representatives just had its first hearing on a proposed federal ban on trans girls playing school sports. At this point, anti-trans legislation has become so extreme at the state level that the notion of a sports ban seems almost quaint — which, some might say, is part of the right wing’s general goal to shift the Overton window on trans issues. And yet the bill still represents a cruel threat to trans student athletes nationwide.
HR 734, or the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023, would make it illegal for public schools to permit trans girls to play on women’s sports teams. However, the bill does add that a trans girl can participate on a sports team of her choosing as long as she is not depriving a cis female student of a spot on the roster. Furthermore, it adds that a trans student’s participation cannot deny another student the opportunity to participate in a practice or a competition, to obtain a scholarship, to gain admission to an educational institution, or to receive any other benefit a sport may provide.
To be clear, this absolutely doesn’t happen anywhere. In September, ACLU communications strategist Gillian Branstetter pointed out that there are more state laws banning trans girls from playing on the appropriate K-12 teams than there are trans girls playing school sports. Although there is little information about the actual prevalence of transfeminine student athletes, a founder of the group Save Women’s Sports could name only five examples of such athletes in the entire country. Comparatively, 18 states place at least some limitations on trans kids participating in sports, with the vast majority of laws being aimed at trans girls.
Advocates slammed the introduction of the bill. Casey Pick, director of law and policy for The Trevor Project, pointed out that the proposed ban was not only “unfair and unnecessary,” but that “it would also deny them yet another potential source of connectedness, stress relief, and joy.”
“Transgender young people deserve to have the same opportunities as their peers, and like all young people, they can only thrive when treated with dignity and respect,” Pick said in a statement provided to Them.
Pick additionally pointed to the increased mental health risks that young trans people face, including the fact that nearly half of trans women and girls reported seriously considering suicide in the past year, with 12% making attempts, according to the Trevor Project’s 2022 U.S. National Survey.
David Stacy, the government affairs director at the Human Rights Campaign, called attention to the utter hypocrisy of claiming that such legislation is meant to protect students. “As our nation’s children are facing an epidemic of gun violence in our schools, a shortage of quality teachers, and unacceptably high levels of suicide and suicide ideation, House Republicans are pursuing their political agenda over helping our kids who are in crisis,” Stacy said in a statement. “These extremist, anti-equality politicians seem to have a limitless appetite for attacking trans kids.”
Even if the bill makes it out of committee and passes the Republican-led House, it would almost certainly die in the Senate, which holds a Democratic majority. But trans participation in sports is likely to remain a contentious issue, especially as the 2024 presidential race gathers steam. Last February, former president Donald Trump promised to ban trans girls and women from sports if re-elected, and has since proposed a ban on trans healthcare for youth, and a ban on “promoting the concept of sex and gender transition at any age.”
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