Failed Bill Reflects Growing Tensions Over Transgender Rights in Sports And Beyond
Protestors march in Washington in support of transgender rights on March 1st just days before the bill that was set to ban transgender women from women’s sports failed to pass. Source: Craig Hudson / Reuters
On March 3, a bill that proposed banning transgender women from participating in women’s sports failed to pass through a split Senate. This bill aimed to redefine Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs or activities that receive federal funding. It would rescind federal funding from schools who would not comply with the new criteria, which would protect individuals based exclusively on their “reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” The party-line vote on the bill ended with a 51-45 count, failing to reach the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture and end a filibuster.
This bill came closely after President Trump’s executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which was signed on February 5. This order stated that allowing transgender women to participate in women's sports deprives women and girls of the equal ability to participate in sporting programs. As a result, all federal departments were instructed to review grants to school sports programs and revoke funding to those who allow transgender women and girls to participate in women’s sports.
The Trump administration's approach to transgender individuals poses a stark contrast to the Biden administration, which emphasized the importance of rights for transgender people, particularly in regard to gender-affirming care. The Trump administration justifies the fear of transgender individuals by stating that the discrimination against them is for the protection of women, and that allowing transgender women into these spaces deprives cisgender women of their “dignity, safety, and wellbeing”.
The bill proposed on March 3 is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the Trump administration’s continued attacks on transgender individuals. On Jan. 20, the very day that Trump was re-elected, he issued the executive order “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” This reversed several executive orders that had been issued by former President Joe Biden in efforts to improve the well-being of transgender individuals and prohibit institutional discrimination against them. This new order claims the existence of only two genders and recognizes people strictly as men or women based on whether they are born with eggs or sperm. Additionally, it states that federal agencies will be barred from promoting gender transition, and instructed prisons to not allocate taxpayer funds for gender transition services. Several transgender women have been moved into men’s prisons under this order. Transgender women are already nine times more likely to experience sexual assault or harrassment in prison compared to cisgender incarcerated individuals, and this order will likely serve to increase this high rate. Additionally, the order moved to remove the option to select “X” as a gender on passport applications.
A week later, the President signed another executive order labeled “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness”. This moved to ban transgender troops from openly serving in the military. It instated heavy restrictions on transgender military members, and claimed that “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”
On Jan. 28, the administration implemented another executive order, “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.” This proclaims that the government will refrain from funding or supporting any efforts to transition a child (under 19 years of age) from one sex to another, and will enforce all laws that restrict or prohibit such procedures. This includes the restriction of puberty blockers, sex hormones, and gender-affirming care. In relation to this, the “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” executive order restricts schools from using federal funds to support students undergoing social gender transition or incorporating curriculum that prompts any concept of gender fluidity.
Under the Trump administration, officials have also begun to target public health data. There has been a removal of terms and research pertaining to “gender ideology”, and the term “gender” is being replaced with “sex” on government forms. The data restriction has reached the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, and information on contraception, HIV, and lessons on supporting transgender and nonbinary children has been removed.
The failure of the bill that moved to bar transgender women from participating in women’s sports aligns with previous federal court rulings that have consistently favored transgender student-athletes who challenged state-level bans. Many Democrats view this issue as a distraction from more pressing concerns, dismissing the proposed restrictions as unnecessary and an overreach into state-controlled domains. Meanwhile, Republicans are likely to seize on the failed vote as a political talking point in upcoming elections, continuing their pattern of using transgender rights as a wedge issue, as seen in the 2024 campaign.