WASHINGTON (AP) – A law aimed at banning transgender women and girls across the country was intended to participate in athletics at schools designated for female athletes.
The bill’s test vote failed to win the 60 votes needed to advance in the chamber as the senators stuck to the party’s line with a 51-45 vote tally.
The bill sought to determine Title IX protection “based solely on reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” The vote came as Republicans repeatedly lived on social causes and cast it as an issue of ensuring women and girls’ movement equity. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month, giving federal agencies a wide latitude and ensuring that federal funding entities adhere to Title IX, consistent with the administration’s views.
Still, Congressional Republicans aim to make that policy an act by amending the Title IX Act of 1972.
“Around the country, we’ve seen biological men identified as women who have won athletic space and medals for real women,” said Senate Majority Leader John Tune (this is a matter of fairness and equality.”
The House has already passed similar laws and only supported two Democrats, but the backing of the Senate bill has marked a steep climb of the law aimed at LGBTQ people. Democrats have denounced the bill both as distracting from more pressing issues and as challenging the federal government to decide on local schools.
“What Republicans do today is to invent the problem of stirring up a culture war and separating people from one another,” Senator Brian Schatz of D-Hawaii said in a speech on the floor.
D-Wis. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of . “This is a sports league decision to actually do the best for all players, not blanket mandate that actually brings unintended consequences for all students, in order to actually take what’s best for all players seriously.”
Still, Republicans across the country seem determined to push the issue. During the presidential election, President Trump discovered that the topic resonated beyond the usual party lines. More than half of the voters surveyed by AP voters said there was too much support for trans rights in government and society.
Following Trump’s executive order, the NCAA changed its participation policy for trans athletes, limiting competition for women’s sports to athletes assigned women at birth.
On Monday in Minnesota, the Capitol was supported for similar debates over a GOP-backed bill that applies to primary and secondary schools. Prior to the debate, dozens of supporters gathered at St. Paul’s Capitol Steps to frag the bill as a protection of opportunity and safety for girls in sports, ensuring they have an equal playing field.
Democrats and LGBTQ+ rights activists have accused the measure of bullying.
Following the failure of the Senate Building, Human Rights Campaign President Kelly Robinson said in a statement: But such bills send a message that trans children don’t deserve the same opportunity to thrive with their peers simply because of who they are. ”
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Associated Press Writer Steve Karnowski from St. Paul, Minnesota contributed.
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