'Men have no place in women's sports': House GOP votes to roll back Title IX changes

The House passed the "Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act," which could change Title IX protections and ensure only people assigned female at birth participate in women and girls athletics, on Tuesday on a vote of 218-206-1.

Two Democrats voted in favor of the House GOP's signature legislation: Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez. North Carolina Rep. Don Davis, a Democrat, voted present. The three bucked House Democratic leadership in doing so.

Republicans are now touting this bill as bipartisan even though only two Democrats crossed the aisle to vote in favor of the bill.

"Today was an improvement. It's bipartisan," Johnson said about the bill at his victory presser. "We had two Democrats join us."

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education programs. The landmark legislation led by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., ensures that women are protected in female sports that are operated, sponsored or facilitated by a recipient of federal funding.

"Men have no place in women's sports," Steube wrote in a statement. "Republicans have promised to protect women's sports, and under President Trump's leadership, we will fulfill this promise."

Steube's bill aims to ensure schools comply with a person's "reproductive" biology and genetics at birth, according to the bill. Therefore, if signed into law, it will be a violation for a man to participate in an athletic program that is intended for women or girls. If the House bill passes tomorrow, it could make its way to the Republican-held Senate and be ready to sign for President-elect Donald Trump when he returns to office this month. However, its unclear if the Senate will have the votes to pass the bill, even with its slim majority.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar blasted the bill's impact not just on collegiate athletes but on women and girls of all ages.

"What's most offensive about the legislation is that it doesn't distinguish: girls sports at what age?" Aguilar said. "Whether you're an Olympic athlete, an NCAA player, a high school sports player regulated by your state or whether you're just playing soccer as a 4-year-old or 5-year-old down the street."

"It potentially could lead to inspections, individuals raising concerns, and how you proceed with that is something that is concerning to the House Democratic Caucus," he said.

Critics have said they believe the GOP has undertaken an anti-transgender agenda fueling culture wars in American education. Transgender athletes makeup well under 1% of NCAA players across all sports, according to NCAA President Charlie Baker.

But 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer and women's sports advocate Riley Gaines defiantly opposed the criticism at the House's post-vote press conference.

"Another thing they [Democrats] said, 'There's only a few girls who have been injured at the hands of a boy -- it's such a small percentage,'" she explained. "I heard that this bill is a waste of time, and let me tell you the message I received when I heard that: I'm a waste of time. Girls around the country, just like me, are a waste of time. Your daughters are a waste of time to all House Democrats except the two who voted in favor [of this bill]."

Labeling the bill as the "GOP Child Predator Empowerment Act," Oregon Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat, emphasized it would endanger women and girls by requiring them to "prove their gender."

And 25 states already have laws banning transgender student-athletes from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project.

The bill was a pipe dream for years when Democrats were in control of Washington. In 2023, under Republican control in the House, the same bill passed 219-203 on a party-line vote -- but was never taken up in the Senate. The House then passed Rep. Mary Miller's Congressional Review Act in 2024 as conservatives pledged to "roll back" President Joe Biden's expansions to Title IX, which ensured protections for transgender people. The resolution would have nullified the Biden-Harris administration's Title IX rule.

Meanwhile, protecting women and girls in sports, parents' rights and other education policies taken up in the House became winning issues on Trump's legislative agenda during the 2024 election cycle. Taking after former House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, newly elected Chairman Tim Walberg said men competing against women in sports "jeopardizes competition and fair play."

"How is this any different than keeping women off the field altogether?" Walberg wrote in a statement touting the bill. "Allowing women and girls to suffer for the sake of the dishonesty of wokeness is inexcusable."

National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues stressed lawmakers should be focused on more pressing issues in the classroom, such as the country's reading crisis and abysmal literacy rates.

"The idea that this is the No. 1 [education] priority of Republicans is deeply disappointing," Rodrigues said. "This was an election that was settled in the grocery store. Why this would be the No. 1 priority for Republicans is absolutely baffling to me."