WASHINGTON -- The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that would prevent schools from allowing transgender girls and women to join sports teams aligned with their gender identity.
The Republican-led chamber approved the measure in a 219-203 vote along party lines, but it's unlikely the bill will advance further because the Democratic-led Senate is not expected to support it. Arkansas' four House members -- Reps. Rick Crawford, French Hill, Steve Womack and Bruce Westerman -- joined Republican colleagues in supporting the legislation. Crawford and Westerman had backed the bill as sponsors.
House Resolution 734, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, would prohibit school athletic programs from allowing individuals on teams that do not match their sex assigned at birth. The bill would make allowing athletes assigned male at birth on girls' and women's teams a violation of Title IX, the 1972 law addressing discrimination by sex.
The measure would amend Title IX by clarifying sex as "based solely on a person's reproductive biology and genetics at birth."
The bill comes amid efforts by multiple state legislatures -- including Arkansas' legislative body -- to address concerns over transgender residents. Supporters have argued measures regarding sports are necessary to ensure fairness in athletic competition, while opponents contend such bills target a group of people for the sake of political posturing.
"Today, we stand for America. Today, we stand for women's sports," Florida Rep. Greg Steube, the measure's lead sponsor, said after Thursday's vote.
Westerman, a former member of the University of Arkansas football team, said in a statement that female athletes have to "compromise the fairness of the sport they love by being forced to compete against biological men."
"Women in sports fought for too long to be respected in athletics -- and now the radical left is putting Title IX and the integrity of women's athletics in jeopardy," the lawmaker from Hot Springs said. "This should not be a partisan issue; it's why we have women's sports. Basic genetics tells us that some biological men will naturally have a physical advantage over some females."
Speaking to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday, Westerman mentioned one of his daughter's involvement in sports as a reason for sponsoring the bill.
"I would have been furious if there had been some dude down there trying to play sports on the same team with my daughter," he said.
[DOCUMENT: Read the bill targeting transgender athletes » arkansasonline.com/421hr734/]
"I enjoy women's sports, but if you start putting biological males on the court or on the field with them, it takes the fairness out of sport. There's a place where you have to draw a line, and this is a place I'm happy to draw a line at."
Crawford, of Jonesboro, contended that allowing transgender girls and women on teams matching their gender identity creates disadvantages for cisgender athletes. Crawford and other Republicans have mentioned situations involving cisgender girls and women who lost to transgender athletes in sporting events.
"This destroys the integrity of women's and girls' sports, as female athletes are being forced to compete against individuals who have biological physical advantages over them," he said in a statement.
"It is heartbreaking to hear the stories of girls and women who trained their entire lives, only to be defeated by male opponents who have demonstrable and irreversible biological advantages. Congress has a duty to fight back against these attacks on Title IX, which has given girls and women opportunities to compete on a level playing field for multiple generations."
Alabama's Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican and a former college football coach, introduced a companion measure in the Senate. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is co-sponsoring the bill.
"There's nothing safe or fair about allowing biological men to compete in female sports leagues," Cotton said through his office. "I commend the House for voting to keep women's sports for women."
The White House has threatened to veto the bill if the Senate approves the legislation. The Office of Management and Budget argued legislation against transgender students "has no place in our nation's schools or on our playing fields."
"As a national ban that does not account for competitiveness or grade level, H.R. 734 targets people for who they are and therefore is discriminatory," the OMB said.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who has a transgender daughter, said Republicans were scapegoating transgender children to score political points. She said three-quarters of transgender students report having experienced harassment or discrimination at school and many have considered suicide.
"These bills tell some of the most vulnerable children in our country that they do not belong," Jayapal said. "Shame on you."
The U.S. Department of Education earlier this month unveiled proposed changes to Title IX to protect transgender students who want to participate on sports teams in line with their gender identity. The changes would allow schools the ability to develop eligibility requirements to ensure equal athletic opportunity.
Republican presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson signed legislation in March 2021 while serving as Arkansas' governor to prevent transgender athletes from playing on girls' and women's sports teams. The current Arkansas General Assembly also passed measures this year targeting transgender people, including a bill requiring public and charter school students to use bathrooms matching their sex assigned at birth.
The Williams Institute, a UCLA School of Law think-tank that studies sexual orientation and gender policy, estimates 1,800 Arkansas children between the ages of 13 and 17 are transgender. The center additionally estimates 16,200 transgender adults reside in Arkansas.
Athlete Ally, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ athletes, described the House bill as "symptomatic of the overall climate surrounding transgender, nonbinary and intersex youth in sports."
"Our transgender, nonbinary and intersex youth deserve to be exactly who they are in all parts of their life, and to experience the lifesaving power of sports," said Hudson Taylor, Athlete Ally's executive director.
Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press.