Pa. Senate Approves Bill Excluding Trans Girls From Female School Sports

The Pennsylvania Senate has approved a legislation that would ban transgender preventing girls from taking part in sports at girls' schools, as the Trump administration increases pressure on state and local agencies to align with its new interpretation of Title IX rules.

On Tuesday, the measure passed through the Senate with a tally of 32 votes for and 18 against, supported by every member of the Republican majority along with five Democrats. It was frequently noted during the day's debates that due to Democratic control, this contentious topic has minimal prospects of advancing to the state House.

However, even though this matter didn’t gain traction legislatively, it’s viewed as a significant political divide — a reality that came to light during an outburst on the Senate floor. During this heated exchange, Minority Leader Jay Costa from Allegheny County raised his voice at points to support colleagues who were criticized by Majority Leader Joe Pittman from Indiana County for straying away from discussing the specifics of the proposed legislation.

Costa stated afterward that everyone understands why it's under consideration now, emphasizing that it's primarily a political matter. After Pittman objected to Senator Katie Muth from Montgomery County raising points of order, she started listing numerous issues they could address instead of debating the transgender athlete legislation.

“To that end, you know this bill is not going anywhere in the House,” Costa continued. “You know it’s not going anywhere to the governor’s desk. This is simply being done for political reasons to be able to create a divisive chamber here.”

Republicans stood firm in their position, as Senator Michelle Brooks from Mercer County stated to her peers, "cease portraying this issue through any lens other than what it truly is"—a sincere desire to ensure that young girls with ambitious dreams do not encounter an uneven battleground.

The legislation is nearly identical to the versions that were approved by both the House and Senate in 2022; when the House was under Republican control, their version advanced to Governor. Tom Wolf’s table, where it faced rejection.

The legislation advancing from the committee on Wednesday mandates that all public educational institutions in Pennsylvania—including K-12 school districts, charter schools, and publicly funded colleges and universities—must categorize each of their sports programs based on gender. It also stipulates that categories designated specifically for female participants "shall not be accessible to male students."

The bill defines “sex” as “a person’s immutable characteristics of the reproductive system that define the individual as male or female, as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth.”

Further, students who believe they have suffered harm due to an alleged violation of this rule are given explicit grounds for a civil suit against their school.

The goal of the legislation is to “protect the opportunities for our female athletes that sports provide,” said Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair County, the prime sponsor of both the current and 2022 bills — opportunities that are being encroached upon by male-to-female transgender athletes who are exploiting their inherent physical advantage, Ward said.

There were two changes since 2022. Firstly, several Democrats have shown flexibility on this matter; out of the five Democratic legislators who supported Ward’s bill on Tuesday, two had opposed it three years prior.

The second is that Donald Trump is in the White House, and earlier this year issued an executive order declaring that allowing transgender women and girls to participate in female sports is a violation of Title IX, the law which prohibits sex-based discrimination and requires equal opportunity between the sexes in schools that receive federal funding.

The Trump administration is currently looking into universities regarding transgender athletes, including targeting Penn due to the attention-seeking dispute amidst transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.

During Tuesday’s debate, Trump’s revision of Title IX—which faces legal challenges—was brought up by Republicans. Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill from York County stated that this amendment "upholds the pledge of Title IX" and "secures opportunities for future women leaders in our state."

However, the main concern extends beyond just trophies and scholarships, critics argue, emphasizing that the fundamental purpose of athletics should be nurturing teamwork and self-assurance—particularly vital for transgender young people.

Opponents of these proposals argue that supporters are concentrating solely on high-level athletic competitions, neglecting the reality that most students prevented from participating in sports aligned with their gender identity would just be kids seeking an equal opportunity for a typical peer experience.

“The supporters of this legislation focus solely on top-tier collegiate athletes and overlook all other aspects,” stated Senator Lindsey Williams from Allegheny County. “Let’s not forget that this bill will also exclude six-year-old children who simply wish to enjoy playing soccer with their buddies.”

Opponents of the bill argued that schools and sports leagues should be able to develop their own guidelines regarding when transgender female students can participate in athletics, rather than having a statewide prohibition imposed by legislators.

This chamber is poorly situated to establish a rule regarding fairness in athletics," stated Senator Steve Santarsiero from Bucks County. "Athletic organizations are better suited for such tasks and should address these issues on an individual basis rather than having the state Senate enact a broadly defined law on this subject.

As noted several times in Tuesday’s debate, there is general medical agreement that transgender girls who haven’t experienced puberty, with its heightened testosterone levels, have little athletic difference from cisgender girls.

Even for highly skilled adults, an edge isn't assured in all sports and situations, as stated by a significant study conducted earlier this year sponsored by the International Olympic Committee which revealed that transgender athletes do possess an edge in specific aspects of physical fitness, yet they often lack advantages and may even be at a disadvantage in numerous other areas.

"What confuses me is how we, as state lawmakers, believe we have any expertise at all when discussing these issues," stated Senator Judy Schwank from Berks County, who belongs to the Democratic Party.

There was also a great deal of disagreement on the scale of the issue. Santarsiero noted that the NCAA has mentioned that there are less than 10 transgender athletes out of roughly half a million involved in competitive college sports, “but yet we are there today debating this bill as if it is a much broader problem.”

A significant number of Republicans, conversely, felt that an growing influx of transgender girls into sports was driven primarily by the perceived unfair competitive edge they might possess.

"Starting from 2020 in Pennsylvania, 37 female athletes have been stripped of their first-place titles, and an additional 13 have lost their second or third-place rankings," Ward stated, though she didn’t provide a reference for this data.

As an individual frequently attending various coaching events, I can say this trend is increasing," stated Senator Scott Martin from Lancaster County. "And as someone with experience coaching young individuals, I concur that it is indeed expanding.

Approximately sixty-seven percent of Americans disagree with permitting transgender athletes to compete in sports that do not correspond to the gender they were assigned at birth, as indicated by recent surveys. Gallup and Pew However, surveys conducted before the 2024 election revealed that this issue was not considered as important by voters when compared to various contentious subjects, with one poll showing similar findings. discovered that three-fourths of voters believed that discussions about transgender issues were serving as a distraction from more pressing concerns.

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