U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) led 20 Republican colleagues in reintroducing the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act to preserve Title IX protections for female athletes and ensure fair, safe competition in women’s sports across the country. The legislation would counteract the Biden administration’s plans to implement rules this year that will force institutions to allow biological males to share spaces with females and compete in women’s sports.

“For more than 50 years, Title IX has allowed women and girls opportunities that were previously denied to them. Now, if the Biden administration gets their way, sports will be divided into a team of men and a team of folks who used to be men, while women are sidelined from the opportunity to compete. We must push back on the left’s anti-woman agenda and ensure a level playing field for future generations of female athletes,” said Senator Blackburn.

“Throughout my coaching career, I saw the incomparable success of Title IX and the educational and personal opportunities sports have provided to millions of female athletes,” said Senator Tuberville. “For more than 50 years, this law has empowered young women to grow personally, compete professionally, and receive scholarships to further their education. The positive impacts of a fair playing field in women’s sports are unmatched, but the Biden administration is forcing female athletes to the sidelines by allowing biological males to compete where they do not belong. It’s unfair, it’s unsafe, and it’s wrong. We cannot stand by and let girls and women in sports lose to the radical left’s agenda. I am proud to introduce this legislation, and will continue fighting to preserve a level playing field for all current and future female athletes.”

Joining Blackburn and Tuberville as original cosponsors are U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kan.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

The legislation is endorsed by Independent Women’s Voice, Concerned Women for America, and Heritage Action for America.

BACKGROUND:

Last year, on the 50th anniversary of Title IX’s enactment, the U.S. Department of Education issued a proposed rule to allow biological males to compete in women’s sports. The department proceeded with its decision to finalize the rule, which is now expected to be published in May of this year. It is expected that the rule will take effect during the 2023-2024 school year.

Specifically, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act:

• Ensures Title IX provisions treat gender as “recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”
• Bans recipients of federal funding from operating, sponsoring, or facilitating athletic programs that permit a male to participate in a women’s sporting event.

RELATED:

• ICYMI: Blackburn Talks With NCAA Championship Swimmer About The Future Of Women And Girls In Sports
• Blackburn Blasts Democrats For Erasing Women & Girls From Sports
• Blackburn, Colleagues Express Concern On Proposed Title IX Rule

For bill text, click here.

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