Senate Democrats have blocked a Republican-led bill that sought to prohibit transgender women and girls from competing in female sports nationwide.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump has already signed an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women’s or girls’ sporting events, aligning federal funding policies with the administration’s definition of sex at birth.
What To Know
The legislation failed to advance in a 51-45 vote, falling short of the 60 votes needed to move forward. The bill aimed to define Title IX protections, which aims to defend people from sex-based discrimination in schools and other educational programs that receive federal funding,” based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has changed its participation policy for transgender athletes, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth.
The policy, effective immediately, applies to all NCAA athletes and follows Trump’s executive order, which allows federal agencies to withhold funding from institutions that do not comply.
NCAA president Charlie Baker told CNN: “We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions.”.
The debate over transgender participation in sports has extended beyond the United States, as several international sports organizations have introduced similar bans in recent years, citing concerns over fairness and competitive balance.
Sports Organizations Implementing Bans
World Athletics
In 2023, World Athletics, the governing body for track and field, tightened its restrictions on transgender women competing in female categories. The updated policy prohibits transgender women who have gone through male puberty from competing in women’s events, regardless of their testosterone levels.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said the decision was made to “protect the female category.” The ruling also introduced new guidelines for athletes with Differences of Sexual Development (DSD), requiring them to maintain testosterone levels below a specific threshold.
UK Athletics
The U.K. Athletics federation also barred transgender women from competing in female events, citing fairness and the need to protect women’s sports. The ruling applies across all levels of competition in the U.K., from grassroots to elite.
In a statement, U.K. Athletics said it believed that “it is fair for athletes who have gone through male puberty to be excluded from the female category in athletics,” but that “athletics should remain an inclusive sport.”
International Rugby League
The International Rugby League (IRL) implemented a ban on transgender women competing in international matches in 2022, pending further research on the issue.
In a statement, the IRL said, “Until further research is completed to enable the IRL to implement a formal transgender inclusion policy, male-to-female (transwomen) players are unable to play in sanctioned women’s international rugby league matches.”
The decision came after World Rugby had already introduced a ban on transgender women competing at the elite level, arguing that the physicality of the sport presented safety concerns.
World Aquatics (formerly FINA)
World Aquatics, the governing body for international swimming, adopted new rules in 2022 that effectively ban transgender women from competing in elite swimming events unless they have transitioned before age 12.
The organization has also discussed the creation of an “open category” for transgender athletes.
“This is not saying that people are encouraged to transition by the age of 12. It’s what the scientists are saying, that if you transition after the start of puberty, you have an advantage, which is unfair,” said James Pearce, spokesperson for then FINA president Husain Al-Musallam.
Ongoing Debate
The debate over transgender participation in sports continues to divide policymakers, sports federations, and advocacy groups. Proponents of bans argue that biological differences create unfair advantages in competition, while critics argue that these policies exclude and marginalize transgender athletes.
Following the U.S. Senate‘s rejection of the proposed national ban, LGBTQ+ rights organizations reaffirmed their opposition to such measures.
What People Are Saying
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said, “Every child should have the opportunity to experience the simple joys of being young and making memories with their friends. But bills like these send the message that transgender kids don’t deserve the same opportunities to thrive as their peers simply because of who they are.”
What Happens Next
Despite pushback, sports organizations worldwide continue to tighten restrictions, making transgender participation one of the most contentious issues in modern athletics.
The post List of Sports That Have Introduced Bans on Transgender Athletes appeared first on Newsweek.
