Heather Clark – September 24, 2020
WASHINGTON — Five U.S. senators have introduced a bill that would prohibit biological males who identify as female from competing in girls’ school sports.
Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, Mike Lee of Utah, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, James Lankford of Oklahoma and Tom Cotton of Arkansas presented the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act” on Tuesday, which amends Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to specifically note that the definition of “sex” is based on the individual’s “reproductive biology and genetics at the the time of birth.”
“It shall be a violation … for a recipient of federal funds who operates, sponsors, or facilitates athletic programs or activities to permit a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls,” the bill reads.
According to Loeffler, the measure would penalize schools that violate the law and could also threaten their funding altogether.
She points to a case out of Connecticut in which the Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) implemented a policy allowing students to compete in accordance with their stated “gender identity.”
Two biological boys, who go by the names Andraya Yearwood and Terry Miller, were consequently permitted to join the girls track team at their school and compete as females — moving on to the New England regionals.
One of the female competitors, Selina Soule, who attends Bloomfield High School, wasn’t able to qualify for the 55-meter race at the regionals because Yearwood and Miller took two of the top spots. She came in eighth.
She and her mother, along with fellow runners Chelsea Mitchell and Alanna Smith and their parents, lodged a complaint last year with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, which agreed to investigate.