Congress passes ban on biological males participating in female sports

 

A placard at the event announcing the legislation. Fox News/Getty.

Congress has passed a ban on transgender students participating in sports that do not match their biological sex. Fox News. The bill passed, 218 to 206 with two Democrats joining the Republicans in passing the bill, while a third Democrat, Don Davis, voted "present". The bill will be taken up by the Senate next. The bill would ban transgender males from participating in woman's sports in schools between Kindergarten and High School, and would also ban it from colleges and universities that receive federal funds. The participation of male to female transgender students in female sports has been very controversial due to issues including fairness and fears about sexual assault in locker rooms. 

My Comment:

There absolutely has been a shift on this issue and I think a few Democrats are realizing how badly the issue plays for them. The two Democrats that voted for this bill (and one that voted present) are in districts that are trending red in red states and they understand that the issue could sink their chances in 2026 if they didn't do something. 

The bill seems pretty unlikely to pass in the Senate. Current control of the Senate is 53-47 and the filibuster limit is 60, so unless 7 Democrats flip to support the bill or the filibuster gets blown up, it's not likely to pass. Donald Trump would sign the law if it were to make his desk, but I just don't know if there are 7 Democrats that would cross over to vote for it. 

Donald Trump is likely to take executive action if the legislation fails to pass, so it's mostly a moot point. But I think it's important to discuss because it shows how much the tide is changing on this issue. The pendulum on transgenders has absolutely swung away from their camp and towards people that are skeptical of all aspects of the ideology. 

I do think that the transgender issue was one that helped cost the Democrats the presidency in 2024. Folks were mostly on board when it was just adults living their lives but the actions of the activists have turned people off. Indeed, the participation of grown men in girls sports, pretty much ruined them. Not only were records being broken by people that had an obvious biological advantage, there were even a few cases of women getting injured by biological men that were dramatically larger and stronger then them. It was something that really wasn't defensible and even the "live and let live" folks were disgusted by it. 

Either way, I do think that this is an easy win for Republicans no matter what. If the bill passes they manage to fix a problem that they were put into office to deal with. If the Democrats refuse to pass it in the Senate they have a campaign issue in 2026, even if Trump deals with it at the Executive level. Like I said, it's a winning issue for Republicans and an absolute albatross for the Democrats. 

I also think that this is another example of how much the culture appears to be shifting in the wake of Trump winning a 2nd term. Things just seem different now to the point where even Democrats are speaking out against the excesses of "wokism". Trump getting elected gave cover to folks who were never comfortable with the far left turn the country took in the last decade and a half permission to speak out...