Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, let's face it, most people in the United States don't know someone who is transgender, and that can lead to fear of the unknown.
Some less-scrupulous politicians feed that fear and are willing to bully people, even kids, to lift themselves. They will tell you all sorts of distortions to manipulate you if it benefits them.
They argue that there is a national problem if trans girls participate in school sports. That is a lie. They don't care if it hurts kids--trans kids in this case--who already face huge rates of bullying just for being different. They just want to play with their friends and learn the value sports offer, but these politicians don't care. All they care about is building their political brand and lifting their fundraising.
How do I know they really don't care about girls and women in sports? Does anything in this bill address the severe inequities between men's and women's sports?
Not one word. In fact, most women's sporting groups oppose the bill.
It is not about keeping kids safe. If it was, it would be about keeping guns out of school.
Crickets on that.
Fortunately, not all Republicans agree.
The Republican Governor of Utah vetoed similar legislation highlighting the daily challenges trans kids already go through from bullying to suicide.
He shared how many trans kids play school sports in his State: Four trans youth, only one a girl. There is your raging national problem.
What is the Republican's response to this nonexistent issue?
Hurt kids for being kids by banning them from playing in school sports and even be as extreme as saying all female athletes, as young as in their pre-teen years, can be subject to personal bodily inspection by adults to prove that they are a girl.
Look, I know not everyone may understand this or may not know someone who is transgender, but just because you don't understand something isn't a good enough reason to outright ban kids from school sports.
We may not be able to stop unscrupulous politicians overnight, but we can stop bad legislation from hurting good kids.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source