WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Republican members of the House of Representatives passed the so-called “Save Women’s Sports” bill on Thursday, a piece of legislation that aims to block biological males who identify as female from competing in girls and women’s sports in the United States. 

The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act passed on a 219-203 vote along party lines, with all votes to pass the bill coming from Republicans and all votes against it coming from Democrats. 

Republicans state that the purpose of the bill is to prevent biological women and girls from being forced to compete against male-to-female transgender athletes, whom many consider to possess numerous physical advantages that ultimately result in unfair competition.  

However, Democrats opposing the bill stated that it is merely an extension of the bullying that transgender individuals are already forced to endure in many places in society, including school. 

Those arguing against the bill Thursday morning included Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), who claimed that if the bill was passed into law, it would make school sports “less safe for women and girls,” and said that even the very act of discussing the legislation was harmful to transgender students, calling it “traumatizing.” 

In contrast, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) said that the physical advantages that trans athletes possess over biological females are being ignored by Democrats, and said that their argument that the bill represented a GOP “hate campaign” against transgender students was completely untrue. 

“We hate no one,” Foxx said. “It is ridiculous that we have had to stand here today to defend the rights of women and girls to participate in sports against other women and girls and they not being taken advantage of by biological males.” 

With the bill’s passage in the House it now goes on to the Senate, where the chamber’s Democratic majority will most likely refrain from taking it up; if the bill is somehow passed, President Joe Biden has publicly stated that he would veto it.  

A presidential veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.