{"id":845631,"date":"2025-05-03T21:11:55","date_gmt":"2025-05-04T02:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/03\/senate-democrats-block-gop-led-bill-to-ban-transgender-athletes-from-womens-sports\/"},"modified":"2025-05-03T21:11:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-04T02:11:55","slug":"senate-democrats-block-gop-led-bill-to-ban-transgender-athletes-from-womens-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/03\/senate-democrats-block-gop-led-bill-to-ban-transgender-athletes-from-womens-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Democrats block GOP-led bill to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Senate Democrats voted unanimously to block a Republican-led bill Monday evening that would prohibit federally funded schools from allowing transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. <\/p>\n

In a party-line vote of 51-45, Democrats filibustered the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, introduced by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. It fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance as Democrats dismissed it as a distraction and a cynical political move.<\/p>\n

Four senators didn\u2019t vote: Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.; Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.; Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.; and Peter Welch, D-Vt.<\/p>\n

The outcome means the legislation \u2014 which passed the House<\/a> in January and mirrors an executive order<\/a> issued by President Donald Trump \u2014 won\u2019t go any further. But the failed vote is likely to become a political talking point for Republicans in upcoming elections after they used the issue of transgender rights as a cudgel in the 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cSen. Tuberville is trying to churn the social wars about something that really doesn\u2019t exist,\u201d Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., said after he voted to block the bill. Hickenlooper has announced he will run for re-election in 2026 and, despite his vote, said he does not believe transgender women should be able to compete in women\u2019s sports if the other women object.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw the ads,\u201d Hickenlooper said of the election in 2024, when Trump highlighted the issue. \u201cI think that\u2019s the kind of ad that works once. I don\u2019t think it\u2019ll work again. It\u2019s an infinitesimally small group of people that are really trying to find their ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

A New York Times\/Ipsos poll<\/a> conducted in January found broad opposition to transgender athletes in asking respondents whether \u201ctransgender female athletes \u2014 meaning athletes who were male at birth but who currently identify as female\u201d \u2014 should be allowed to compete in women\u2019s sports. In response, 79% of American adults said they \u201cshould not\u201d be allowed, while 18% said they \u201cshould be allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who won his race last fall even as Trump carried Arizona at the presidential level, acknowledged that it is \u201ca hard issue for a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he said Democrats who have an effective overall message shouldn\u2019t worry.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, if you\u2019re running and you don\u2019t have any other identity and you\u2019re not known for fighting for people to have a decent living, to buy a home, to be able to bring the American dream to their families, these outside fringe issues are what is going to bring you down,\u201d Gallego said. \u201cI\u2019m not worried about that, because I communicate with my fellow Arizonans every day that I\u2019m fighting for them to make sure that they get to live the American dream no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who has announced he isn\u2019t running for re-election next year, said Democrats need to focus on the economy. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not really an issue like in Michigan,\u201d Peters said,\u00a0\u201cI think there are hundreds of thousands of athletes, there\u2019s like two individuals that are actually in this situation. People are going to realize that it\u2019s really been an issue that Republicans have trying to exploit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked whether he\u2019s concerned such a vote could come up in future election cycles, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who has broken with Democrats on some issues, replied: \u201cWatch my vote, and then you can extrapolate whether I\u2019m worried about that s— or not.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shortly afterward, Fetterman voted no.<\/p>\n

Among Republicans, opposing transgender athletes in women\u2019s sports is a cultural issue that unifies all wings of the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think this is a matter of fairness, safety and giving girls and young women the opportunity to excel in sports,\u201d said centrist Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who faces re-election next year. \u201cAnd again, let me emphasize that I think we should treat all people respectfully, but Title IX is the law, it\u2019s not just a suggestion, and it was intended to open these opportunities to girls to excel in sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuberville condemned Democrats for blocking the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is far from over,\u201d he wrote on X. \u201cI\u2019ll NEVER stop fighting to protect women and girls.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
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<\/picture><\/a><\/div>\n

Frank Thorp V<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Frank Thorp V is a producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the Senate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/picture><\/a><\/div>\n

Sahil Kapur<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Sahil Kapur is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Frank Thorp V, Sahil Kapur
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Senate Democrats voted unanimously to block a Republican-led bill Monday evening that would prohibit federally funded schools from allowing transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. In a party-line vote of 51-45, Democrats filibustered the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, introduced by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. It fell short of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":845632,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265,22721],"tags":[5780,8477],"class_list":{"0":"post-845631","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-democrats","8":"category-senate","9":"tag-democrats","10":"tag-senate"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}