Democrats Stand Up And Kill Anti-trans Bill
Senators defeat a national ban on transgender athletes
Despite wavering after their party was hit by a deluge of anti-transgender political advertising ahead of the November elections, Senate Democrats stood united and strong against new a new Republican anti-trans bill.
All Democrats present held the line by refusing to advance the so-called “the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” which would establish a national ban on transgender athletes competing as their proper gender identity.
The vote to overcome a filibuster and achieve “cloture,” was 51-45, nine votes short of the 60 required to advance the bill. Two Democrats and two Republicans did not vote.
The legislation in question would codify at the national level the same kind of anti-trans bans that Republicans have been enacting in red states across the country.
That Democrats were willing to defeat the bill is noteworthy because some prominent Democrats in Congress, including Rep Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, openly began questioning a commitment to trans rights after Donald Trump and his allies unleashed millions of dollars in anti-transgender advertising against then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who ultimately lost the election.
But Democratic senators, who dubbed the bill “The GOP Child Predator Empowerment Act,” were quick to defend their votes.
One of those was Sen John Fetterman, of Pennsylvania.
Shortly after the vote, he took to social media to post, “The small handful of trans athletes in [Pennsylvania] in a political maelstrom deserve an ally and I am one.
“Depersonalized as ‘they/them’ in a political ad, but are just schoolchildren,” his post added. “Empty show votes or cruelty on social media aren’t part of a thoughtful, dignified solution.”
Fetterman also recently condemned Trump’s recent reinstatement of a ban on transgender Americans serving openly in the US military.
Sen Brian Schatz, of Hawaii, spoke out on the Senate floor.
“What Republicans are doing today is inventing a problem to stir up a culture war and divide people against each other,” Schatz said.
And Sen Tammy Baldwin, of Wisconsin, the only openly known LGBTQ+ member of the Senate, made her position known.
“This is a decision for sports leagues to thoughtfully craft policy that actually takes seriously what is best for all players, not blanket mandates that will undoubtedly have unintended consequences for the safety of all students,” she said.
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