‘The GOP Child Predator Empowerment Act’: Democrats expose so-called Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act for what it really is
Democratic lawmakers and politicians are sounding the alarm on how the GOP’s so-called Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act actually endangers children and empowers predators.
The House recently successfully passed H. R. 28, dubbed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. It is the latest Republican-backed bill focused on discriminating against transgender athletes. However, the bill is particularly extreme in that it targets school-aged children ranging from kindergarten through the 12th grade. It bars any “person whose sex is male” from participating in an athletic program or activity designated for girls from kindergarten up. It’s absurd that Republicans are actually concerned about the gender of children as young as four playing recreational sports to make friends and have fun. Under the vague language and failure to distinguish between children, adults, and recreational vs competitive sports, though, the bill empowers parents, teachers, coaches, or officials to question the gender of any child playing on their team.
Meanwhile, time and time again, we’ve seen conservatives wrongfully attack a cisgender woman and accuse her of being transgender simply because they thought she was too tall or were suspicious of how well she played. Now, H. R. 28 allows these individuals to surveil children’s sports and raise a fuss if one child looks too tall or has a pixie cut, and their concerns will have to be taken seriously under the bill. However, the bill conveniently fails to establish how the genders of these children will be determined. It only vaguely states that gender will be determined by “a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” paving the way for predators and pedophiles to interpret the bill as they please.
H. R. 28 empowers predators
When the House debated H. R. 28, Democrats brought in a sign reading, “The GOP Child Predator Empowerment Act.” Rep. Suzanne Bonamici pointed out how the bill can easily wade into predatory territory, questioning, “Will students have to take exams to prove they’re a girl? We’re already seeing examples of harassment and questioning of girls who may not conform to stereotypical feminine roles. Will they be subject to demands for medical tests, private information that’s intrusive, offensive, and unacceptable?” Rep. Sarah McBride voiced the concerns even more succinctly, “How on earth is this going to be enforced?”
Rep. Maxwell Frost commented on the sheer absurdity that he actually has to debate a bill “that empowers pedophiles and predators.” He stated how the bill may very well make it acceptable for adult male school officials to question children as young as four years old about their bodies and “what’s in their pants.” Some may accuse him of fearmongering, but he’s not. After all, a bill like this had already passed in Florida and had the precise consequences individuals feared it would. Frost recalled how he knew a high school student who had been forced to do school online after her school launched an investigation into her gender. The investigation produced a 500-page report, which included her classmates being drilled on whether they’d seen her genitalia. The report also asked multiple adults to “describe” the child “physically.”
Rep. Ayanna Pressley hit Republicans with this horrifying hypothesis, “Imagine being eight years old, trying out for the soccer team, and your coach demands you show them your genitals. That is abuse.” Pressley also denounced the harassment and ostracization the bill encourages of transgender individuals. Republicans want to “vilify” transgender students without even bothering to speak to even one of these children or their parents. She concluded by pointing out how Republicans continue proving that they’re the real threat to children, not transgender individuals. Pressley stated, “They pose no threat to you, but you pose a threat to them.”
As Frost pointed out, Republicans’ hatred for transgender individuals is so intense that they’d rather make their children vulnerable to predators and pedophiles than have their children play sports with a transgender child. It doesn’t matter what provisions the bill adds or how it directs schools to enforce the ban. As soon as you introduce a bill that allows adults to question a child about their appearance, clothes, or identity without their parents present to ensure complicity, you’re opening the door for abuse.
In France, after schools banned abayas in an anti-Muslim measure, guess what happened? The ban hurt all girls as school officials started demanding girls to pull down their skirts because the officials argued they might be wearing abayas underneath their clothes. With American schools already publishing 500-page investigations into students’ gender, how long until these officials start claiming they need to perform genital examinations in case the six-year-old girl who wants to play soccer is lying about being a girl?
Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com
