The bill fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance, as senators voted 51-45 along party lines.
Senate Democrats on Monday rejected a bill that would have banned individuals who identify as transgender from participating in school athletic programs designated for girls and women.
The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, sponsored by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance as senators voted along party lines in a 51-45 vote.
The bill aimed to preserve Title IX protections for women, a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools and educational programs that receive federal funds.
It sought to bar federally-funded schools from operating, sponsoring, or facilitating athletic programs that allow athletes “whose biological sex at birth was male” to compete with women, according to the bill’s summary.
The bill defines sex as being determined “solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”
Tuberville criticized Democratic senators for blocking the legislation, saying the vote has shown that “Democrats STILL support men competing in women’s sports.”
“Well, at least now the American people know the truth,” he stated on the social media platform X. “This is far from over. I’ll NEVER stop fighting to protect women and girls.”
Well, at least now the American people know the truth.
— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) March 4, 2025
Even after @realdonaldtrump’s landslide election, Democrats STILL support men competing in women’s sports.
This is far from over. I’ll NEVER stop fighting to protect women and girls.
The bill would have codified President Donald Trump’s executive order, entitled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which enables federal agencies to rescind funding from educational programs that allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.
“It is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy,” the order states. “It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”
The White House had previously stated that it “strongly supports” the passage of Tuberville’s Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act in Congress.
“Through an amendment to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, this bill would expressly recognize what is already federal law—that it is an illegal act of discrimination for a man to participate in a federally funded athletic program or activity designated for women or girls,” the White House said in a March 3 statement.
The administration stated that “men participating in women’s sports not only is demeaning and dangerous to women and girls, but it erodes the integrity of our Nation’s civil rights laws.”
