The House passed a measure to restrict transgender students from playing on women’s sports teams on a 218-206 vote Tuesday, with two Democrats joining Republicans and one voting present.
The legislation — H.R. 28 — is a cornerstone of the GOP’s education agenda and would deliver on a priority for the incoming Trump administration. It bans transgender women from competing on teams consistent with their gender identity and amends Title IX, the federal education law that bars sex-based discrimination, to define sex as based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.
Transgender students, however, would be able to practice or train with a program designated for women or girls.
President-elect Donald Trump honed in on transgender rights and inclusion as a key campaign issue and used it to attack Democratic candidates in ads and speeches. Republicans have since viewed the issue as a potential political albatross that could divide Democrats. The vote served as the first test for Democratic lawmakers who have been grappling with their party’s broad support of transgender rights following the 2024 elections.
Texas Democrats Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez joined Republicans is passing the measure. North Carolina Democrat Don Davis voted present.