Republicans release top bill priorities in rules package. The No. 1 priority? Trans people

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Source: The Advocate

Republicans release top bill priorities in rules package. The No. 1 priority? Trans people

By Erin Reed
January 03 2025 3:14 PM EST

On Wednesday, Republicans unveiled their first rules package for the upcoming Congress, setting the stage for a contentious legislative session. Much of the attention has focused on measures like increasing the difficulty of ousting the Speaker of the House and prioritizing a bill to sanction the International Criminal Court over its investigation of Israel’s actions in Gaza. However, buried within the package is a provision with enormous potential consequences for transgender people. Among the twelve bills prioritized for early votes in the next session, the very first listed is a bill targeting transgender protections under Title IX.

First reported by independent transgender journalist Mady Castigan, the provision specifies that Title IX compliance in athletics would be determined by “biological sex.” Notably, the bill does not define “biological sex.” Previous Republican proposals have defined the term in ways that exclude not only transgender individuals but also intersex people. It remains unclear whether this bill would extend its redefinition of sex beyond athletics to encompass all aspects of Title IX. If so, the implications could be sweeping, potentially affecting transgender people’s access to bathrooms, locker rooms, and protections in discrimination cases nationwide.

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The inclusion of an anti-trans bill as the first among the Republican Party’s twelve legislative priorities signals a clear direction for the party over the next two years, with control of both the House and Senate. National Republicans have shown little hesitation in advancing anti-trans legislation, and their momentum appears to be growing. Recently, 81 Democrats supported a National Defense Authorization Act that stripped transgender healthcare coverage for military service members' youth dependents, a move some may have justified as a necessary concession to avoid appearing “weak on the military” or allegations that they would defund the military. Unlike the NDAA, however, this proposed Title IX bill will stand alone, forcing Democrats to take a direct and unambiguous vote on transgender rights for the first time in this Congress.

The dynamics in the Senate are even more important. During the NDAA negotiations, Senate Democratic leadership blocked a vote to remove the provision stripping transgender care, sidelining efforts led by Tammy Baldwin and 20 other Democrats to protect transgender youth. With Democrats losing control of the Senate in 2025, blocking anti-trans provisions will become even more challenging. To stop the Title IX bill, it will take 40 Democratic Senators to uphold a filibuster, a unity that may not been guaranteed on transgender issues. Whether Democrats will hold strong or allow the bill to advance remains uncertain, but the Senate stands as the strongest line of defense against this and other anti-trans legislation in the upcoming Congress.

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Read more: https://www.advocate.com/politics/republicans-release-top-bill-priorities-in-rules-package-the-no-1-priority-trans-people

Alternate link: https://news.yahoo.com/news/republicans-release-top-bill-priorities-151433622.html