Three Republican women on the City Council are urging Congress to vote on legislation that would bar biological males from women’s sports on college campuses and public schools.
In a letter to Speaker Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) on Friday, Joan Arriola and Vicki Palladino of Brooklyn and Inna Vernikov of Queens urged the House Rules Committee, which Cole chairs, to finally start protecting women and girls. The draft of the sports law was presented to the general assembly of the council and was discussed.
“Biological men are physiologically different from biological women,” the letter says. In sports, these differences give men more physical advantages than women.
“People in this country have the right to express themselves without fear of discrimination or retaliation,” the letter said. “However, this right does not and should not include participation in activities of one’s choice, especially since such participation violates the rights of all citizens and threatens to undo the progress achieved over fifty years.
The bill, introduced in February by Rep. Greg Stubb (R-Fla.) to “save women’s sports,” continues to fuel a national debate over transgender rights in amateur sports.
According to the draft law, the gender of athletes should only be determined based on “reproductive biology and genetics”.
While Democrats still hold the majority, previous bills have failed to pass in the past two sessions. A meeting of the Legal Committee is scheduled to take place on Monday.
Cole has not yet signed up to be a co-sponsor and his office did not respond to messages.
