• Discrimination > Sports
• Youth > Transgender Youth

For the first time in history, chamber votes to strip rights from children

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) condemns today’s passage by the U.S. House of Representatives of H.R. 734, which would ban transgender students from participating in school sports. This bill is discriminatory and goes against the values of fairness and respect for all.

Transgender students have the right to participate in school sports just like any other student. Excluding them sends a message of intolerance that is devastating for them and harmful to other students. This proposed law is not only discriminatory, it is also unnecessary, as the Department of Education recently proposed a new rule on Title IX and sports that allows for reasonable requirements at elite levels of competition, which makes this bill completely unnecessary.

Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and we will not stand idly by while discriminatory laws target vulnerable children who deserve equality, acceptance, and support. We urge the Senate to reject this cruel bill.

Statement from NCLR Federal Policy Director Julianna S. Gonen (she/her):

“Like all children, transgender kids just want to be free from bullying and exclusion. And yet this is exactly the cruel treatment they received today from adults who are supposed to be leaders. The members of Congress who voted for this shameful measure have crossed a dangerous line, and we urge their constituents to hold them accountable to put a stop to this campaign of hate.”

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The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. Since its founding, NCLR has maintained a longstanding commitment to racial and economic justice and the LGBTQ community’s most vulnerable. www.nclrights.org