2023-04-20 18:27:43
This Thursday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to ban young transgender people from women’s sports.
A bill to ban young transgender women from women’s sports passed the US House of Representatives on Thursday, where conservatives say they are waging an offensive in the name of sports fairness.
«Protect integrity in women’s sport“, Pleaded the author of the text, the Republican Greg Steube. Quoting several verses from the Bible, according to which God hascreated man and woman“, the elected official from Florida accused the left of having “perverted“American manners by accepting”to erase the boundaries between genders».
The text, which however has little chance of passing the Senate stage, is part of a larger battle against transgender people in the United States. Several conservative states have recently passed laws banning transitional care and treatment for adolescents. Many Republicans are convinced that insisting on this subject can bring them certain electoral benefits.
This burning question crystallized around the case of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who was born biologically male and competed for men before lining up victories against women in the university championship. His critics accuse him of having an unfair advantage.
«This text fuels a virulent hate campaign against children»
Concretely, the text voted on Thursday prohibits any school receiving federal funding from letting people “whose gender is male» play in women’s teams. This measure “would cut me off from my community“, lambasted Rebekah Bruesehoff, a transgender teenager playing field hockey, during a press conference organized in front of Congress at the beginning of March.
«Kids like me should be able to play sports with their friends“, pleaded the 16-year-old high school student. A position shared by the Democratic camp, considering that it is discriminatory and very hurtful to deprive transgender athletes of sports events, and to interfere in their medical course. “This text fuels a virulent hate campaign against children“, criticized the elected progressive Pramila Jayapal. “These attacks on transgender children also have disastrous consequences“, on the mental health of young people, alerted the elected official of Washington, herself the mother of a transgender daughter.
Little chance of succeeding
More than 56% of transgender youth have had suicidal thoughts in their lifetime and 31% have made at least one suicide attempt, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. They are also more prone to depression, anxiety, eating disorders, risky behavior and mutilation than the rest of adolescents. An argument that has the support of many feminist associations but also of sports stars, such as footballer Megan Rapinoe.
The text, however, has very little chance of succeeding: if the House is now controlled by the Republicans, the Senate is still in the hands of the Democrats, opposed to the text. US President Joe Biden has taken a stand on the subject, promulgating on the first day of his mandate a decree aimed at “preventing and combating discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation“. He pledged to veto the bill.
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