House Introduces Bill to Allow Men to Compete in Women’s Sports, Share Locker Rooms

Colin Fredericson
By Colin Fredericson
April 12, 2019Politics
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House Introduces Bill to Allow Men to Compete in Women’s Sports, Share Locker Rooms
LiAngelo Ball of Chino Hills High School powers through Jordan Schakel and David Singleton of Bishop Montgomery High School at El Camino College in Torrance, Calif., on March 14, 2017. (Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images)

The U.S. House of Representatives introduced a bill on April 10 that would allow men or boys that claim to be transgender on girls sports teams, in women’s prisons, and in women’s shelters.

All but one House Democrats sponsored the bill, and two Republicans sponsored it, The Daily Caller reported.

The Equality Act, also called H.R. 5, was introduced on April 10. It seeks to dramatically alter the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by changing the language to include transgendered persons, among other changes.

The bill would allow for any man that claims to be a woman or any woman that claims to be a man to be treated as the gender they identify with.

What worries both those on the right and the left is the erasure of any gender distinctions, and therefore, subsequent gender protections. Those that testified against the bill provided examples of how it is prone to abuse by those who can casually claim to be another gender.

Women’s Liberation Front member Julia Beck was invited to testify about the bill, on April 2.

“If the act passes in its current form as HR 5, then every right that women have fought for will cease to exist. HR 5 is a human rights violation. Every person in this country will lose their right to single-sex sports, shelters, grants, and loans. The law will forbid ever distinguishing between women and men,” said Beck.

Some of the examples cited by Beck have already played out in different U.S. states and in other countries.

“Let me tell you what happens if HR 5 passes: Male rapists will go to women’s prisons and will likely assault female inmates as has already happened in the UK. Female survivors of rape will be unable to contest male presence in women’s shelters. Men will dominate women’s sports. Girls who would have taken first place will be denied scholastic opportunity.”

Beck also feels the bill would ultimately hurt women in their social discourse and in their right to safety and privacy.

“Women who use male pronouns to talk about men may be arrested, fined, and banned from social media platforms. Girls will stay home from school when they have their periods to avoid harassment by boys in mixed-sex toilets. Girls and women will no longer have a right to ask for female medical staff or intimate care providers, including elderly or disabled women who are at serious risk of sexual abuse.”

Beck also revealed some practical, workplace difficulty that the bill would cause for women.

“Female security officers will no longer have the right to refuse to perform pat-down or intimate searches of males who say they’re female, and woman undergoing security checks will no longer have the right to refuse having those searches performed by men claiming a feminine identity.”

She ended her testimony by saying “I thank the Republicans who invited me here, and I urge my fellow Democrats to wake up! Please acknowledge biological reality.”

Representative Matt Gaetz also testified. He gave examples of how the bill will restrict women’s access to benefits and ultimately hurt them.

“In the last Congress and in this Congress, we’ve passed legislation for the advancement of women, improving women’s access to STEM education and careers. We’ve passed bills to increase the number of women-owned businesses, to help female entrepreneurs and more.”

He described how the elimination of gender and sex distinctions will ultimately hurt women.

“Will all sex-based distinctions be erased? That may sound like something my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would cheer, but thinking more broadly, would grants for female-led businesses or programs for women in STEM fields suddenly be open to all persons, whether they believe or not that they identify as a woman?”

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