The House Education Committee would have Pennsylvania join the states that have moved to ensure sports participation is separated by biological sex, not gender identity.
Betsy Torg, a former Division 1 athlete and parent of a transgender child, spoke at a Capitol news conference on Tuesday against a bill that would bar transgender females from playing women's sports. She called it "unjust and it's just not right." March 29, 2022 Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.
She characterized her bill as an attempt to preserve Title IX, a law that forbids sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs including athletics. Gleim said it protects opportunities for women they otherwise could be robbed of if they have to compete against transgender females. Bills similar to the one that won the committee’s approval have been introduced in at least half the states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.“House Bill 972 is a bill that rules some girls out instead of ruling all girls in. That’s discriminatory. That’s unjust and it’s just not right,” said Betsy Torg, a former Division 1 athlete and mother of a transgender child, speaking at a Capitol news conference about the bill on Tuesday.
Gleim said her bill doesn’t ban transgender athletes from participating. Biological men can still compete on men’s teams or in co-ed sports. She also is open to discussions about possibly creating a third category for transgender females to compete against each other. That was followed by 16 Penn swimmers writing to the Ivy League calling for it “to support us as biological women,” Gleim said. “The letter goes on to say that when comes to sports competition, the biology of sex is a separate issue from someone’s gender identity. We agree.”
Rep. Mark Longietti of Mercer County, the ranking Democrat on the committee, was among the Democrats who urged the committee to “stay in our lane” and reject the bill.
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