Pennsylvania GOP leaders will reintroduce bill to restrict transgender athletes in girls, women's sports

Roughly 2½ years after former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a bill to restrict transgender athletes in girls and women's sports, Republican leaders in the state are making another push to do so.

Penn Live reported Friday that conservative senators in the state are pushing the new "Save Women's Sports Act" among numerous bills introduced in Harrisburg this week.

Every female member of the Senate GOP signed a memo that stated an intention to reintroduce the bill.

"It’s imperative that we protect the opportunity for female athletes to compete on the athletic field in a fair and equal manner," the senators wrote in this week’s memo.

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"Allowing a biological male to compete on a women’s scholastic athletic team puts all women on the playing field at an automatic disadvantage."

In 2022, Wolf called barring biological male athletes from female sports discriminatory against "marginalized youth."

"I have been crystal clear during my time in office that hate has no place in Pennsylvania, especially discrimination against already marginalized youth representing less than half of 1% of Pennsylvania’s population," Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement after he vetoed the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act."

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Wolf added lawmakers who voted for the bill "should be ashamed of themselves" for supporting what he called "incredibly harmful" policy.

Wolf left office Jan. 17, 2023, and was succeeded by fellow Democrat Josh Shapiro.

The veto of the bill came months after biological male Lia Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania won an NCAA Division I title. Riley Gaines, who swam against Thomas, has since become a leading voice of keeping female sports female.

Half of U.S. states have restrictions on transgender athletes in female sports.

President-elect Trump has said he would move to prohibit transgender girls and women from competing against biological females.

There is a battle in Minnesota's Supreme Court involving transgender powerlifter JayCee Cooper, who was banned from female competitions by USA Powerlifting.

Cooper sued USA Powerlifting in 2021 after being rejected from the women's team three years earlier. In the complaint, Cooper alleged the organization violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination against people "having or being perceived as having a self-image or identity not traditionally associated with one's biological maleness or femaleness."

After appeals, it was eventually ruled the federation did not discriminate against Cooper.

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