House · HR 28 · 119th Congress
Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025
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Summary
This bill changes Title IX rules for school sports programs that get federal money. It requires schools to keep women's and girls' sports teams limited to people who were female at birth. It also orders a government study on how allowing males in girls' sports affects female athletes.
In Favor
The bill sets clear rules that only biological females may compete in women's school sports, based on documented advantages males retain after puberty, including greater muscle mass, bone density, and lung capacity. These categorical eligibility rules protect fair competition for female athletes in federally funded programs. Without them, girls risk losing roster spots and scholarships to athletes with lasting physical advantages.
Against
This bill bars transgender girls from women's sports entirely, denying them the same belonging, teamwork, and growth that sports give other girls. Critics note that science does not support blanket exclusion at younger ages, where physical differences are small. Schools that disagree still risk losing federal funding, leaving them little choice.
Additional Considerations
Purpose & Problem
Is the problem real and worth federal action?
This bill changes how Title IX rules apply to school sports by defining sex based only on a person's reproductive biology and genetics at birth. It targets participation in athletic programs that schools receiving federal money operate or support.
Scope & Related Provisions
Does it stay focused, or carry unrelated add-ons?
The bill stays focused on athletic programs under Title IX. It adds one related task: directing a government office to study and report on benefits that girls may lose in single-sex sports.
Who Is Affected
Who benefits, and who bears the cost?
Schools and colleges that receive federal money must follow the new rule or risk losing that funding. Female student athletes, male students who wish to join women's programs, and school program staff all face changes in how eligibility is determined.
Cost & Funding
Is it affordable and responsibly funded?
The bill does not authorize or appropriate a specific dollar amount. It does require a federal government office to conduct a study and deliver a report, which shifts work and administrative costs onto that office.
Risks & Implementation
What could go wrong in practice?
Schools must determine each athlete's reproductive biology and genetics at birth, and the bill does not spell out how they should collect or verify that information. The required government study must also define terms that the bill itself leaves open.
For the actual bill text, see congress.gov.
AI-generated · Published 7/24/2026