WASHINGTON – Today, a bill to ban transgender youth from participating in sports was defeated in the Senate. Despite President Trump’s relentless targeting of transgender people and an anti-equality majority in the Senate, lawmakers refused to move the bill forward. The Senate’s rejection of this anti-LGBTQ+ attack sends a clear message that attempts to legislate away freedoms for LGBTQ+ people and their families will be met with resistance.

“Every child should have the opportunity to experience the simple joys of being young and making memories with their friends,” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. “But bills like these send the message that transgender kids don't deserve the same opportunities to thrive as their peers simply because of who they are. And they are impossible to enforce without putting all kids at risk of invasive questions or physical examinations just because someone doesn’t look or dress like everyone else. We should want all of our kids to have the chance to be on a team, problem solve with others, learn valuable skills, and find places to belong. Thank you to the leaders who stood up today, pushed back against those playing politics with young people’s lives, and declared that ours should be a nation where every child feels valued.”

Pro-equality supporters across the country have taken action since its consideration in the U.S. House to help defeat the transgender youth sports ban. The Human Rights Campaign helped  drive over 38,000 constituent calls and emails to lawmakers on Capitol Hill urging them to reject this legislation, including 11,000 calls just today to U.S. Senate offices.  

For many young people, participation in sports is a key component to their overall health and wellbeing. Participating in sports is linked to lower rates of anxiety and depression, increased cognitive performance, and fewer instances of substance abuse. Youth sports participation is also associated with improved bone health and reduced risk of cancer and diabetes. These benefits, alongside crucial lessons learned through sports participation like teamwork, dedication, and resilience, are especially important for transgender youth, who face higher risk of anxiety, depression, and bullying than their peers.

The facts on the ground demonstrate that this type of legislation is not meant to solve any pressing problem, but is simply a tool to politicize children for political gain. In a December Senate hearing, NCAA President Charlie Baker shared that there are fewer than 10 transgender athletes currently participating in college sports. In 2022, Utah Governor Spencer Cox vetoed a ban on transgender youth participating in sports, a move later overridden by the legislature. In his veto statement Governor Cox, said “rarely has so much fear and anger been directed at so few. I don’t understand what they are going through or why they feel the way they do. But I want them to live.”

Similar state policies, while aimed at making life harder for transgender young people, have had detrimental impacts on all girls. Just five days after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an anti-transgender sports ban in 2021, a cisgender girl faced brutal harassment from the sidelines at a lacrosse game simply because she had short hair. In Utah in, a state school board member ignited a deluge of hateful comments when she falsely implied that a young girl on the school basketball team was transgender.

Blanket bans like these also come over the objections of advocates for women’s sports like Billie Jean King, Megan Rapinoe, Dawn Staley, the Women’s Sports Foundation, and the National Women’s Law Center. 

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

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