Federal trans sports ban set to become law, defining trans people out of legal existence

The text of the ban, which purports to ban trans women from accessing sports facilities at military academies, legally defines sex as being unchangeable from the moment at birth, writing trans people out of legal existence.

By Jane Migliara Brigham

The first federal trans sports ban is set to be passed into law with the support of roughly half of Democrats and all Republicans.

The bill, which The Needle reported on last week, is a ban on trans women accessing sports facilities at United States Military Academies.  Since it is a rider to the NDAA, the bill that grants the military its yearly budget, the ban is considered part of a must-pass bill.

Military funding bill includes trans sports bans in military academies, is set to pass

The bill would be both the first federal trans sports ban, and also codify sex as only referring to how people were born.

The Needle - NewsJane Migliara Brigham

Given that due to the recent ban on trans people in the military, it is not likely that this will directly affect any people who are currently in military academies.  

The importance of this bill is in the precedent that it sets.  It legally defines sex as being unchangeable from birth, effectively writing trans people out of legal existence.

Since The Needle first reported on the bill last week, it passed in the House with the support of roughly half of Democrats. 

As of writing, the Senate has voted to schedule a vote on the bill that makes no changes to the house version of the bill, meaning that the anti-trans bill is being voted alongside the bill to fund the military.  This was supported by a vote of 76-20, with the majority of Democrats voting to move ahead with the discriminatory rider.

With all significant hurdles overcome, it is set to be voted on in the coming days, likely with the support of the majority of the Democrats.  It will then be signed by the president.

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In terms of Capitol Hill politics, the passage of this bill is a foregone conclusion.  There is no will from the Senate to put the funding of the military on hold to prevent discrimination of trans people.  

Once this bill is made into law, all three branches of the federal government will legally define a person’s sex as being unchangeable from the moment of birth.  As recently as this January, sex was assumed by all branches of government to be a changeable characteristic.

The precedent that sex is an unchanging characteristic directly undermines every legal victory that trans people have won over the last thirty years.  If taken to its logical conclusion, every legal protection that trans people have won since then will be lost.