The push for males to be allowed in females' restrooms and locker rooms and to play on the girls' sports teams has started to backfire and is being credited for helping people choose a side on the matter. In fact, a number of states have stepped up their defense for female athletes. For example, Indiana's state legislators have sided with women and girls over biological males and their own defiant governor, and a state legislator in Louisiana predicts her colleagues will do the same.
"We're currently waiting on a proposed rule from the Department of Education," reports Mary Beth Waddell, director of family affairs and religious liberty for FRC Action. "They haven't issued any text yet, but we believe that it would do serious damage to female athletes and women in sports, that it would redefine Title IX to include an ideology that would be harmful to women."
A bill that would separate the men from the women in sports has never been considered, so conservatives are taking action.
"The majority party has control over the floor and what bills come to a vote, and so this bill is not being brought up or moved through committee," Waddell explains. "So this discharge petition has been filed to try and force a vote on this bill."
If 218 House members sign the petition before the end of the congressional session, then the bill will be forced to the floor for debate and a vote. Constituents can sign an FRC Action letter that will be sent to their House members, urging them to sign the discharge petition and make protection of women's sports the law of the land.
