CV NEWS FEED // Two prominent U.S. bishops have written a letter backing Republican efforts to protect women’s and girls’ sports from male athletes who claim to be female.
Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, chair of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, and Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane, chair of the Committee on Catholic Education, penned their support for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023, stating that the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) supports the legislation.
If passed, the measure would ban federal funding for entities that allow “transgender women” to participate in women’s sports, including school districts.
The bishops’ letter stated:
Consistent with the USCCB’s support for this bill in the 117th Congress and the Church’s clear teaching on the equality of men and women, we reaffirm that, in education and in sports, we must seek to avoid anything that undermines human dignity, including denial of a person’s body which is genetically and biologically female or male, or unequal treatment between women and men. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was a needed landmark to establish equal educational opportunities for women and girls. H.R. 734 and S. 613 would help ensure the continued viability of Title IX.
Designed to Protect Female Athletes
The legislation, which is sponsored by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-AL, in the Senate and Rep. Greg Stuebe, R-FL, in the House of Representatives, would amend Title IX so that “sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”
Tuberville first introduced the bill in 2021, but it was defeated 49-50 in the Senate despite support from Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia. The bill comes in response to an executive order signed by President Joe Biden in the first hours of his administration that threatened to withhold funds from any educational institution that does not include “gender identity” under Title IX protections.
Currently, many high school districts and college conferences around the country allow boys who “identify” as girls to participate in female sports. In Connecticut, a group of female high school track stars lost to men beginning in 2017, while University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas (who previously competed as Penn male swimmer William Thomas) won an NCAA championship and was recently honored by ESPN during Women’s History Month.
Biological Reality and Christian Anthropology
The issue of “transgender” sports competition is not limited to public schools. The IAAM conference, which includes Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, approved a policy that “permits students’ athletic participation in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity” in 2019.
The policy does not mention anything about biological reality, however, which the bishops’ letter does. According to Bishops Barron and Daly:
Equal treatment between women and men has particular relevance in athletics, where male competition in activities designated for women and girls can be both unfair and, especially in high-contact sports, unsafe. In general, males possess distinct physical advantages in a number of sports, and this is already playing out in athletic events worldwide. Their stature and strength can also pose physical safety concerns in high-contact sports.
This isn’t the first time Bishop Daly has spoken out about the problem of the transgender agenda, particularly at the high school and youth levels. Last year, he told Crisis Magazine that Catholic schools which adopt “gender inclusive” requirements are “playing make-believe with students’ biological sexes.”
“I’ve found myself thinking more and more about Truth,” he stated:
Is there Truth in that [IAAM] policy? No. We are created man and woman in the image and likeness of God—the notion that we assign it to us is a falsehood. This notion has ripped us apart in our culture, and especially hit hard [are] our young people. When we in the Church deny the youth a clear understanding of our Christian anthropology, we have deeply harmed them. And it is something we will answer for from God.
The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023 is expected to pass in the House. Should Republicans receive crossover support from Sen. Krysten Sinema, I-AZ, there is a possibility it could pass in the Senate — though Republican Sen. Susan Collins, ME, killed the bill in 2021. In either case, President Biden has long indicated he would veto the legislation should it pass both chambers.
READ MORE: 5 Times Biden Promoted ‘Trans’ Ideology for Kids
