WASHINGTON – Congressman Max Miller, R-Rocky River, today voted in favor of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, a bill designed to preserve the competitive nature of women’s sports by requiring that athletes compete against athletes of the same biological sex.

The bill, which Miller cosponsored, passed the House of Representatives in a 219 to 203 vote.

“Differences in physiology mean that males typically have an athletic advantage over females. This is a fact, and it is why Title IX was implemented in the first place,” Miller said. “This bill ensures that the playing field remains level for women and girls whose rights to fairly compete and win are being threatened by including biological males in their sports.”

The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act strengthens Title IX by:

• Clarifying that a recipient of federal education funding violates Title IX’s prohibition against sex discrimination if the recipient operates, sponsors, or facilitates athletic programs or activities and allows a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women and girls.
• Stating that sex in the athletic context must be recognized based only on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.
• Clarifies that the bill’s provisions do not prohibit schools or institutions from permitting males to practice against women’s sports teams, protecting the long-standing routine of some women’s athletic programs of practicing or scrimmaging against males.

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