January 13, 2025
Oppose H.R. 28 to Protect Civil Rights
Dear Member of Congress,
On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States, and the 414 undersigned organizations, we call for the full inclusion, protection, and celebration of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex youth, including access to extracurricular activities such as athletics, and to school facilities, safe and inclusive school environments, and accurate and inclusive curriculum. We reject H.R. 28, the so-called Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025, because it would harm women and girls and undermine civil rights for all students.
This discriminatory proposal seeks to exclude transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people from athletics programs in schools. Although the authors of the legislation represent themselves as serving the interests of cisgender[1] girls and women, this legislation does not address the longstanding barriers all girls and women have faced in their pursuit of athletics. Instead of providing for equal facilities, equipment, and travel, or any other strategy that women athletes have been pushing for for decades, the bill cynically veils an attack on transgender people as a question of athletics policy.[2]
Youth sports often play a significant role in children’s lives and development, helping them to develop critical life skills like communication, teamwork, and leadership. Sports spaces are imperative for all young people, no matter their gender. Transgender, nonbinary, and intersex youth want to participate in team sports for the same reasons as their cisgender peers: to be part of a team, learn sportsmanship, and challenge themselves. School athletics are very often the centerpiece of communities across the country, and denying transgender, nonbinary, and intersex youth the chance to participate only serves to deny them an opportunity to be part of that community, further isolating and stigmatizing these youth.[3]
The civil and human rights community is no stranger to the proffering of a bigoted agenda as if it were about equal opportunity. We know about wolves in sheep’s clothing. We know that when affirmative action policies created to level the playing field in higher education admissions are attacked by opponents of voting rights (as was true in the Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard College/University of North Carolina cases), that their agenda is not about the rights of people of color.[4] We know that when companies profit from poverty wages for disabled people, especially in segregated work sites (as is the case for sheltered workshops that pay subminimum wages to disabled workers), that their agenda is not about independence and self-determination for workers.[5] And we know that when opponents of Title IX, including those who have sought for decades to weaken its protections and undermine its enforcement, now present themselves as the law’s champions, that their agenda is not about the rights of women and girls.[6]
Targeting and excluding transgender, nonbinary, and intersex students from participation in school programming, including athletics programs, alongside their cisgender peers is harmful to all students and undermines the learning environment for everyone. If schools mark some students effectively as outcasts, they foster an environment where no student is included and safe. H.R.28’s vague language and intrusive focus on scrutiny of students’ bodies will effectively exclude cisgender girls and women with intersex variations from participation, will invite scrutiny and harassment of any other student perceived by anyone as not conforming to sex stereotypes, and will likely be disproportionately used to target all girls and women of color. We support the full inclusion and protection of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex youth.
We are fortunate that transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people are present in our community, and we fully embrace them as members of our community. As organizations that care deeply about ending sex-based discrimination and ensuring equal educational opportunities, we support laws and policies that protect transgender people from discrimination, including full and equal participation in sports, access to gender-affirming care, access to school facilities, and access to inclusive curriculum. We firmly believe that an attack on transgender youth is an attack on civil rights.
We ask all members of Congress to strongly oppose H.R. 28 and to reject attacks on transgender, nonbinary, and intersex youth; to commit themselves to meaningfully advancing policies that support equal opportunity; and to reassure all students in the nation’s classrooms that they will have the chance to learn, grow, and thrive. If you have any questions, please reach out to Liz King, senior program director at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, at [email protected].