House Republicans are taking their assault on trans rights to the federal level

Since the Republican Party has launched a major crackdown on transgender Americans as part of a broader campaign culture war In recent months, most of the action has taken place in parliaments across the country. But with the Republican Party now in charge of the House of Representatives, the battle has shifted to Washington, DC.

On Wednesday, the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on two bills that perfectly encapsulate the GOP’s supercharged approach to targeting transgender youth.

H.R. 734, the Law for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sporta bill that seeks to ban trans girls from participating in sports, and HR 5, the Parents Bill of Rights Actlegislation requiring parents to have a greater say in what educators teach and stripping LGBTQ youth of the right to speak to school personnel without parental notification.

Hundreds of anti-trans bills they have already been introduced at the state level, and many have become law. However, these bills introduced at the federal level mark a new phase in which the conservative movement wants to turn the attack on transgender people into a national project. There is no Senate or president who would approve these attacks, for now. But that could change in less than two years.

While Democrats came to the hearing prepared with research, statistics and anecdotal evidence from LGBTQ people, the GOP offered talking points that might have been gleaned from your average right-wing Facebook group commenter.

Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) repeatedly suggested that the Biden administration was seeking to “erase women,” apparently starting with allowing trans girls to play sports on teams that match their gender identity. Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) posited that he was happy the hearing was open so Americans could see that Democrats “didn’t believe that God created the science of sex.”

Democrats, meanwhile, pointedly pointed out that these bills were part of the GOP’s ongoing culture war against anyone who is not white, straight, conservative, and cisgender.

“This is just a false sense of moral panic sparked by a political party seeking to use trans children as pawns to gain power,” said Rep. Mark Takano (D-Ca.).

These GOP bills do not address issues of national interest, but outrages of their own making.

Last year, the Biden administration proposed changes to Title IX, legislation that prohibits discrimination based on sex in schools and universities, which would extend protections to LGBTQ students. However, the White House did not address whether this explicitly meant that this change would include allowing trans athletes to participate in sports with teams that match their gender identity. The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act is a direct reaction to that proposal, although no changes have been made to Title IX.

The one-page bill stipulates that “sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” However, it does not explain how schools should determine a student’s reproductive biology.

The proposal, while vague, seeks to exclude transgender athletes from school sports. In short, it is discrimination. Not only does it defeat the purpose of team sports, but it also arms the federal government against a minuscule portion of the population that is already in increased risk of mental health problemsincluding depression and suicidal ideation.

There is only about 50 openly transgender athletes participate in varsity-level sports. Acknowledging this number, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) said, “It’s ludicrous to suggest that a handful of athletes like this … justify action by the national Congress.”

But the GOP says the bill is necessary to protect women and girls in sports, even though the bill does nothing to address the real problems in women’s sports: pay disparities, harassment and discrimination.

The other bill discussed at the hearing is another popular idea in conservative circles.

Popularized in places like Florida and Virginia, parental rights have become a wild card for policies that seek to inject conservative dogma into public schools, remove books Republican politicians dislike, and ultimately undermine the public school system to boost charter schools. and private schools—to line their pockets.

The Parents Bill of Rights Act is more substantial than the anti-trans law. Democrats were concerned about provisions requiring the distribution of library book lists to all parents.

While Republicans framed it as transparency, conservative parents across the country have been leading the charge on the book ban by alleging that books on LGBTQ themes are “inappropriate” or “pornographic.” They’ve gotten school districts to remove books, and a federal bill like this would only empower more parents.

Another troubling provision in the bill would require school officials to disclose any private conversations they have had with students. Again, the GOP posits that this is a crucial part of parental rights, but completely ignores why a transgender student might be in school but needs privacy from her parents, such as in abuse cases.

These pair of bills are unlikely to become law. But now that the GOP is in control of the House, the party has made it clear that bills like these that target LGBTQ people and cater to their most ardent supporters are at the top of their agenda. Despite the myriad of problems facing the American people, the Republican Party makes it clear: attacking trans people is their top priority.