Gleim to State House Democrats: ‘When Will Your Leadership Allow You to Protect Girls in Sports?’
HARRISBURG – On Tuesday, House Democrats again blocked consideration of legislation that would prevent biological men from competing in women’s sports. Three bills - the Protect Women’s Sports Act (
House Bill 158), the Save Women’s Sport’s Act (
Senate Bill 9) and the Dads Defending Daughters Act (
House Bill 1849) - have now been referred out of the House Education Committee (additionally, Senate Bill 9 was earlier referred to the House Health Committee) and pushed into the Judiciary Committee without advance communication, but rather under the guise of “new business.”
The rereferral took place with support from every Democrat committee member.
State Rep. Barb Gleim (R-Cumberland), a member of the committee and author of House Bill 158, issued the following statement in response to the maneuver:
“Why are House Democrats afraid to debate an issue which 80% of Pennsylvanians support? Why are three clearly education-related pieces of legislation now buried in and incorrectly assigned to the House Judiciary Committee? When will House Democrat leaders allow their members to vote to protect women and girls in sports?
“These bills regulate interscholastic and intercollegiate sports and have nothing to do with legislation handled by the House Judiciary Committee. Democrats are trying to fool Pennsylvanians with a political tactic that allows them to avoid going on record to support or oppose protecting women’s sports and curtail free speech and local representation.
“It’s a commonsense issue that should justly and fairly be decided by the General Assembly. Senate Bill 9 advanced with bipartisan support, a fact that will obviously need to be addressed in the House this session. It’s time to stand with the overwhelming majority of Pennsylvanians who want fair play in PA and protection from physical and mental harm for girls who deserve to have the opportunities afforded under Title IX.
“House Republicans have and will continue to state our case in support of female athletes. We challenge our House Democrat colleagues to do the same.”
Representative Barb Gleim
199th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Scott Little
717-260-6137
slittle@pahousegop.com
RepGleim.com / Facebook.com/RepGleim