(Washington, DC, April 19, 2023) — Today the U.S. House of Representatives considered HR 734, the Orwellian-titled Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, that would ban trans girls and women from participating in school sports programs. Lambda Legal Senior Attorney and Director of Lambda Legal's Nonbinary and Transgender Rights Project Sasha Buchert released the following statement:

"HR 734 is an ignorant and despicable attempt to systematically deny transgender, nonbinary, and intersex youth the opportunity to participate in school sports. The physical and psychological benefits of being able to play are well documented. Participation in athletics provides youth with opportunities to develop life-long healthy habits, leadership skills, discipline, and self-confidence. Almost all of us have experienced the pain of being excluded from play, and this legislation seeks to permanently deprive trans kids of those opportunities.

"With trans youth under cruel and sustained attack in statehouses across the country, it is unconscionable and abhorrent that members of the U.S. House of Representatives are using their positions to amplify the cruelty. We urge our elected representatives to halt this harmful bill in its tracks while we also take some comfort in knowing President Biden has promised to veto this bill should it ever arrive on his desk. Trans youth need and deserve our love and support, not the targeted discrimination and cruelty HR 734 represents."

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education, and policy work. Article Link Here