HR9344-118

1. Short title; Findings This Act may be cited as the Promotion of Youth Sports Act of 2024. Congress finds the following: Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) broadly prohibits discrimination and differential treatment in education programs and activities, including in school sports, on the basis of sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, sex characteristics, and pregnancy and related conditions). The Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton County that discrimination tied to sexual orientation or transgender status necessarily entails discrimination based on sex; the first cannot happen without the second. For decades, Federal courts have consistently found that title IX protects LGBTQI+ students, including the right of transgender and nonbinary students to access sex-separated school spaces, like bathrooms and sports programs. This remains the strong majority position among Federal courts of appeals and Federal district courts following Bostock. The intent of the initial title IX regulations with respect to sex-separated sports teams was to foster the equitable participation of women and girls in school sports where they have been systematically excluded and denied such opportunities, so that women and girls could be given the resources and opportunities to develop their athleticism, not to enforce separation based on purportedly innate differences between men and women. Playing school sports improves students’ academic performance, graduation rates, and attendance, develops social and leadership skills, and provides students with a support network. These opportunities and impacts are particularly important for children from marginalized groups like transgender children, who face disproportionate hostility and discrimination at school. Transgender youth who are supported, included, and protected from discrimination in school can thrive and learn just like their peers. Transgender youth who report being supported and protected from discrimination consistently have lower rates of negative health outcomes, including suicide attempts. Transgender youth who play school sports report higher grades and self-esteem, and lower rates of depression and anxiety. More than 11 percent of LGBTQ youth have reported being discouraged from playing sports due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, and 16 percent of LGBTQ+ students reported in 2021 that their K–12 schools barred them from playing on the correct sports team. Since 2008, 17 States and the District of Columbia have passed laws affirmatively protecting transgender students’ right to participate in interscholastic athletics. In those States, participation numbers for women and girls in athletics have remained steady or increased. As of 2021, in the States that have banned transgender student participation, participation rates have dropped among all girls. There were fewer athletic participation opportunities for high school girls in 2019 than existed for boys in 1972, when title IX was enacted. On the Division 1 level, colleges spend $2 on mens sports for every $1 spent on womens sports. In all collegiate athletics, there are 60,000 more athletic opportunities for men than for women. Girls and women’s high school sports teams are consistently given less support and oversight, leading to them receiving fewer resources and funding than boys’ and men’s teams, including 1,300,000 more high school sports spots for boys compared to girls, and allowing a pervasive culture of abuse targeting young women to fester. Attacks on transgender children in sports also negatively impact cisgender girls who do not conform to traditional gender stereotypes, particularly Black and Brown girls, through arbitrary questioning of the girlhood of children and invasive and dangerous sex verification practices. This includes forcing young students to submit documentation of their reproductive information or even submit to genital exams as a condition of playing. Over decades, a strong consensus has developed among Federal courts that title IX has always protected LGBTQI+ youth in school, including the right of transgender youth to participate in school sports. These decisions indicate that the justifications advanced thus far by anti-trans legislators are unlikely to survive the heightened scrutiny required by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

2. Grant program to promote youth sports programs Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education (hereinafter referred to as the Secretary) shall establish a program to award grants to eligible elementary schools and secondary schools (as such terms are defined in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) to promote youth sports programs. Grant funds awarded under this section shall be used by grantees to promote and increase access to youth sports by— expanding offerings of available athletic programs; providing direct financial support for facilities, equipment, uniforms, travel, and other athletic program expenses to reduce barriers that limit participation in existing athletic programs; or carrying out the activities described in both subparagraphs (A) and (B). Grant funds awarded under this section shall be available for one academic year. Any unused funds that remain at the end of such academic year shall be returned to the Secretary to award additional grants under this section. An elementary or secondary school shall be eligible for a grant under this section only if such school is in compliance with the requirements of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) and the regulations implementing such title under part 106 of title 34, Code of Federal Regulations, or any succeeding regulations. An eligible elementary or secondary school desiring a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. Such application shall include— a description of the proposed programs, activities, and direct financial support to be provided in whole or in part with grant funds under this section, and the amount of grant funds requested for such programs, activities, and support; and an assurance by the school that, with respect to the provision of any program, activity, or financial support provided in whole or in part with grant funds under this section, the school will not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics (including intersex traits). In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to elementary and secondary schools that demonstrate that grant funds will be used to reduce barriers that limit participation of women and girls in youth sports, particularly sports in which women and girls have been historically underrepresented, by expanding offerings of available athletic programs for women or girls, or providing direct financial support for equipment, uniforms, travel, and other athletic program expenses related to participation of women and girls in existing athletic programs.