By CHRISTEN SMITH

The Center Square

HARRISBURG — A bill banning transgender athletes born male from competing in women’s sports cleared the Pennsylvania Senate with bipartisan support on Tuesday.

So what happens next with the bill? Probably nothing.

Why? House Democrats, who control the chamber’s voting schedule, said their priorities lie elsewhere, particularly during a time of economic hardship for taxpayers.

“At a time when Pennsylvania families are struggling with an affordability crisis, Senate Republicans seem more focused on divisive political theater and bullying kids for political points,” said Beth Rementer, spokeswoman for Majority Leader Matt Bradford, D-Lansdale. “People are tired of the constant performative politics. In the House, we remain focused on building good schools for every kid, cutting costs for working families and making sure everyone can see a doctor.” Policies that make room for transgender people in traditionally female or male spaces have long sown deep divisions among lawmakers and the voters they represent in the commonwealth.

For those who support more inclusion, normalizing transgender people into the fabric of civil rights should come without question.

For those against, that same inclusion erases protections adopted for women – like separate locker rooms, bathrooms and sports leagues – based on scientifically acknowledged differences between the two sexes.

“Women and girls deserve a level playing field,” said Sen. Dawn Keefer, R-Dillsburg. “Allowing biological males in female sports isn’t inclusion – it’s exclusion of the very people Title IX was created to protect. Senate Bill 9 defends the rights of female athletes to compete fairly and without compromise.”

According to its cosponsorship memo, the legislation defines “sex” as the biological distinction between male and female, based on reproductive biology and genetic make-up. Those born male will not be allowed to play on teams designated for females, both in high school and at the collegiate level.

“This is about standing up for the next generation of female athletes across Pennsylvania,” said Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, R-Jacobus. “They deserve a level playing field and the chance to compete, earn scholarships and succeed based on their hard work, not be sidelined by unfair rules. Today’s vote sends a clear message: we will protect the integrity of women’s sports.”

The vote comes little more than a month after former college athlete and right-wing media personality Paula Scanlon visited the Capitol to advocate for the legislation. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania after studying engineering and swimming alongside Lia Thomas, a transgender woman who competed on the men’s team for three years before transitioning.

Scanlan left a promising career in technology to advocate for women’s sports and against transgenderism, which she does not believe is valid.

“I feel like I’m just doing what I’m meant to be doing and helping to protect women,” she said in an interview with The Center Square.

Scanlan went on to describe her discomfort with changing alongside Thomas in the locker room, citing her experience as a sexual assault survivor that made the situation especially diffi cult on an emotional level.

When asked if Thomas ever behaved in a way that was threatening to Scanlan and her teammates beyond the discomfort they felt sharing a vulnerable space, the answer was no. All affronts seemed to be in Thomas’ disregard for Scanlan and other swimmers’ feelings about the matter.

“In general, he took no respect to the fact that we were uncomfortable,” said Scanlan. “When we tried to raise these concerns, it was very much, ‘You are the problem.’ We were the hateful people. We were the ones who were problematic.”

For trans advocates like Lex Horwitz, LGBTQ+ educator, consultant, and public speaker, this way of thinking does a disservice to both trans women and cisgender boys. Cisgender describes people who identify as the sex they were assigned at birth.

“We can’t be using cis men as a proxy for trans women,” said Horwitz. “If we want all our kids to be strong, independent, and compassionate, why are we socializing boys differently from girls?”