Senate Democrats block bill barring boys from competing in girls' sports
The U.S. Senate has voted against advancing a bill that, if passed, would have prohibited school athletic programs from allowing men who identify as female to compete in women’s sports.
Senate Bill 9, also known as the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, received a vote of 51-45 on Monday evening on whether to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed with the bill. It needed at least 60 votes to get cloture.
Invoking cloture would have limited debate on the bill, thus preventing a filibuster or other ways of delaying a final vote on the proposed legislation.
In a floor debate held before the vote, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., opposed the legislation, saying she was against “any attempt by the federal government to meddle in decisions about who can and cannot participate in school sports.”
“This is a decision for local communities where players and parents can participate in that discussion,” Baldwin said. “This is a decision for sports leagues to thoughtfully craft policy that actually take seriously what is best for all players, not blanket mandates that will undoubtedly have unintended consequences.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who sponsored SB 9, argued that the proposed law was necessary because “women’s sports at all levels has been under attack.”
“Since the beginning of time, people have agreed that sex is assigned at birth and determined by God,” Tuberville continued. “But under the Biden administration, you had people claiming that men can get pregnant.”
“We have women’s teams in some states that are all boys … no opportunities for girls or women to participate on the team. Young women have been forced to compete against men and even share locker rooms and shower time. And on top of that, your taxpayer dollars are paying for it.”
In January, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill in a vote of 218-206 with all Republicans and two Democrats — Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez — voting in favor.
God bless them. Are the other 206 Democrats godless people?
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters at a press conference held shortly after the lower chamber vote that “we know from Scripture and from nature that men are men and women are women and men cannot become women.”
In recent years, there has been considerable controversy over trans-identified male athletes dominating several women’s sports and major athletic competitions.
A prominent example is Lia (Will) Thomas, a man who broke records when he was allowed to compete on the University of Pennsylvania women’s swimming team after competing on the men’s swimming team for three years with less success.
Last month, the National Collegiate Athletics Association announced a new policy prohibiting trans-identified male athletes from competing in women's sports, reversing an earlier standard.
The NCAA’s new policy came after President Donald Trump issued an executive order vowing to end federal funds to schools that allow males to participate on women's athletic teams.
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Absolute Woke Madness in Ireland. The Emerald Isle is becoming more and more godless every day.
BREAKING: Enoch Burke, a Christian schoolteacher in Ireland, will be STRIPPED of his salary after refusing to use they/them pronouns for a "transgender" student.
Burke has already spent 500 days in prison, and the Irish Courts are now punishing him further.
This is horrific.Irish teacher punished over trans student’s pronouns – media
An Irish schoolteacher who refused to use ‘they’ instead of ‘he’ when addressing a biologically male transgender student, citing his Christian beliefs, could now be stripped of his salary, according to The Irish Times. He has already spent more than 500 days in prison.
Enoch Burke, formerly a teacher of history and German at Wilson’s Hospital School in County Westmeath, has been at the center of a prolonged legal and ethical dispute since 2022. Burke was suspended after he opposed the school principal’s request to refer to a ‘transitioning’ student by a new name and the pronoun “they.”
Following a hearing on Friday, the High Court of Ireland will be asked to appoint a receiver to recover unpaid fines from Burke’s salary. If approved, the move would enable authorities to collect €79,100 – an amount he has accrued through daily €700 fines for showing up at Wilson’s Hospital School in defiance of court orders to stay away.
The teacher, who has an evangelical Christian background, had repeatedly failed to heed a court order barring him from entering the grounds of the school.
“I teach everyone who’s in front of me. I teach every single student,” Burke told SkyNews last year. “But when I am commanded, when I’m told that I can’t have my religious belief anymore, when I’m told I have to confess belief in transgenderism, instead of my simple belief, which is male and female, that’s just a breach simply of my rights.”
Although suspended with full pay in May 2022 pending an investigation into alleged misconduct, Burke continued to show up at the school, leading to his imprisonment for contempt of court in September 2022. To date, he has spent a total of 512 days in jail across three separate periods for defying court orders.
Despite being dismissed from the school, Burke continues to receive his salary under administrative leave while his appeal over his termination is still pending.
Recently, Justice David Nolan doubled Burke’s daily fine to €1,400 after it was revealed that he had entered the school through a student entrance and attempted to join a school assembly.
Nolan said by his rough calculations, Burke owes around €190,000 so far as a result of a €700 a day fine imposed on him by the court in January 2023.
The teacher has accused the courts of failing to recognize his constitutional right to religious freedom, and said that these rights were breached when he was asked to refer to a student as they/them.
According to its website, “Wilson’s Hospital School is, to this day, a place where true love of knowledge makes all study a discovery and joy. Our school maintains a distinctive Church of Ireland ethos, fostering Christian practice and teaching, promoting dignity and respect for the individual and committed to the provision of a caring family atmosphere in which education can flourish.”
As wrong and insane as this situation is, I have difficulty empathizing with Mr Burke. Breaking the law to stand up for his rights is not a Christian virtue. In my humble opinion, Christians have no business fighting for their rights. Christians need to surrender their will (read - their rights) to God's will.
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