DV Journal

With polls showing Americans overwhelmingly support protecting girls sports from male athletes, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025 with the unanimous backing of the GOP. And the nearly unanimous opposition of Democrats, including the three representing the Delaware Valley.

According to GOP supporters, the bill establishes clear definitions for sports participation based on biological sex at birth and prohibits federal funding for schools or athletic programs that allow biological males to compete in female categories. It passed 2018 to 206 with just two Democrats voting yes, and one voting present.

Reps. Madeleine Dean, Mary Gay Scanlon, and Chrissy Houlahan were all no votes. They also voted against it when it came to the House floor last April.

The Democratic Party’s extreme stance on transgender issues — including Vice President Kamala Harris’ support for taxpayer-funded sex change surgery for illegal immigrants in prison — is widely believed to have contributed to President-elect Donald Trump’s victory and the GOP’s overall success in last November’s election.

“Democrats will not soon forget the punchline in anti-transgender Trump ads that became ubiquitous by Election Day,” the AP reported. “’Kamala is for they/them; President Trump is for you.’”

“Week by week when that ad hit and stuck and we didn’t respond, I think that was the beginning of the end,” former Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said of the Democrats’ defeat.

And after narrowly holding his seat in November’s election, incumbent Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) said his party has a problem.

“I don’t want to discriminate against anybody, but I don’t think biological boys should be playing in girls’ sports,” he said just days after the election, adding: “Democrats should be saying this.”

Parents across the U.S., as well as in Pennsylvania, have shown up at school board meetings to oppose allowing biological males to compete against their daughters, some fearing for their safety. And there have been high-profile cases of girls injured by male athletes while competing in high school sports.

And 69 percent of Americans told Gallup last year that “transgender athletes should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that conform with their birth gender.”

As a result, half of all states have passed legislation protecting girls sports from biological male athletes.

But Delaware Valley Democrats stand by their opposition to the ban.

Scanlon said the bill  “discriminates against transgender and intersex children as young as 4, banning them from participating in school sports with their friends, and creating a system likely to lead to invasive examinations of youngsters in order to prove their sex.”

Scanlon added, “Rather than trying to understand the nuances of a complicated issue, H.R. 28 takes a sledgehammer to the issue of athletic participation by transgender youth and replicates the very problem Title 9 sought to end – the exclusion of young people from sport based on their gender.”

Houlahan (D-Chester) incorrectly claimed the bill is “a blanket federal ban on all transgender girls in all school sports at every age and every level of competition.” Biological males who identify as female can participate in sports; they just can’t participate in girls’ sports.

Houlahan also made a states-rights argument against the bill.

“I want every student-athlete to be safe and to be able to participate in competitive sports, but state legislatures, local school districts, and sports associations already make the rules governing who can and cannot participate in different sports at different levels.

“Indeed, in more than a dozen states, trans athletes are lawfully able to participate in sports,” Houlahan said. “Additionally, similar bans to today’s bill have been vetoed by Republican and Democratic governors in Wisconsin, Ohio, and North Carolina recently. Our communities and this Commonwealth do not need, nor will we be helped by, distant politicians in Washington, D.C., dropping a one-size-fits-all blanket ban on sports participation.”

However, Houlahan supported the Biden administration’s attempt to use federal reworking of Title IX rules to force every state to allow biological males who identify as female to play on girls teams. The effort was struck down in federal court.

Jamie Walker, a Bucks County mother, said she supports the legislation. “I absolutely support not allowing biological males to play sports against females when they have their own teams to play and compete on. I am happy America is getting back to reality.  Republicans are the party that wants to protect females.”

Felice Fein of West Goshen agrees.

“This bill’s passage brings common sense back into our schools and sports. It is tragic that over the last few years our daughters have been cheated out of scholarships and awards because extreme policies allowed biological males into girls sports. Thank you to all who voted to support women and Title IX.

(This column first appeared in Broad + Liberty)

Last month, the Biden administration quietly abandoned its plan to force school districts to allow boys to compete against girls in sports. Before that about-face, districts across the country had been threatened with a loss of federal funding if they failed to comply with yet another revision of the Title IX regulations — further gutting the original protections for girls and women.

However, as a result of widespread criticism, the U.S. Department of Education announced, “in light of the comments received and those various pending court cases, the Department has determined not to regulate on this issue at this time.”

Approximately half the states in the country have regulations or laws preventing boys from competing in girls’ sports.

Pennsylvania is one of 25 states allowing boys to compete against girls. Gov. Josh Shapiro, in his former role of attorney general and current role as governor, has been a strong advocate of supporting boys to invade girls’ spaces. In 2020, he posted, “trans women are women.”

Despite the elimination of the federal mandate, the commonwealth has no intention of changing its policies.

When asked whether the state would change its stance on boys competing against girls as a result of the federal rule withdrawal, Amanda Brothman from the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC), doubled-down on their position.

“Regardless of what happens federally, protections on the basis of sex assigned at birth, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics exist for students in Pennsylvania. In 2023, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission released new regulations more clearly explaining the definition of sex. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and the Pennsylvania Fair Educational Opportunities Act protects students in ‘kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, high schools, academies, colleges and universities, extension courses and all educational institutions under the supervision of this Commonwealth’ unless the schools are ‘in their nature distinctly private.’”

The cited regulations expand the definition of the word “sex” to include “gender identity” and “gender expression.” The Pennsylvania definition also includes sexual orientation, sex characteristics, and other intersex characteristics.

Brothman included this document with her response and highlighted the section that reads, “Creating school policies that could provide different treatment for students based on their sex.”

The PHRC does not require legislative approval to promulgate new regulations. The agency operates under eleven commissioners appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.

Hence, the definition of the term “sex” was easily changed in 2023 under the supervision of the PHRC commissioners. The agency was able to single-handedly modify the definition of a word that held the same meaning since 1955 when the Human Relations Act was enacted. The agency justified the changes based on the notion that “existing regulations provide no definition and no guidance for” the word “sex.”

The PHRC also issued a statement in support of the now withdrawn federal Title IX changes to force school districts to allow boys to compete against girls.

PHRC Executive Director Chad Dion Lassiter said last summer, “The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is committed to its duty to protect all students from illegal discrimination. A student’s sexual orientation or gender identity should not prevent them from receiving a quality and equal education.”

Yet, by changing the definition of the word “sex,” the PHRC is endangering girls both on the field and in private spaces, like girls’ bathrooms. Notably, the lack of definition of the word “sex” was not problematic for girls over the 68 years that it was used in the PHRC regulations prior to 2023.

Interestingly, the agency that is responsible for regulating secondary sports in the state, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Agency (PIAA), recognizes that there are significant differences between male and female athletes.

“Based upon real and demonstrable physical and competitive differences between similarly aged and trained boys and girls in athletic performances, PIAA recognizes that combining genders for competition purposes would have a chilling effect on female participation in interscholastic athletics. PIAA further recognizes that, historically, girls’ participation has been much more limited than boys’ participation. To promote participation by the historically underrepresented gender in a fair competitive environment, PIAA, therefore, classifies sports by gender and limits mixed gender participation,” according to their bylaws (emphasis added).

The bylaws do not include a definition of sex and only use the terms boys and girls. It is apparently the local principal’s decision on how to classify a particular athlete’s gender.

“Where a student’s gender is questioned or uncertain, the decision of the Principal as to the student’s gender will be accepted by PIAA.”

According to PIAA, if a male student claims to be a girl and wants to run on the girls’ track team, then the school principal gets to decide whether or not to classify him as a girl and allow him to compete against other female athletes.

As a result of the turmoil around the issue, a number of female senators are proposing to revive the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” a version of which passed both the state house and senate in 2022 but was vetoed by then-Governor Tom Wolf.

The bill’s memorandum issued in early December explains the purpose of the act.

“Under this legislation, school athletic teams designated for women may not be open to those of the male sex. The legislation defines “sex” as the biological distinction between male and female, based on reproductive biology and genetic make-up….. Maintaining separate, biologically specific teams will ensure opportunities for women athletes, while fulfilling the goals of Title IX.”

The memo states, “the bill has strong bipartisan support,” and that will be necessary in order to be enacted. However, Governor Shapiro has already pledged to follow in his predecessor’s footsteps and veto a similar bill.

In the meantime, the PHRC is counting on a prior Supreme Court ruling to uphold its authority to create and implement regulations without legislative support.

“The Supreme Court noted that the power of an agency to promulgate legislative rules is so great that these rules can only be reversed by courts when ‘[w]hat has been ordered. . .appear[s] to be so entirely at odds with fundamental principles. . .as to be the expression of a whim rather than an exercise of judgment.’” [emphasis added]

While I am not an attorney or an expert on legal matters, changing the definition of sex to include gender identity certainly seems to be “so entirely at odds with fundamental principles.” I could further argue that the change is clearly an “expression of a whim rather than an exercise of judgement.”

European countries and even the mainstream media have begun to acknowledge that gender-affirming care and redefining the term sex have gone too far, and the practices are actually harming children — not helping them.

With very few exceptions for chromosomal disorders, there are two genders — male and female — and anything else is a preference or simply adolescent confusion. Government agencies need to stop misusing their power to change a definition that has existed since the beginning of time.

The state legislature needs to take a hard look at the PHRC’s manipulation of the definition of sex and its impact on the safety of girls and women, and Gov. Shapiro should be held accountable for disregarding the safety of half of his constituents.

Members of the West Chester Adult Baseball League found themselves temporarily homeless in June after a borough council vote ousted them from their ballfield at Hoopes Park. Both sides say they are working toward finding a solution to the situation.

The West Chester Borough Council voted unanimously to revoke the league’s access to the park after reports of rowdy behavior from league teams, including urinating in the nearby woods and leaving trash behind after games.

The WCABL also allegedly built a concrete staircase in the park without proper approval; additionally, the league allegedly used municipal water to irrigate the field without getting permission first.

The league’s 2023 schedule shows every matchup having taken place at Hoopes Park until June 22. All matches through the end of July have been moved elsewhere.

Charlie Cooper, the league president, admitted the situation is “unfortunate.”

“We’re currently working with the borough regarding a new agreement,” Cooper told DVJournal.

“For the time being, all league games have been rescheduled at local fields with the hopes that a new agreement can be reached in the very near future,” he added. The league has about 240 adult players, he said.

Asked if the council seemed amenable to working out a new agreement, Cooper said, “It seems that way.”

“It’s not necessarily the council we’re dealing with right now; it’s the borough,” he admitted, saying the league and the borough are hammering out details of a revised agreement. “Then the council has to ratify it,” he said.

Cooper conceded claims that ballplayers using the nearby woods’ bathroom are accurate.

“I would say people have peed in the woods,” he said. He explained that the Porta Potty supplied by the council was not conveniently located. “They put it really far from the field.”

“That’s being resolved with adding a second Porta Potty near the field,” he added.

Michael Stefano, president of the West Chester Borough Council, said local officials are likewise hopeful about a new agreement shortly.

“West Chester Borough management has met with the Baseball League leadership in the days following the council meeting,” Stefano told DVJournal. “They have already come up with a plan that is being looked over by both sides.”

“We are hopeful to come up with an agreement that addresses all concerns so we can move forward,” he said.

The league was founded in 1956 and currently has eight teams on its roster.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives Tuesday approved a bill to prevent biological males from competing in sports with biological females. The measure, entitled the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” passed in a 115-84 vote. It now heads to the Republican-controlled Senate, which is likely to adopt the measure, although Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has signaled he would veto the proposal.

The bill defines “sex” as the “biological distinction between male and female based on reproductive biology and genetic make-up,” and it requires public schools and state and some private institutions to designate sports teams as male, female or coed. It also prevents “students of the male sex” from participating on teams and in sports “designated for females, women or girls.”

Wolf labeled the bill as “transphobic legislation,” tweeting that Republicans were “wasting time” attempting to pass the bill because it would not “get past my desk.”

The debate over transgendered athletes in sports came to a boil when UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas, who previously swam for the men’s team at UPenn, became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA title, finishing first last month in the women’s 500-yard freestyle.

Dozens of states have pushed forward similar bans on transgender athletes competing in sports that they feel match their gender identities.

Proponents of the bill argue differences exists between men and women, giving transgender females advantages over biological females. They base assertions on some studies that show transgender women maintain athletic edges over biological females even after years of hormone therapy.

Critics of the legislation slammed conservatives as prisoners of the moment, relying on outlier examples, like that of UPenn swimmer Thomas, to promote the idea that transgender females  “can decimate an entire league of women’s hard work and advancements,” as state Rep. Barbara Gleim, a primary bill sponsor, said during a House education committee hearing March 29.

Prior to its passage, Gleim slammed “false characterizations” in media of the bill as anti-trans and attacked Wolf’s “preference for woke ideology at the expense” of women.

In a release praising the vote, she said “inherent physical advantages” biological males have cannot be changed with hormone therapy.”

While CNN cited a 2017 report that found “no direct or consistent research” on any physical advantages, a report published last year in the British Journal of Sports Medicine examined differences in athletic performance that remained between transgender men and women in the Air Force even after years or hormone intervention, NBC News reported.

The researchers retrospectively examined medical records and fitness tests for 29 transgender men and 46 transgender women from 2013 to 2018.

They found trans women did 10 percent more pushups and 6 percent more sit-ups than cisgender counterparts for the first two years after starting hormones.

Those numbers dipped after two years, the researchers said, but 1.5-mile times for trans females at the same juncture were about 12 percent faster, the outlet reported.

At the same education committee hearing this month, state Rep. Martina White (R-Philadelphia) argued the legislation was needed to protect women under Title IX, a federal law passed in the 1970s that banned sex-based discrimination.

Lawmakers cited President Joe Biden’s executive order, issued earlier this year, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

“They (males) have larger hearts and lungs, denser bones, stronger muscles, and generate more force in athletics,” White said. “These are all advantages that cannot be undone.”

White cited the potential for girls and women to miss out on scholarships to trans counterparts and dangerous situations that could arise in games, such as having to tag out trans girls running toward home plate in softball games. She called the potential for such collisions to be “life-changing.”

“Having separate teams for men and women is a time-tested way to ensure that women have an opportunity to showcase their talents and be champions,” White, a former athlete, said at the hearing. “We will not give up this fight. Nobody should be forcing biological females to compete against biological males. It is patently wrong and unfair. We will not permit anyone to chip away at women’s rights.”

Republican legislators cited “thousands” of cases of transgender athletes competing in sports across Pennsylvania, a figure that appears overblown, said Dr. Ron Kennedy, executive director at the Philadelphia Interscholastic Athletic Association’s District 3.

A former athletic director at Donegal High School in Mount Joy, Kennedy interviewed about a dozen trans athletes as part of his doctoral studies at Drexel University.

The bill, he said, targets a marginalized group of people whose suicides rates are already “off the charts.”

“Having a blanket policy, I don’t think, is the right thing to do,” he told Delaware Valley Journal in a recent interview. “You don’t become transgender because you want to win the 100-meter dash.”

“Who is it really gonna affect? I think that’s that the easy way out,” Kennedy said. “They’re making a policy based on the Lia Thomas [situation].”

Follow us on social media: Twitter: @DV_Journal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournals of working families here in Pennsylvania and across the country.

It’s no secret that Philadelphia sports fans are a passionate lot, whether they’re filling Lincoln Financial Field on a Sunday afternoon, spending summer evenings at Citizen’s Bank Park, or arguing with a radio host.

But just how passionate are they compared to fans elsewhere?

Wallethub.com took on the difficult task of attempting to answer that by listing and ranking 392 American cities, large and small, according to their interest in and passion for college and professional sports.

There was far more to the endeavor than judging the passion of the fan base. Sports is a lucrative industry that is seemingly growing more lucrative with each passing day. Despite the pandemic that curtailed numerous sporting events in 2020, pwc.com estimated the American sports industry will be worth $83.1 billion by 2023 from revenue generated by ticket and merchandise sales, sponsorship fees,  such as naming rights for stadiums, bowl games, etc. and of course broadcast  and cable TV broadcast rights

If that prediction is realized it would be an increase of better than 8.5 percent from 2018, despite the fact that the industry more or less ground to a halt during the pandemic.

But dollars alone do not a great sports market make. Some 50 variables were taken into account that measured fan interest in five major sports: Football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and soccer.

The five sports were weighted based on the percentage of sports fans nationwide who follow a particular sport with football having the largest following (the other four followed in the order they are listed above).

Each city was given a total score and then ranked, overall and then within one of three classifications, based on population. Additionally, cities were also ranked according to their supposed interest in a particular sport.

So, how did Philadelphia measure up against the rest of the nation?

Overall, it ranked fifth behind Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and somewhat surprisingly, Pittsburgh. The statistic that was most eye-catching, however, was the city’s ranking of 15th in football. It should be noted that the 14 markets listed ahead of it all are home to NFL teams, including New York and Los Angeles which have two each.

In addition, almost all of the top 14 are in close proximity to successful major college programs with enthusiastic regional followings while Temple, the only Bowl Subdivision (major college) program close to Philadelphia, is largely ignored by sports fans in the region, even when it is having success on the field, which is rare. In addition, Philadelphia was marked down because the listed seating capacity at Lincoln Financial Field, at 69, 596, is just the 14th highest in the National Football League,and because of the price of Eagles tickets.

As far as the other four sports are concerned, Philadelphia was listed fourth in basketball (there are six NCAA Division I schools in the area), behind Los Angeles, Boston, and Salt Lake City, 12th in baseball (New York, Los Angeles, and St. Louis were 1-3 in that sport), 14th in hockey, and 20th in soccer.

There are doubtless legions of sports fans in this part of the planet who would be willing to question some of those findings.

So, what makes a first-rate sports city? Dr. Wendy Dees is a professor of sports administration at the University of Miami. She says there is more to being a great sports town than having winning teams, something to which Philadelphia fans would attest.

“Winning is great,” she said, “but die-hard fans are at the heart of any good sports city. When people passionately support the hometown team(s) through the ups and downs of competition, that feeling reverberates throughout the city and the sport. A strong sports culture is also important. If sports are not valued and supported in a particular region, local games and sporting events feel like any other date on the calendar.”

Dees says she believes sports franchises tend to take on the personalities of the cities they call home.

“That happens for many reasons,” she said. “Teams often draft players that ‘fit’ their culture. Other players adapt to the culture over time. Lastly, branding plays a huge part, in that the team is marketed to the fans as having similar traits or characteristics as the host city. For example, labeling a franchise as ‘America’s Team’ or having a ‘blue-collar mentality’.”

For this ranking, large cities were those with a population of over 300,000. Medium cities were those with a poplation of 100,00-300,000. Small cities were those with a population of less than 100,000.

Follow us on social media: Twitter: @DV_Journal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal.