WASHINGTON—Heritage Action, a conservative organization with two million grassroots activists nationwide, today issued a Key Vote urging lawmakers to cosponsor the Defining Male and Female Act (H.R. 9218), a bill to protect women and children from dangerous ideology by codifying the biological definition of gender.
The legislation, introduced by U.S. Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.), follows attempts from the Biden-Harris administration to distort the landmark Title IX law to force schools to allow boys and men into protected female spaces and sports.
Janae Stracke, vice president of outreach and advocacy at Heritage Action, released the following statement:
“Men and women have distinct biological differences that are obvious to everyone except the Left. The safety, spaces, and opportunities of women and girls across the country are now under constant threat, thanks to the Biden–Harris administration’s illegal rewrite of Title IX and the relentless push to force radical gender ideology in America’s schools.
“While it is unfortunate that legislation to accurately define sex is necessary, Heritage Action applauds Rep. Miller for taking up this fight to defend science and safety. She has the full support of Heritage Action’s grassroots army and the vast majority of Americans who accept the biological fact that men cannot be women.”
H.R. 9218 follows a steady drumbeat of legislation passed at the federal and state level to combat the dangerous impacts of the anti-science gender movement. In 2023, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act (H.R. 734) following Heritage Action’s Key Vote in support of the bill. Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (R-N.Y.) has refused to allow the U.S. Senate to vote on the legislation.
While the Left blocks any progress at the federal level, states across the country have passed similar legislation to protect American children and women’s sports. Polling shows broad, bipartisan support for legislation fighting transgender activism. More than 65% of Americans oppose access to puberty-blocking medication for children, and almost 70% of Americans do not believe male athletes should be allowed to compete against girls and women.
ABOUT KEY VOTES
By issuing a Key Vote, lawmakers are notified that their position on this legislation will affect their score on the Heritage Action Scorecard, which shows voters and activists how conservative lawmakers are by comparing their policy priorities to those of Heritage Action. The scores of lawmakers who fail to cosponsor the Defining Male and Female Act will be negatively impacted.
Through engagement on Capitol Hill and activation of conservative voters across the country, Heritage Action Key Votes play an important role in legislative movement.
In April, the Equal Representation Act garnered more than 100 cosponsors and passed the House after Heritage Action issued a Key Vote in support. Some of the biggest pieces of legislation passed this Congress, such as the Secure the Border Act (H.R. 2), the CBDC Anti-Surveillance Act, and the SAVE Act, were all passed following Heritage Action Key Votes.
More information about the legislation and Heritage Action’s decision to issue a Key Vote can be found in the brief pasted below, which was shared with lawmakers and staff.
KEY VOTE: Cosponsorship of the Defining Male and Female Act (H.R. 9218)
Heritage Action supports the Defining Male and Female Act (H.R. 9218) and will include COSPONSORSHIP of this legislation on our legislative scorecard.
Until recently, no precise legal definition of sex—and especially the terms “male” and “female”—was needed because no one contested the inherent differences between men and women. Unfortunately, because of gender ideology’s growing influence on our laws and institutions, Congress no longer has this luxury. Gender activists are working to redefine sex in federal laws and regulations, such as the Biden-Harris administration’s attempt to rewrite and distort Title IX to include “gender identity.”
Redefining “sex” to include “gender identity” undermines equal treatment under the law and creates legal chaos. It poses a significant threat to women and girls, and deprives them of privacy and safety by prohibiting restrooms, locker and dorm rooms, prisons, and shelters for victims of sexual assault from being separated by sex. It also deprives women and girls of opportunities on and off the field by nullifying the legal right to sex-separate sports and scholarships.
H.R. 9218 will protect women and children by enshrining scientific and legally sound definitions of sex, male and female, in federal law, preventing future agencies and administrations from redefining this fundamental characteristic, and establishing “sex” as a stable legal category. Polling shows broad, bipartisan support for legislation fighting transgender activism. More than 65% of Americans oppose access to puberty-blocking medication for children, and almost 70% of Americans do not believe male athletes should be allowed to compete against girls and women.
The definition established in the Defining Male and Female Act is precise and captures the central concept of biological sex—the orientation of male and female bodies for reproduction. It also refers to what happens under normal development while accounting for disorders and accommodating for the fact that organisms have and do different things at different stages of development.
This legislation avoids the pitfalls of imprecise definitions such as simply defining humans as either male or female and having either XX or XY chromosomes—corresponding to females (XX) and males (XY). Instead, it rightly accounts for individuals with disorders of sexual development. While disorders of sexual development, often mislabeled “intersex” conditions, do occur, they do not prove that there are more than two sexes—or that the sexes are somehow fluid or mere endpoints on a spectrum. Such disorders occur in only 0.018 percent of the population, and those with atypical chromosomes or sex traits are still either male or female. The bill also rightly steers clear of attempts to distinguish “sex” from “gender.”
In the wake of the legal chaos created by the Biden-Harris administration, states have rightly begun to step up and establish clear definitions of male and female in their states laws. Congress must join them and establish clear definitions in federal law. The Defining Male and Female Act protects women and children from threats caused by radical gender ideology.
Heritage Action supports the Defining Male and Female Act (H.R. 9218) and will include COSPONSORSHIP of this legislation on our legislative scorecard.
BACKGROUND:
The Heritage Foundation: Why States Must Define Sex Precisely
The Daily Signal: House Bill Would Codify Sex as Male and Female, Not Gender Identity or Expression