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House Republicans on Thursday passed a bill that seeks to prohibit transgender women and girls from participating in female athletic programs, moving to the national stage an issue that has thus far mainly played out in state legislatures and individual sports associations.

The legislation — titled the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act and sponsored by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) — passed in a party-line 219-203 vote. It is the first standalone bill to restrict the rights of transgender people considered in the House.

The Democratic-controlled Senate, however, is unlikely to take up the measure, and the White House has issued a veto threat.

The bill, which failed to advance during the last three Congresses, would amend Title IX — the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education — to recognize sex as that which is “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” 

It specifically calls for prohibiting recipients of federal financial assistance that operate athletic activities from allowing transgender women and girls from participating on female sports teams.

It would not, however, block transgender women and girls from training or practicing with female athletic programs “so long as no female is deprived of a roster spot on a team or sport, opportunity to participate in a practice or competition, scholarship, admission to an educational institution” or other benefits.

“This is about protecting women’s sports now and into the future,” House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), the highest-ranking Republican woman in the chamber, said at a press conference ahead of the vote Thursday.

“Biological women and girls should only be competing against other biological women and girls,” Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) said. “And I don’t care how many surgeries you have, I don’t care how many chemicals you put into your body. You’re not going to be a biological woman.”

The Biden administration announced on Monday the president would veto the bill if it landed on his desk, arguing it discriminates against children.

The administration earlier this month in a set of proposed changes to Title IX criticized policies that broadly ban transgender athletes from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

The Education Department’s proposal, which has yet to undergo a period of public comment, would not prohibit transgender athlete bans in their entirety, however, and local school districts will still be able to enact policies that limit athletic participation based on a set of sex-related eligibility criteria if the rule is finalized into law.

An additional proposal released by the Biden administration in June would amend the definition of sex discrimination in Title IX to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

At least 21 states since 2020 have enacted laws or policies that prevent transgender athletes from participating on sports teams consistent with their gender identity and more than 40 such bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country this year, according to the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group.

During Thursday’s press conference, Stefanik called the legislation “a winning issue across America, standing up for the future of women and girls.”

Democrats have pushed back against arguments that the bill intends to make sports safer and more equitable for women and young girls.

“Don’t believe for a minute that this is about protecting women and girls, because if Republicans cared about that they would not be voting against equal pay, against paid sick leave, against universal childcare. The way that this bill targets children in the name of gender equality is insulting,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said during a debate on Wednesday.

Jayapal, one of the co-chairs of the House Equality Caucus and the mother of a transgender daughter, questioned how the proposed law would be enforced and how a child’s “reproductive biology” could be verified in a noninvasive manner.

“If a young girl—if your daughter—doesn’t look feminine enough, is she subject to an examination?” she said.

Jayapal last month re-introduced the Trans Bill of Rights, a sweeping resolution meant to strengthen civil rights protections for transgender and nonbinary Americans.

Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), a co-chair of the Equality Caucus and one of just 13 openly LGBTQ members of Congress, similarly argued on Wednesday that the measure would open the door to unnecessary and intrusive investigations into female athletes. 

He cited an investigation in Utah over the summer, where the gender of a young cisgender female athlete was called into question after she placed first in a competition “by a wide margin.”

LGBTQ rights groups have broadly condemned the measure, which they say discriminates against transgender people. The legislation has also been rejected by women’s rights organizations including the National Women’s Law Center and Women’s Sports Foundation.

A coalition of professional, Olympic and Paralympic female athletes in a letter to Congress this month urged lawmakers to vote against the bill and turn their attention to “causes women athletes have been fighting for decades,” like equal pay and an end to abuse and mistreatment. SpaceX giant rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas Yellen calls for better relations with China amid tensions

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) the chair of the House Education Committee and one the bill’s 93 GOP co-sponsors, during a legislative hearing on Monday refused to acknowledge the existence of transgender women.

“They’re males, sorry,” she said. Foxx on Monday added that she does not “know what a trans girl is” and argued that it is impossible for a person to live as a sex that is different from their sex assigned at birth.

House Republicans this week similarly denied the existence of transgender identities by repeatedly referring to transgender women as “biological males,” a term condemned by LGBTQ rights groups for its implication that transgender women are lying about their identity.

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Jeff Stewart: Actor who played Reg Hollis in The Bill helps police arrest shoplifter

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Jeff Stewart: Actor who played Reg Hollis in The Bill helps police arrest shoplifter

The actor who played PC Reg Hollis in hit TV series The Bill has been praised by officers after helping them arrest a shoplifter.

Jeff Stewart stepped in when a thief attempted to escape on a bicycle in Southampton on Wednesday.

In a statement, a Hampshire Constabulary spokesman said: “The thief, 29-year-old Mohamed Diallo, fell off the bike during his attempts to flee, before officers pounced to make their arrest.

“To their surprise, local TV legend Jeff Stewart, who played PC Hollis for 24 years in The Bill, came to their aid by sitting on the suspect’s legs while officers put him in cuffs.

The Bill actors, from left to right; Jeff Stewart, Roberta Taylor, Mark Wingett, Trudie Goodwin and Cyril Nri
Image:
(L-R) Jeff Stewart, Roberta Taylor, Mark Wingett, Trudie Goodwin and Cyril Nri celebrating The Bill’s 21st anniversary in 2004. Pic: PA

“In policing you should always expect the unexpected, but this really wasn’t on The Bill for this week.”

The Bill was broadcast on ITV between 1984 and 2010 and featured the fictional lives of police officers from the Sun Hill police station in east London.

Mr Stewart, who was among the original cast, appeared in more than 1,000 episodes as PC Hollis.

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Still of police footage of actor Jeff Stewart who played PC Reg Hollis in The Bill helping arrest a shoplifter in Southampton
Image:
Police released footage showing their pursuit of a shoplifter in Southampton. Pic: Hampshire Constabulary

Still of police footage of actor Jeff Stewart who played PC Reg Hollis in The Bill helping arrest a shoplifter in Southampton
Image:
As the suspect falls to the floor, PC Hollis (aka Jeff Stewart) sits on his legs. Pic: Hampshire Constabulary

In praising Mr Stewart’s actions, the force said: “Long since retired from Sun Hill station – but he’s still got it.”

Police from the Bargate Neighbourhoods Policing Team were alerted by staff at a Co-op store in Ocean Way to a suspected shoplifter on Wednesday.

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Mohamed Diallo, 29, of Anglesea Road, Southampton, was subsequently charged with five offences of theft relating to coffee, alcohol and food from the Co-op and two other Sainsbury’s stores on three dates in April and July.

He pleaded guilty at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday and was bailed to be sentenced on August 29.

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Jeff Stewart: Actor who played Reg Hollis in The Bill helps police arrest shoplifter

Published

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Jeff Stewart: Actor who played Reg Hollis in The Bill helps police arrest shoplifter

The actor who played PC Reg Hollis in hit TV series The Bill has been praised by officers after helping them arrest a shoplifter.

Jeff Stewart stepped in when a thief attempted to escape on a bicycle in Southampton on Wednesday.

In a statement, a Hampshire Constabulary spokesman said: “The thief, 29-year-old Mohamed Diallo, fell off the bike during his attempts to flee, before officers pounced to make their arrest.

“To their surprise, local TV legend Jeff Stewart, who played PC Hollis for 24 years in The Bill, came to their aid by sitting on the suspect’s legs while officers put him in cuffs.

The Bill actors, from left to right; Jeff Stewart, Roberta Taylor, Mark Wingett, Trudie Goodwin and Cyril Nri
Image:
(L-R) Jeff Stewart, Roberta Taylor, Mark Wingett, Trudie Goodwin and Cyril Nri celebrating The Bill’s 21st anniversary in 2004. Pic: PA

“In policing you should always expect the unexpected, but this really wasn’t on The Bill for this week.”

The Bill was broadcast on ITV between 1984 and 2010 and featured the fictional lives of police officers from the Sun Hill police station in east London.

Mr Stewart, who was among the original cast, appeared in more than 1,000 episodes as PC Hollis.

More from UK

Still of police footage of actor Jeff Stewart who played PC Reg Hollis in The Bill helping arrest a shoplifter in Southampton
Image:
Police released footage showing their pursuit of a shoplifter in Southampton. Pic: Hampshire Constabulary

Still of police footage of actor Jeff Stewart who played PC Reg Hollis in The Bill helping arrest a shoplifter in Southampton
Image:
As the suspect falls to the floor, PC Hollis (aka Jeff Stewart) sits on his legs. Pic: Hampshire Constabulary

In praising Mr Stewart’s actions, the force said: “Long since retired from Sun Hill station – but he’s still got it.”

Police from the Bargate Neighbourhoods Policing Team were alerted by staff at a Co-op store in Ocean Way to a suspected shoplifter on Wednesday.

Read more from Sky News:
Hungary bans rappers Kneecap
Tributes paid to Hulk Hogan

Mohamed Diallo, 29, of Anglesea Road, Southampton, was subsequently charged with five offences of theft relating to coffee, alcohol and food from the Co-op and two other Sainsbury’s stores on three dates in April and July.

He pleaded guilty at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday and was bailed to be sentenced on August 29.

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‘I’ll never shut up’: Fantastic Four’s Pedro Pascal on using fame to highlight issues he cares about

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'I'll never shut up': Fantastic Four's Pedro Pascal on using fame to highlight issues he cares about

Pedro Pascal is everywhere right now.

You walk into the cinema and he’s on most of the film posters there: Fantastic Four: First Steps, Eddington, The Materialists and The Uninvited.

With that level of public attention, you wouldn’t be shocked to see the actor become closed off.

Shielded by a sea of publicists maintaining a studio’s desired image and an influx of influencers replacing film reporters, public figures speaking their mind in Hollywood have become somewhat of a rarity.

Perhaps this is why the delayed yet meteoric rise to fame for Pedro Pascal feels refreshing for his fans.

Pic: Disney
Image:
Pic: Disney

In between self-promotion for his latest projects, the Chilean-American uses his fame to highlight causes he cares about by wearing “Protect The Dolls” T-shirts in public settings, posting about food blockades into Gaza and linking non-profit organisations, Doctors Without Borders and The Trevor Project, on his Instagram account where he has over 11 million followers.

In a time where a single sentence can be taken out of context in a TikTok post or altered to suit a narrative driven by a headline (and yes, the irony of writing this does not go unnoticed), speaking candidly can feel like you’re walking into a trap.

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“I think it’s very easy to get scared no matter what you sort of talk about,” the actor tells Sky News.

“There’s so many different ways that things can get kind of fractured and have a life of itself really.”

He adds: “It’s sort of a business part of the way media can work really. There’s one thing that you can say and no matter what your intention behind it, it is absolutely lost in all of these different headlines, I suppose, but I’ll never shut up.”

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Pedro Pascal arrives at the premiere of "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" in Los Angeles earlier this week. Pic: AP
Image:
Pedro Pascal arrives at the premiere of “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” in Los Angeles earlier this week. Pic: AP

It’s the last line, “I’ll never shut up”, that echoes after our four minute and two second conversation in the midst of a days-long “press run” in London for the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

The 50-year-old knows one misstep in an increasingly reactive media industry can shatter the careers of many. Pascal is aware of the dangers but uses his voice anyway.

It’s that decision that makes him “fantastic”, maybe more so than his role as Dr Richard Reeds in The Fantastic Four: First Steps – a character quite literally weighed down with the worries of the world on his shoulders whilst simultaneously welcoming new life with his wife Sue Storm.

The film, directed by WandaVision’s Matt Shakman, stands alone in its own universe within the MCU and also features Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss Bachrach and Joseph Quinn.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is in cinemas now.

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