Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird are among 40 professional, Olympic, and Paralympic athletes who signed a letter condemning laws that ban transgender athletes from competing.

The USWNT star and retired WNBA star sent the letter, organized by Athlete Ally, to the United States House of Representatives on Monday. It urged lawmakers not to pass the Protection of Girls and Women in Sports Act (HR 734), which would amend Title IX to exclude transgender and intersex women and girls from competing in women’s sports leagues.

Title IX prevents discrimination based on gender. The Biden Administration just last week proposed new guidelines that would prevent blanket bans on transgender participation, but would still allow trans athletes to be excluded in some scenarios.

In their letter, the 40 athletes said that HR 734 “does not protect women in sports,” and would prevent women and girls from receiving necessary “mental and physical health benefits.” They urged lawmakers to focus on the real problems women athletes have been fighting against for years.

“We believe that gender equity in sport is critical, which is why we urge policymakers to turn their attention and effort to the causes women athletes have been fighting for decades, including equal pay, an end to abuse and mistreatment, uneven implementation of Title IX, and a lack of access and equity for girls of color and girls with disabilities, to name only a few,” the letter reads.

Twenty states have already passed bans on transgender participation in sports at public schools and colleges, with Kansas being the most recent. As of April, the total amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation proposed in the United States doubled the amount proposed in all of 2022.

The athletes’ letter continues: “Our deepest hope is that transgender and intersex kids will never have to feel the isolation, exclusion and othering that H.R. 734 is seeking to enshrine into law.”