The Texas House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday mandating that transgender athletes participate in school sports teams corresponding to the biological sex listed on their birth certificate.

The bill passed 76โ€“54 after failing to advance on three previous attempts, and will now be sent to the state Senate for deliberation. Representative Valoree Swanson, the billโ€™s sponsor, said it would protect women and girls from unfair competition.

โ€œThis is about protecting the 332,000 girls 7th through 8th grade playing UIL sports in the state of Texas,โ€ Swanson said during floor debate on the measure. โ€œNo matter how much a biological male takes suppression hormones they still have a tremendous advantage.โ€

Representative Julie Johnson, a Democrat, criticized the bill.

โ€œHow can you say that girls are being unfairly positioned in competition in the state of Texas to justify this bill [when] there has not been a single complaintโ€ to the stateโ€™s University Interscholastic League about transgender athletes, Johnson said on Friday.

Republicans legislators in 32 states have attempted to advance similar laws, according to Reuters. West Virginia governor Jim Justice signed a law banning male athletes from participating in girlsโ€™ sports earlier this year, however a federal judge blocked that law in response to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal, on behalf of a transgender girl.

Earlier this year, Arkansas became the first state to pass legislation banning gender-transition surgery for minors, with the legislature overriding Governor Asa Hutchinsonโ€™s veto. However, that law was also blocked by a federal judge in response to an ACLU suit.