Indiana governor vetoes bill banning transgender females from girls’ sports
The governor of Indiana governor on Monday vetoed a bill banning transgender females from girls school sports.
Opponents of the bill argued it was a bigoted response to a problem that does not exist, with the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana saying it planned a lawsuit against what it called “hateful legislation”.
Republican sponsors of the bill said it was needed to protect the integrity of female sports and opportunities for girls to gain college athletic scholarship but pointed out no instances in the state of girls being outperformed by transgender athletes.
The Republican governor, Eric Holcomb, signaled support for the bill last month but said in his veto letter that the legislation “falls short” of providing a consistent statewide policy for what he called “fairness in K-12 sports”.
Holcomb also signed a bill eliminating the state’s permit requirement to carry handguns in public.
Both measures, concerning what have become a pair of conservative causes across the country, faced intense opposition before being approved by the GOP-dominated legislature. The governor made his decisions just before his Tuesday deadline to act.
On the transgender sports bill veto, Holcomb also pointed to the Indiana High School Athletic Association, which has a policy covering transgender students wanting to play sports that match their gender identity and has said it has had no transgender girls finalize a request to play on a girls team.
“The presumption of the policy laid out in HEA 1041 is that there is an existing problem in K-12 sports in Indiana that requires further state government intervention,” Holcomb said. “It implies that the goals of consistency and fairness in competitive female sports are not currently being met. After thorough review, I find no evidence to support either claim even if I support the effort overall.”
Lawmakers can override the veto with simple majorities in the House and Senate. A veto override vote could happen as soon as 24 May.
The law would prohibit K-12 students born male but who identify as female from participating in a sport or on an athletic team designated for women or girls. It would not prevent students who identify as female or transgender men playing on men’s sports teams.
Eleven other Republican-led states have adopted such laws that observers describe as a classic “wedge issue” to motivate conservatives. Governors in Iowa and South Dakota signed their bans in recent weeks.
Democrats argued Republicans were following a national conservative “culture war” with the transgender girls sports ban.
“Signing House Bill 1041 into law would have put the lives of our children in jeopardy,” said the state Democratic chairman, Mike Schmuhl. “However, this unnecessary debate has set a tone with kids that being transgender means something is wrong with them.”
In signing the handgun permit requirement repeal, Holcomb went against the vocal opposition of his state police superintendent to further loosening lenient firearms laws.
The permit repeal, called “constitutional carry” by gun-rights supporters in reference to the second amendment, was criticized by major law enforcement groups who argued eliminating the permit system would endanger officers by stripping them of a screening tool for quickly identifying dangerous people who should not have guns.
At least 21 other states allow residents to carry handguns without permit – and Ohio’s Republican governor signed a similar bill last week.