Indiana lawmakers enact trans sports ban with veto override
Republican lawmakers in Indiana voted Tuesday to override the GOP governor’s veto of a bill banning transgender females from competing in girls school sports and join about more than a dozen other states adopting similar laws in the past two years.
State senators voted 3215 in favor of overriding Gov. Eric Holcomb following the same action in a 6728 vote by the House earlier in the day. Holcomb had said in his veto message that bill did not provide a consistent policy for what he called “fairness in K-12 sports” when he unexpectedly vetoed it in March.
The override votes were nearly party line and no lawmakers changed their votes from earlier this year. Four Republican senators joined all Democratic senators in voting to uphold the veto. In the House, three Republicans voted to sustain the veto, while one Democrat supported overriding it.
Opponents have argued the bill is a bigoted response to a problem that doesn’t exist. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a lawsuit minutes following the override in hopes of blocking the law from taking effect as scheduled on July 1.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a 10-year-old girl who plays on her school’s all-girls softball team in Indianapolis. The new law would deny the fourthgrader the right to rejoin her team because she is a transgender girl, which is a violation of Title IX and the U.S. Constitution, according to the complaint.
Holcomb said in a statement following the override that his “position hasn’t changed.”
“There remains zero cases and the process, which is managed by the (Indiana High School Athletic Association), is working. I stand behind my decision to veto HB 1041,” he said.
Republican sponsors of the bill maintain it is needed to protect the integrity of female sports and opportunities for girls to gain college athletic scholarships but have pointed out no instances in the state of girls being outperformed by transgender athletes.
People listen to speakers during a rally protesting lawmakers gathering to override the veto of a bill banning transgender females from competing in high school sports.
The fighters met in 2017 and again in 2018 for two highly entertaining middleweight matchups. They fought to a split draw in the first bout, and Álvarez won a narrow majority decision in the second meeting.
The third fight will be a 168-pound super middleweight contest between the 40-year-old Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) and Álvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs), who will turn 32 this summer. Álvarez is the undisputed world champion at 168 pounds, holding all four major titles.
Álvarez announced earlier this year that he intended to fight Golovkin in the fall after taking on light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in May. That plan was put into question after Bivol upset Álvarez by unanimous decision on May 7. Bivol hoped to book a rematch with the biggest star in boxing after his breakthrough upset, but Álvarez ultimately decided to proceed with the most lucrative potential bout and the resumption of a remarkable rivalry.
Champions schedule, two weeks ago at the Regions Tradition. This would have been his fourth tournament in five weeks since he returned to golf.