Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb Monday vetoed a bill that would ban transgender girls from participating in school-sanctioned girls’ sports, taking a very different approach to the issue than 11 fellow Republican governors who have passed similar measures in recent years. have signed the law.
Holcomb said the bill, known as HEA 1041, would likely have been challenged in court. He also questioned whether it solved an urgent problem, writing in a letter to lawmakers that “the presumption of the policy set forth in HEA 1041 is that there is an existing problem in K-12 sport in Indiana that further requires state government intervention.”
“It means that the goals of consistency and fairness in competitive women’s sports are currently not being met,” the governor added in his letter. “After a thorough review, I find no evidence to support either claim, even if I support the overall goal.”
Sports participation by transgender girls and women has become an increasingly divisive topic among political leaders and sports sanctions groups, who have grappled with the issue in a way that respects transgender athletes and allays concerns expressed by some critics. on competitive justice. Last week, Lia Thomas, a member of the University of Pennsylvania women’s swim team, became the first openly transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming title.
Since 2019, state lawmakers across the country have introduced dozens of bills banning transgender youth from participating in school sports on teams that match their identities, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT advocacy group.
In October, Texas became the most populous state to ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports in public schools. Republican governors have signed similar measures into law in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.
The bill in Indiana, which the Republican-controlled legislature passed by comfortable margins, has been welcomed by some conservatives in the state. After the passage, the state’s Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita called it “an important step in protecting youth sports.”
“We welcome the opportunity to defend this law if we are challenged in court,” Mr Rokita said.
Democrats and transgender activists have largely criticized the flow of legislation as cruel and unnecessary. Some of them praised Mr. Holcomb for his veto, even as they expressed concern that Indiana lawmakers could override this veto.
“Governor Holcomb did the right thing tonight by vetoing a bill that would only cause problems, not solve them, by targeting Indiana’s transgender children and making them the target of exclusion and discrimination in their own schools. said Cathryn Oakley, the state’s legislative director. and senior advisor for the Human Rights Campaign.
Ms. Oakley warned that “transgender students in Indiana are not out of the woods yet.” With a majority vote in both the House and Senate, lawmakers can overrule Mr. Holcomb, a second-term governor who will be barred from his term in 2024. The bill passed with a significant majority in both houses.
Mr. Holcomb came to power in Indiana in the months that followed. Mike Pence signed a so-called “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” into law in 2015.
The law was proposed as a way to protect religious entrepreneurs from having to provide cakes and flowers at same-sex weddings, but it has sparked fierce opposition, including from some of Indiana’s leading companies. It was quickly rewritten to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Mr. Holcomb, who was appointed lieutenant governor by Mr. Pence following opposition to the Religious Freedom Act, ran as the Republican nominee for governor in 2016 after Mr. Pence was chosen as Donald J. Trump’s running mate.
During his time as governor, Mr. Holcomb has embraced many conservative policies, including a measure he signed Monday that allows people in Indiana to carry handguns without a permit. But he has at times taken a more moderate stance than other Republicans, frustrating some conservatives with virus restrictions in the early stages of the pandemic.
Across the country, many Republicans have embraced laws limiting transgender sports participation, but Holcomb is not alone in his party to reject such measures.
Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota, a Republican, vetoed a similar bill a year ago. And in Utah, Governor Spencer Cox, also a Republican, is expected to veto a bill that would have barred young transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports.
Cox said he was caught off guard by state lawmakers in his own party on March 4 when they passed a last-minute version of the bill, ignoring negotiations with Democrats and transgender rights advocates, who had spent weeks working on a compromise.
After lawmakers passed the legislation, Mr Cox addressed the transgender community at a news conference and said, “We care about you. We love you. It’ll be fine. We will get through this together.”
Julie Bosman reporting contributed.
