Louisiana Bans Transgenders From Girls’ Sports

“Women have worked too hard for too long to get to the competitive level we have attained to now face an unfair playing field,” the bill’s sponsor said.

QUICK FACTS:
  • Louisiana has banned transgender girls from joining girls’ sports teams, Reuters reports.
  • The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act (SB44) will require Louisiana K-12 schools and universities to establish sports team members according to the biological sex assigned at birth.
  • The bill was approved by the Republican-controlled state legislature last month with enough support to override any veto from Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards (D), who opposed the law. “It was obvious to me after two years it was going to become law whether or not I signed or vetoed the bill,” Edwards said on Monday.
  • Opponents of the bill like House Democratic Chairman Sam Jenkins of Shreveport say, “These kids will see us as bullies. Some people are just flat out uncomfortable with the existence of transgender children in our state.”
  • Supporters of the legislation argue inherent biological differences between males and females give transgender women and girls, who are male, an unfair advantage in sports over female adults and children.
  • The bill will become law Aug 1 and will apply to public elementary, middle and high schools, as well as public universities. It will also apply to any private school or university that receives public funds, NBC News notes.
SEN. BETH MIZELL SPEARHEADED THE BILL:
  • Franklinton Sen. Beth Mizell (R) has worked for two years to pass the transgender sports ban, arguing the bill would protect girls and young women from facing athletes who would have an unfair biological advantage.
  • “Women have worked too hard for too long to get to the competitive level we have attained to now face an unfair playing field,” Mizell said.
READ THE BILL:
BACKGROUND:
  • Republicans in South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Oklahoma, Arizona, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, and Kansas have passed similar laws in recent months, Reuters notes.
  • Similar legislation has passed in at least 17 states.

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