Bans on transgender athletes in girls’ high school sports have swept through red states over the last year, but the wave hit a brick wall in Indiana and Utah this week. One governor cited the confusion that would have created the proposed restrictions while another noted that only one transgender athlete was playing girls’ sports in his state.
“I must admit, I am not an expert on transgenderism. I struggle to understand so much of it and the science is conflicting. When in doubt, however, I always try to err on the side of kindness, mercy and compassion,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in his March 22 veto message to the state’s legislature.
Transgender student-athletes have been barred from girls’ K-12 sports in nearly a dozen GOP-controlled states, with the most recent ban becoming law in Iowa on March 3. Students there can only compete in sports based on the gender listed on their birth certificates. “No amount of talent, training or effort can make up for the natural physical advantages males have over females,” Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a statement. “Forcing females to compete against males is the opposite of inclusivity and it’s absolutely unfair.”
‘So much fear and anger’
Fundamental flaws in Utah’s proposal, known as HB11, could bankrupt the state’s high school athletic association and result in millions of dollars in legal fees for local school districts, Cox said. Initially, the bill sought to create a commission that wouldn’t place an outright ban on transgender athletes in girls’ sports. The commission’s goal would be to step in if a transgender athlete appeared likely to dominate a sport or posed a physical safety risk.
Cox also cited the following numbers in his letter (no source was named), focusing on the severe emotional distress many transgender students experience:
- 75,000 high school kids participating in high school sports in Utah
- 4 transgender kids playing high school sports in Utah
- 1 transgender student playing girls’ sports
- 86% of trans youths reporting suicidality
- 56% of trans youths having attempted suicide
“Four kids and only one of them playing girls’ sports. That’s what all of this is about,” Cox said. “Four kids who aren’t dominating or winning trophies or taking scholarships. Four kids who are just trying to find some friends and feel like they are a part of something. Four kids trying to get through each day.” He added, “Rarely has so much fear and anger been directed at so few.”
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The state’s legislature will attempt to override Cox’s veto on Friday. “We care deeply for all students, but we cannot ignore the scientific facts that biological boys are built differently than girls,” Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams said in a statement. “Doing nothing is taking a step backward for women.”
Lawsuits filed against transgender athlete bans in other states were cited by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb in his veto message to the state’s legislature on Monday. He also said the bill “falls short” of providing clarity around K-12 sports because it potentially allowed bans to be applied differently across school districts.
This win wouldn’t have been possible without the thousands of Hoosiers who voiced their strong opposition to state legislators and who showed up at the Statehouse to oppose this harmful bill.
Discrimination has no place in our state. #ProtectTransKids #INLegis
— ACLU of Indiana (@ACLUIndiana) March 21, 2022
He disagreed with the bill’s presumption that high school sports in Indiana are unfair. “It implies that the goals of consistency and fairness in competitive sports are not currently being met,” Holcomb said. “After a thorough review, I find no evidence to support either claim even if I support the overall goal.”
A similar sentiment killed a similar proposal in North Dakota last spring. Gov. Doug Burgum vetoed a transgender athlete ban in April 2021, saying the state already had “fairness in girls’ and boys’ sports.” An attempt to overturn the veto failed.
