By GARRETT BERGQUIST
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
Indiana House leaders on Tuesday said they will try to overturn Gov. Eric Holcomb’s veto of a bill to ban transgender girls from girls’ K-12 sports teams.
The announcement came less than 24 hours after Holcomb’s office announced his veto of House Bill 1041. The governor cited a lack of evidence of transgender girls outcompeting non-transgender girls in Indiana and court rulings that have paused similar laws in at least two other states so far.
House Speaker Todd Huston (R-Fishers) said in a statement the goal of the legislation is to protect competition in girls’ sports.
Bill author Rep. Michelle Davis (R-Whiteland) said in an accompanying statement girls and boys should remain separated in competition due to biological differences between them.
“This commonsense legislation would protect athletic opportunities for Hoosier girls right now and into the future,” Davis said.
If the legislature overrides the governor, it would mark the first time state lawmakers anywhere in the United States overrode a chief executive on legislation of this type.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, both Democrats, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a Republican, all vetoed similar legislation last year, and Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox did the same Tuesday with a transgender athlete bill lawmakers delivered to his desk. Those states all require two-thirds majorities to override gubernatorial vetoes, unlike the simple majority required in Indiana.
LGBTQ+ rights groups say lawmakers would do well to heed the concerns Holcomb laid out in his veto message. They say the arguments the bill’s supporters have put forth do not match the reality most student athletes face.
Emma Vosicky, the executive director of Indianapolis-based LGBTQ resource group GenderNexus and a transgender woman, says it’s been hard to listen to arguments that stigmatize transgender people.
“I’m just glad I have a good solid base to work from,” Vosicky said. “I’m not even a 12-year-old who does not have that base and is still trying to figure out how to process what’s being said about them.”
ACLU of Indiana Advocacy and Public Policy Director Katie Blair says the ACLU still plans to file a lawsuit if lawmakers overturn the governor’s decision.
Senate Democrats question priorities of Republicans
On Tuesday, House Republicans stated their intent to override the Governor’s veto of House Bill 1041, the bill to ban transgender girls from playing in K-12 sports in Indiana, on Technical Corrections Day, May 24. Senate Democratic Leader Greg Taylor (D-Indianapolis) released the following statement from his caucus:
Taylor
“Technical Corrections Day is meant to fix technical errors in recently passed bills. Its purpose is not to fuel the flames of culture wars by pushing through a veto override on hateful legislation just to garner votes from specific factions of an extreme political base. Are these really the priorities of the Republican Supermajority?
“We know that the passage of this bill will mean a lawsuit from ACLU, who has already promised to sue. Lawsuits against similar legislation in other states have so far been successful. All this move does, besides further establishing Indiana as a regressive, unwelcoming state, is waste taxpayer dollars on top of the wasted time that will be spent discussing this bill on May 24. It’s ridiculous to put on this charade just so Republicans can double down on discriminating against children to score political points with their base.
“We already know, and the Governor has publicly stated, that there is no evidence that the standards of fairness in girls’ competitive sports are not currently being met in our state. Overriding the veto of HB 1041 will only be another embarrassing chapter for Indiana. The memory of some lawmakers is short – they seem to have already forgotten the stain left on our state by the nationally condemned RFRA, as they continue to pass bills that discriminate against Hoosiers and turn people and businesses away from our state.”