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BATON ROUGE, LA. – A measure that would bar transgender athletes from competing on girls’ sports teams in public schools in Louisiana, passed by the Republican majority legislature Thursday is now headed to Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards, who is expected to veto the bill.
Senate Bill 156 (SB156) was sponsored by State Senator Beth Mizell (D-12, Franklinton), the Senate’s second-ranking Republican, who during debate on the measure said that she ‘was concerned only with women’s rights.’ She reminded her 38 colleagues of other measures “we have done together to protect the fact that men and women are different,” the local newspaper, the Baton Rouge Advocate reported.
So far in 2021, legislators in more than 30 states have introduced bills to ban trans kids from playing sports. This measure supporters, which mirrors bans passed by other Republican-led legislatures in several states including Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Montana, and West Virginia, have all said they’re trying to protect female athletes from unfair competition and preserve equality for women’s sports.
“Allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports shatters girls’ equal opportunities,” said Rep. Laurie Schlegel, the Jefferson Parish Republican who handled the bill in the House. “Let’s protect our girls.” This measure would apply to K-12 schools and colleges in the Pelican state.
“For the past ten years, every time far-right extremists and Christian nationalists have tried to create new laws attacking trans people’s core human rights of self-determination and self-expression, trans Louisianans have held the line. Not one of these bills has become law, and we don’t intend on breaking our winning streak this year,” said Dylan Waguespack, president of Louisiana Trans Advocates. “We want to encourage any young trans people in Louisiana who see today’s news to hold onto hope and to remember that you’re not alone. You’re a beloved member of a community that’s strong, that fights for freedom, and that wins.”
The virulently anti-LGBTQ Louisiana Family Forum President Gene Mill applauded the actions by lawmakers in a statement, “We are especially thankful to Sen. Mizell and Rep. Laurie Schegel for bringing the bill forward and sending it to the Governor’s desk. Women in Louisiana deserve to compete on a level playing field. Allowing men to compete in women’s sports destroys fair competition, destroys women’s athletic opportunities, and eventually destroys women’s sports. We look forward to Governor Edwards adding his signature to SB156 and validating Louisiana’s attentiveness to and concern for women athletes.”
There are so far more than 250 anti-LGBTQ bills under consideration in state legislatures across the country. Of those, more than half directly target transgender people and more than 70 would, like SB 156, ban transgender girls and women from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity.
2021 has officially surpassed 2015 as the worst year for anti-LGBTQ legislation in recent history. So far in 2021, twenty-three anti-LGBTQ bills have been enacted into law. States have now enacted more anti-LGBTQ laws this year than in the last three years combined.
“The advancement of this discriminatory bill is shameful and sends a harmful message to LGBTQ youth. Tragically, this bill is just the latest in a wave of attacks on trans and non-binary people in Louisiana and across the nation,” said Alphonso David, Human Rights Campaign President. “Legislators and supporters who say it is about a level playing field cannot even provide an example of one incident where this issue has even occurred. I hope Gov. John Bel Edwards keeps his word and vetoes this terrible legislation.”