Gov. Kristi Noem slammed the South Dakota Legislature for rejecting her changes to a bill banning transgender student-athletes from competing in sports based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex.
Noem, who vetoed the bill on Monday after the state Legislature refused to incorporate her changes, shared her dissatisfaction in an op-ed published in National Review on Tuesday.
“I’ve made it a point throughout my career to make smart decisions based on facts, not to mindlessly follow the urges of the loudest voices. … It is for that reason that I asked the South Dakota state legislature to make revisions to HB 1217,” Noem wrote, adding that the original proposal was “a trial lawyer’s dream.”
KRISTI NOEM ISSUES EXECUTIVE ORDERS AFTER TRANSGENDER SPORTS BAN LEGISLATION FAILS
The governor, who noted in the piece that she’s a soon-to-be grandmother to a baby girl, said the Legislature’s bill would have been ineffective in protecting girls and called for a special session to pass a new bill.
“This fight is too important to lose. That’s why I am asking the legislature to come back into special session in late May or early June — to pass a better version of HB 1217 that addresses the drafting errors and will stand up in court … [and] I look forward to the South Dakota legislature passing a bill that will win in court,” she wrote. “Until that day, my executive orders will work to protect girls in the state of South Dakota, both at the K–12 and collegiate level. Our girls deserve nothing less.”
Immediately after she vetoed HB 1217 on Monday, Noem issued two executive orders banning transgender athletes from participating in leagues with peers who match their gender identities rather than their biological sexes.
“Only girls should play girls’ sports,” Noem said in a statement. “Given the legislature’s failure to accept my proposed revisions to HB 1217, I am immediately signing two executive orders to address this issue: one to protect fairness in K-12 athletics, and another to do so in college athletics.”
Prior to the veto, Noem signaled conflicting stances on the bill. Weeks ago, the governor suggested she would sign the ban into law.
“In South Dakota, we’re celebrating #InternationalWomensDay by defending women’s sports,” Noem said on Twitter shortly after the bill passed in the state Senate. “I’m excited to sign this bill very soon.”
Her apparent reversal attracted criticism from within her own party, some of whom think she capitulated to corporate pressure after the NCAA threatened to pull South Dakota tournaments if the legislation were enacted, leading aides to decry “conservative cancel culture.”
“Gov. Noem is very used to fighting off criticism from the left,” Ian Fury, the GOP governor’s communications director, said. “After all, in the past year, she was the only governor in the entire nation to never order a single business or church in her state to close.”
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Noem, who reasserted her “desire to fight on this issue” in Tuesday’s op-ed, vowed to work with the Legislature if it reconvened for a special session in late May or early June to pass a version of the bill acceptable to all involved.
