The Louisiana Legislature passed a bill Thursday that would mandate school athletes in elementary, secondary, and college programs align with their biological gender to compete.
The state House cleared the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act 77-17. The bill passed the state Senate 29-6 on May 5 and heads to the desk of Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, where it might face a hurdle.
“Athletic teams or sporting events designated for females, girls, or women shall not be open to students who are not biologically female,” or vice versa, the legislation stated.
The bill allows for biological females to bring “causes of action” against any institution that violates the provisions, deprives them of an “athletic opportunity,” or causes “indirect harm” as the bill sponsors cited a Supreme Court opinion, which laid out that there are “inherent differences between men and women.”
Edwards could issue a veto on the matter, though margins in both the House and Senate might prove to resist his potential move. In April, he called the legislation “unnecessary and discriminatory.”
“We don’t have a problem in Louisiana today in the sense that we have individuals out there who are trans females trying to participate in sports,” he told reporters at the time. “But, first and foremost, I am really concerned about emotionally fragile people and the idea that the weight of the state would be put behind something that is unnecessary and discriminatory and very hurtful to those individuals when there’s not a compelling reason to do it.”
The state’s GOP-majority legislature disagrees.
“Allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports shatters girls’ equal opportunities,” said Republican state Rep. Laurie Schlegel of the bill. “Let’s protect our girls.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana called the legislation “shameful” in a series of tweets lambasting lawmakers Wednesday.
“Shameful. Trans youth deserve so much better. We all do,” the group wrote.
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“Bills like Senate Bill 156 aren’t about sports, they’re about targeting and excluding trans youth from public spaces,” it added in a previous post. “We’ll keep saying it: discriminating against trans youth for who they are is reprehensible, unconstitutional, and wrong.”
Louisiana is among 26 states that have pushed legislation or passed bills restricting the ability of transgender athletes to compete in sports not aligning with their biological gender. As of mid-May, more than 50 individual proposals made rounds throughout the United States.
