Indiana GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb thinks female athletes need to be deprived of opportunities before he bothers to do anything about it.
Holcomb on Monday vetoed a bill that would prevent men from competing in women’s school sports in the state. His reasoning? The bill isn’t even necessary. “It implies that the goals of consistency and fairness in competitive female sports are not currently being met,” Holcomb said. “After thorough review, I find no evidence to support either claim even if I support the overall goal.”
Holcomb thinks that, because there hasn’t been a man competing in a girls sport in his state so far, no law is ever going to be needed to prevent it. Holcomb pointed to the Indiana High School Athletic Association, which already has a policy in place for transgender athletes. The policy allows transgender athletes to submit applications to participate on teams opposite of their sex. According to the association commissioner, one male athlete submitted an incomplete application and later withdrew it.
But, as the South Bend Tribune detailed in 2020, the policy only requires male athletes to undergo “a medically confirmed gender reassignment procedure” or complete “one year of hormone treatment.” Neither of those things diminishes the natural athletic advantage that male athletes have. The fact that no high school girls teams have had to accept male athletes yet does not preclude the possibility of it happening, and the association policy won’t prevent it either.
It should not take female athletes having their athletic experience ruined for states to take obvious steps to ensure it doesn’t happen. Girls sports should be for girls and girls only. The association is not guaranteeing that, so Indiana legislators are attempting to. This should have been a no-brainer, but Holcomb either doesn’t have the stomach for it or simply doesn’t care.
It should not fall on Republican politicians to protect women’s sports, but it has. High school and collegiate sports governing bodies have failed to do their jobs, bending to the unscientific gender politics of left-wing activists. There is no excuse for a GOP-run state such as Indiana to follow down that path.
