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House Republicans plan to override the governor’s veto on a bill banning transgender girls from participating in K-12 girls’ sports when lawmakers return to the Indiana Statehouse on May 24.
House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, confirmed Tuesday that there will be an override vote on House Bill 1041. He said that the fundamental goal of the legislation is to protect girls’ competitive sports.
“This issue continues to be in the national spotlight and for good reason as women have worked hard for equal opportunities on the playing field–and that’s exactly what they deserve,” Huston said in a written statement.
Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb vetoed the legislation Monday evening, saying the bill “falls short” of maintaining consistency for fairness in school sports, and that other states have run into significant legal opposition when trying to implement similar bills.
The bill would have prohibited students who were born male but identify as female from participating in a sport or on an athletic team that is designated for women or girls.
Lawmakers in both the GOP-dominated House and Senate need a simple majority vote to override the governor’s veto. A spokesperson for Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said the Senate will also consider the veto override of HB 1041 if it passes the House. During this year’s session, the legislation was passed by the Senate 32-18 and by the House 66-30.
Bill author Rep. Michelle Davis, R-Whiteland, said in a statement that “Hoosier girls deserve better” and she looks forward to the vote to override Holcomb’s veto.
“Hoosier female athletes deserve the opportunity to win and lose on a level playing field,” Davis said. “Despite being equal, biological males and biological females both possess different genetic strengths and weaknesses.”
The Legislature is set to reconvene on May 24 for technical corrections day, which is a one-day session scheduled each year following the end of the regular legislative session.
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Trans females are FEMALES,,, that ‘s what “Trans” means, no longer males … they have moved on.
The Gov also made a huge mistake in allowing the concealed carry law get past him….lost his bargaining chip… next thing you know we will we see the toting state lawmakers shooting squirrels in the statehouse trees!
–National Institute of Health States
“X and Y chromosomes genetically make you what you are. The Y chromosome is one of the two sex chromosomes in humans (the other is the X chromosome). The sex chromosomes form one of the 23 pairs of human chromosomes in each cell. The Y chromosome spans more than 59 million building blocks of DNA (base pairs) and represents almost 2 percent of the total DNA in cells.
Each person normally has one pair of sex chromosomes in each cell. The Y chromosome is present in males, who have one X and one Y chromosome, while females have two X chromosomes.”
You can’t have it both ways. Do you identify as a doctor, lawyer, nurse, if you are not? Sorry, but you are wrong on this one.
I disagree, Marc.
Putting “Trans” in front of “female” doesn’t change the genetic DNA of a human being.
Cowards, scared of their own pants.
Marc is on-target with both issues. I was on a Southwest flight a few years ago. The announcement that was made upon landing at IND was “welcome to Indianapolis, set your clocks back 30 years”. In retrospect, they were being generous. They should have said 50 years.
What disgusting comments. How ridiculous; nobody “moves on” from one gender to another. People are BORN a given gender, period. It’s kind of a biological thing, easily determined.
(And I can’t believe any airline would make such a stupid statement….and I seriously doubt they did. You people will believe anything. If San Francisco or New York City are so much more enlightened than Indianapolis, for Pete’s sake, MOVE there. What’s forcing you to live in such a horrible, backwater, repressive environment?)
Agree with you Bob! You’re always “wrong” if you don’t agree with lefties. They are not willing to accept that not everybody sees the world with rainbow-colored glasses on…
Bob P. On point, thank you.
Marc L Men can do all they want to “transistion”, hormone therapy, cut their package off, implants, voice lessons …..ect but they can’t change the DNA that says they were born male and not female.
Nothing more hilarious than the notion that one political wing is the standard-bearer for progress.
The number of previously politically unattuned women is growing, and this issue actually has historically radical feminists lining up and agreeing with “traditional values” men.
Womens’ sports will be destroyed by these cosplayers. Not everyone is willing to indulge the lie.
Why are Marc and J G so anti-science?
The existing IHSAA policy is rooted in science. It’s replacement is anti-science.
Not one of you has managed to point out what was inadequate with that policy. Your silence speaks volumes.
Here’s the summary version of the IHSAA policy that isn’t good enough for Indiana legislators:
Transgendered male athletes in Indiana may play sports against females if they have the muscle mass and bone density of biological female athletes. They have to prove that before they can play.
So, you might say, doesn’t that mean they could just undergo hormone therapy and play sports?
Well, no. Even after hormone therapy, transgendered males retain an advantage when it comes to muscle mass and bone density. So, in the vast majority of cases, they wouldn’t be eligible.
I suspect, but don’t know, that this is likely one reason why, when the first and so far only transgendered male in Indiana interested in playing female sports started the process to play, they bailed out and didn’t finish applying.
The only cases in which transgendered males would only be eligible to play sports against females if they had the muscle mass and bone density of females before they started transitioning. Statistically, this is a very small number of boys.
And, oh yeah. Reminder – it’s still never happened in Indiana.
“It hasn’t happened in Indiana”. It’s mind numbing, but we need the law because of Democrats like Joe. The rest of your manifesto is too stupid to even comment on.
Nice try, Chuck. The IHSAA came up with a solution to your problem that isn’t a law. We are getting a law because Republicans like Chuck don’t get science, think all smart people are all Democrats, and can’t understand anything more nuanced than “ban good”.
The same people who said the entire world would go to hell if we allowed same sex marriage are back to tell us the world will go to hell if a 98 pound weakling (the only type of boy who’d pass the IHSAA standards) played girls sports. If you’ve seen girls sports lately, and I’m guessing you haven’t, that kind of kid ain’t gonna make the team or play. But you’re insistent that you need a law. Sure.
I have a daughter playing high school sports, in a sport in which a transgendered male would absolutely dominate if allowed to play. This bill isn’t needed to protect my kid. The IHSAA has it handled.
this is for K-12. nobody should be transgendered at this age and if they are their parents should be locked up
Vote that mutt out!!!!!! Embarrassing and stopping progress!!!! You signed the wrong bill Dummy!!!!!!
Simple comment.
so if a forensic and DNA experts dig up a grave site that has a male, female and a transgender person, would science still be able to determine each persons gender a 1000 years from now?If the answer is YES,then that just proves no matter what alteration you have done surgically,YOU CAN NEVER CHANGE YOUR DNA MAKE UP THAT IDENTIFIES YOUR SEX!Its all mental folks…..
Could we just agree there is not a good solution either way. Lia Thomas at University of Pennsylvania shows how complicated it all is – as much as I think pre-puberty it doesn’t matter a whole lot – but clearly later in life it does.
Could anyone explain what is wrong with the current state of affairs and IHSAA policy?
The athletic association already has a process in place for transgender girls to “qualify” for girls sports. Do you all really believe that a lot of boys are going to take female hormones and go through the whole process of transitioning just to be able to dominate a sport? I sure don’t.
It’s “attempt” to qualify, it’s rooted in science, and the bar is quite high AND no one has ever been able to clear it.
Not one person has managed to ever explain what’s wrong with the IHSAA policy, or has claimed that we needed a new state law because that policy was in danger of going away to be replaced by something worse.
The entire bill is performative nonsense to put on a campaign flyer. A total waste of tax dollars this session. Meanwhile, our roads are still garbage.
Joe B or Joleen or whoever. It’s simple. The Great IHSAA solution you apparently wrote is subjective. Being an XY or YY is not. It’s as simple as that.
You don’t understand what the word subjective means.
If a transgendered boy can demonstrate she has the bone density and muscle mass of a same-sized girl, and hence has no advantage, she’s eligible to play.
Simple to say, hard to do. I mean, if you think that’s something that can be done via drugs, or likely to happen much at all, you’ve not had kids in high school before, have you?
I have a daughter playing high school sports, in a sport in which a transgendered male would absolutely dominate if allowed to play. This bill isn’t needed to protect my kid. The IHSAA has it handled.
Someone who thought they were helping the case for this bill shared these stats. All they did was prove how the IHSAA policy would work to prevent unfair competition.
“The 15–31% athletic advantage that transwomen displayed over their female counterparts prior to starting gender affirming hormones declined with feminising therapy. However, transwomen still had a 9% faster mean run speed after the 1 year period of testosterone suppression that is recommended by World Athletics for inclusion in women’s events.”
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/55/11/577.full?ijkey=yjlCzZVZFRDZzHz&keytype=ref
“In addition, maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max), which correlates to ~30-40% of success in endurance sports, is higher in both elite and average men and boys than in comparable women and girls when measured in regards to absolute volume of oxygen consumed and when measured relative to body mass.”
https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/a69528e3-c613-4bcc-9931-258260a4e77f/downloads/2020.01.07%20G%20Brown%20Report%20Executed.pdf?ver=1642651715032
“As to bone strength, Knox et al. report that a “recent meta-analysis shows that hormone therapy provided to transwomen over 2 years maintains bone density so bone strength is unlikely to fall to levels of cis-women, especially in an
elite athlete competing and training at high intensity. Increased bone strength also translates into protection against trauma, helping with recovery and prevention of injury.””
https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/a69528e3-c613-4bcc-9931-258260a4e77f/downloads/2020.01.07%20G%20Brown%20Report%20Executed.pdf?ver=1642651715032
“Conclusion: Cross-sex hormone treatment markedly affects muscle strength, size and composition in transgender
individuals. Despite the robust increases in muscle mass and strength in TM, the TW were still stronger and had more muscle mass following 12 months of treatment. These findings add new knowledge that could be relevant when evaluating transwomen’s eligibility to compete in the women’s category of athletic competitions”
https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/a69528e3-c613-4bcc-9931-258260a4e77f/downloads/Karolinska.pdf?ver=1642651715032
You don’t understand what the word subjective means.
If a transgendered boy can demonstrate she has the bone density and muscle mass of a same-sized girl, and hence has no advantage, she’s eligible to play. Simple to say, hard to do.
I mean, if you think that’s something that can be done via drugs, or likely to happen much at all, you’ve not had kids in high school before, have you?
I have a daughter playing high school sports, in a sport in which a transgendered male would absolutely dominate if allowed to play. This bill isn’t needed to protect my kid. The IHSAA has it handled.
Someone who thought they were helping the case for this bill shared these stats. All they did was prove how the IHSAA policy would work to prevent unfair competition.
“The 15–31% athletic advantage that transwomen displayed over their female counterparts prior to starting gender affirming hormones declined with feminising therapy. However, transwomen still had a 9% faster mean run speed after the 1 year period of testosterone suppression that is recommended by World Athletics for inclusion in women’s events.”
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/55/11/577.full?ijkey=yjlCzZVZFRDZzHz&keytype=ref
“In addition, maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max), which correlates to ~30-40% of success in endurance sports, is higher in both elite and average men and boys than in comparable women and girls when measured in regards to absolute volume of oxygen consumed and when measured relative to body mass.”
https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/a69528e3-c613-4bcc-9931-258260a4e77f/downloads/2020.01.07%20G%20Brown%20Report%20Executed.pdf?ver=1642651715032
“As to bone strength, Knox et al. report that a “recent meta-analysis shows that hormone therapy provided to transwomen over 2 years maintains bone density so bone strength is unlikely to fall to levels of cis-women, especially in an elite athlete competing and training at high intensity. Increased bone strength also translates into protection against trauma, helping with recovery and prevention of injury.””
https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/a69528e3-c613-4bcc-9931-258260a4e77f/downloads/2020.01.07%20G%20Brown%20Report%20Executed.pdf?ver=1642651715032
“Conclusion: Cross-sex hormone treatment markedly affects muscle strength, size and composition in transgender individuals. Despite the robust increases in muscle mass and strength in TM, the TW were still stronger and had more muscle mass following 12 months of treatment. These findings add new knowledge that could be relevant when evaluating transwomen’s eligibility to compete in the women’s category of athletic competitions”
https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/a69528e3-c613-4bcc-9931-258260a4e77f/downloads/Karolinska.pdf?ver=1642651715032
The IHSAA has already concocted an objective standard that solves the problem. Republicans are simply not smart enough to understand that and have to rush in to “fix things” so they can proclaim they did something. All they do is look foolish.