Indiana lawmakers are looking to go the extra mile in their efforts to keep biological male athletes in men’s and boys’ sports.
The state’s current law, introduced in 2022, prohibits boys born from playing against girls from kindergarten through high school. This week, Republican lawmakers Michelle Davis, Chris Jeter, Joanna King and Robert Heaton introduced a bill that would expand the ban to college teams.
“To ensure a level playing field, it is important that girls compete against girls and boys compete against boys,” Davis wrote in a statement to the Indy Star. “As a mother and legislator, I wrote this bill because I heard directly from parents Hoosiers who want to ensure that female athletes have a fair opportunity to compete and gain recognition.”
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The state capitol building in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, on a sunny spring morning. (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Indianapolis, the state capital, is also where the NCAA headquarters is located.
The law would also require out-of-state teams with a transgender athlete to notify the opposing Indiana school about that athlete at least 60 days in advance. Athletes will also be able to file lawsuits against their school if they feel they were deprived of an opportunity or injured as a result of a possible violation of the law.
Jeter, one of the co-sponsors, said the bill aims to “protect women’s sports in Indiana.”
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb vetoed the original bill nearly three years ago, but the Indiana General Assembly overturned that decision. Holcomb, a Republican, will leave office at the end of this month due to term limits, and fellow Republican Mike Braun will succeed him.
Two months after Holcomb vetoed the bill, a federal judge in the state ruled that a transgender student must be allowed to use the boys’ bathroom at a high school in the state.
Supporter of transgender athlete Kyle Harp, left, of Riverside holds the Progress Pride flag as Save Girls Sports supporters Lori Lopez and her father Pete Pickering, both of Riverside, listen to the debate as they join the crowd that converges outside Riverside Unified School. District meeting Thursday night to discuss the rights of transgender athletes to compete in high school sports, Thursday, December 19, 2024. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
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Last month, NCAA President Charlie Baker sent a message to female college athletes who feel uncomfortable sharing locker rooms. with transgender athletesleaving the responsibility for their own safety squarely on the women themselves.
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the legalization of sports gambling, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questioned Baker about the NCAA policies that have allowed trans athletes to compete on women’s teams. Hawley confronted Baker about the NCAA policy that states “transgender student-athletes should be able to use locker rooms, showers and restrooms consistent with their gender identity.”
Baker, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts, responded by insisting that other athletes have the option of finding other accommodations if they don’t feel comfortable with it.
NCAA President Charlie Baker speaks during a news conference to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the NCAA’s national office moving to Indianapolis on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, at NCAA Headquarters in Indianapolis. (Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar/USA Today Network)
The NCAA saw controversy sweep across the country as trans volleyball player Blaire Fleming helped San Jose State University reach the Mountain West championship game.
