Two Republican Governors Veto Anti-Trans Sports Bills

While there are surely a plethora of republicans on the other side of the table, it looks as though some GOP leaders are choosing compassion when it comes to the plentiful anti-trans bills circulating throughout the United States.

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb vetoed an anti-trans sports bill earlier this week, making him the first republican governor to publicly block this type of legislation in 2022. Just days later, Utah Governor Spencer Cox became the second republican governor in a week to veto a transgender sports ban in his state.

Holcomb announced his decision first in a Monday letter to Indiana Speaker of the House Todd Huston, saying that the bill, HEA 1041, “falls short” in providing clarity and one consistent state policy surrounding fairness in K-12 sports in Indiana.

These so-called “fairness in women’s sports” bills seek to ban trans girls from competing on the appropriate gender-segregated school sports teams. HEA 1041 would have also allowed students and parents to take legal action and submit grievances against schools that violated the policy, and each school would have to develop its own procedures to handle these grievances. The bill didn’t specify what those procedures should entail.

In his letter, Holcomb pointed out some of these holes in HEA 1041, referenced the “wide-open nature of the grievance provisions” and that it was “unclear … how consistency and fairness will be maintained for parents and students across different counties and school districts,” given that each school system would develop policy independently.

“Frustration of students, parents, and administrators will likely follow,” Holcomb writes. “This, of course, only increases the likelihood of litigation against our schools with the courts having to adjudicate the uncertainties.”

Holcomb also pointed out that this bill was providing a “solution” to a problem that doesn’t exist. He says HEA 1041 is based on presumptions that “there is an existing problem on K-12 sports that requires further state government intervention” and that “the goals in consistency and fairness in competitive female sports are not currently being met,” before concluding “after thorough review,” there is no evidence to support either claim.

Cox sent a letter on Tuesday to the leaders of the Utah state Senate and House, writing that the bill, HB 11, to ban trans girls from participating in school sports “has several fundamental flaws and should be reconsidered.” The letter also noted that the bill “will likely bankrupt the Utah High School Athletic Association (UHSAA) and result in millions of dollars in legal fees for local school districts.”

Rather, Cox says he wanted a commission to decide on trans girls’ participation in school sports on a case-by-case basis as a compromise. Referencing the republican belief “that any biologically-born male could simply say he was transgender and begin participating in women’s sports,” Cox says, “This is incorrect,” pointing to the UHSAA, which has already allowed trans student to compete in school sports under some conditions. He adds that only four students have “gone through our paperwork, and we have not had any complaints from any other students or families or school administrators.”

While both moves are encouraging, there is still the potential for a veto override for either state’s anti-trans bill, which would require a constitutional majority of 51 percent of those elected to the state legislature.

In Utah, Cox is already anticipating a veto on Friday and called for a “special session to fix a few things.”