Legislation that would bar transgender teens from participating on sports teams that do not align with their assigned gender at birth won final legislative approval Thursday when the Louisiana House endorsed it on a 78-17 vote.
A number of House members stood and applauded after the tally was announced. The bill has already won Senate approval 29-6.
The Louisiana Senate approved Wednesday evening legislation nearly identical to a bill restricting transgender youth from participating in pub…
Gov. John Bel Edwards is expected to veto the measure.
Backers say Senate Bill 156 is aimed at maintaining fairness in girls sports, though opponents argue it's discriminatory. The instrument would require athletic teams or sporting events for girls at public K-12 schools to be composed only of "biological females," or those who were assigned female at birth.
Newly elected Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R-Jefferson and House handler of the bill, said the legislation is about one thing — fairness in girls sports.
Schlegel said if girls have to compete against transgender girls, they will lose out on chances for college scholarships.
"Girls deserve the same opportunities as boys to excel in athletics," she said. "Biological males will always have certain advantages over biological females. That is why we have women's sports in the first place."
A week after rejecting a near-identical proposal, Louisiana's House Education Committee on Wednesday advanced legislation that would bar trans…
Rep. Aimee Freeman, D-New Orleans, disagreed and opposed the bill.
Freeman said although she was a state champion cross country runner, the bill "discriminates against some of our most vulnerable children."
She said children in the transgender community are "almost suicidal at times."
"They are not students who are trying to take away anything from anybody," Freeman said. "They are just in a very challenging situation with their own lives."
Schlegel said that, as a counselor, she cares about people but the legislation is designed to keep girls sports intact. "Our girls deserve this," she said.
Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, chief sponsor of the proposal, was on the House floor for part of the debate.
Rep. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, said if the measure becomes law, Louisiana could suffer from the loss of lucrative sporting and other events by organizers who view the rules as discriminatory.
Under questioning by Duplessis, Schlegel conceded that Louisiana has not experienced cases of transgender girls making a mockery of competition.
"This is a solution in search of a problem," he said.
The governor's office reiterated his stance after the vote.
“As Gov. Edwards has stated before, this is not a problem in Louisiana today, and he is concerned about the impact it would have on those transgender youth who already are dealing with what can be a very emotional issue," Edwards' press office said in a statement.
"There is no reason to put the weight of the state behind something that is unnecessary, discriminatory and hurtful.”
The bill passed the House and Senate by margins that would allow lawmakers to override a gubernatorial veto.
The governor is a Democrat and Republicans control the Legislature.
However, the political dynamics often change during any override attempt and overrides are extremely rare in Louisiana. Doing so would require 26 votes in the Senate and 70 in the House for the legislation to become law over the governor's objections.
Voting to restrict transgender youth from participating in organized sports (78): Speaker Schexnayder, Reps Adams, Amedee, Bacala, Bagley, Beaullieu, Bishop, Bourriaque, Brown, Butler, Carrier, R. Carter, W. Carter, Cormier, Coussan, Cox, Crews, Davis, Deshotel, DeVillier, DuBuisson, Echols, Edmonds, Edmonston, Emerson, Farnum, Firment, Fontenot, Freiberg, Frieman, Gadberry, Garofalo, Geymann, Goudeau, Harris, Hilferty, Hodges, Hollis, Horton, Huval, Illg, Ivey, M. Johnson, T. Johnson, Kerner, LaCombe, Mack, Magee, McCormick, McFarland, McKnight, McMahen, Miguez, G. Miller, Mincey, Moore, Muscarello, Nelson, Orgeron, C. Owen, R. Owen, Pressly, Riser, Romero, Schamerhorn, Schlegel, Seabaugh, St. Blanc, Stefanski, Tarver, Thomas, Thompson, Turner, Villio, Wheat, White, Wright and Zeringue.
Voting against SB156 (17): Reps Brass, Carpenter, Duplessis, Freeman, Glover, Green, Hughes, James, Jefferson, Jenkins, Landry, Marino, Newell, Phelps, Pierre, Stagni and Willard.
Not Voting (10): Reps. Bryant, G. Carter, Gaines, Jones, Jordan, Larvadain, Lyons, Marcelle, D. Miller and Selders.
