At the State Capitol Thursday, a Senate Committee is scheduled to discuss a transgender athlete ban. Franklinton Republican Senator Beth Mizell brings the bill again this year, after it was vetoed by Governor Edwards in 2021. An attempt to override that veto last year failed. “LAPolitics.com” publisher Jeremy Alford says Edwards nixed the bill last year because he saw it as a “solution looking for a problem”, however… “the folks who are supporting this legislation believe that it IS a preventive measure, that would serve to react to such situations prospectively. But there really haven’t been a whole lot of problems about this in Louisiana.”
Called the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act”, the bill seeks to assure female athletes do not have to face unfair competition from athletes who are bigger, faster and stronger because they were once men. It passed in both chambers last year, but failed in a veto override attempt. Alford says GOP majorities in both chambers are anxious to send the bill to the Governor’s desk again. “This is one of the leading social issues of the session, and – at least for conservatives – they have been waiting for this day for quite a while.”
So will anything be different this year? Will it win final passage again only to be vetoed again? Alford says this is a hot button issue with the very conservative members of the Republican party, and many lawmakers are thinking of their re-election campaign next year. He says being on the wrong social side of the issue could be costly, “When you’re in the Legislature and you are dominated by republicans, eventually you reach a point – like we’re seeing now – where it’s no longer good enough just to be a republican. And now it depends on ‘what KIND of Republican are you?'”
The question also remains, will Governor Edwards want to risk having a veto overridden twice in the same year. The bill is scheduled today before the Senate Education Committee.
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