BATON ROUGE (LifeSiteNews) – The Louisiana legislature has enacted a law to protect women’s sports from “transgender” males without Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards’ signature.
The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, enacted Monday, requires K-12 schools and universities to designate sports teams by biological sex. The law, pointing out the biological differences between men and women, states that “strength, speed and endurance” is found in “greater degrees in biological males than biological females,” and adds that a year of hormonal intervention does not effectively remove those differences.
In a letter to the Louisiana Senate, Governor Edwards, a self-identified Catholic, explained his opposition to the law, saying that it “unfairly targets” gender-confused student athletes. “Nevertheless, the legislature has made it clear over the last two regular legislative sessions that it believes the policy of the state should be to treat these children differently than who they really are.”
The Catholic Church teaches that God creates individuals either male or female, regardless of a person’s confused identity.
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Edwards, claiming that he knew that the Louisiana legislature would have enough votes to override his veto, allowed the law to be enacted. “It was obvious to me after two years it was going to become law whether or not I signed or vetoed the bill,” Edwards explained.
The issue of gender-confused athletes in sports has gained increased attention in recent months in light of William “Lia” Thomas’ “victory” at a National College Athletics Association (NCAA) swim meet in March. Thomas, a biological male, identifies as a lesbian. Thomas was brought up during debate in the Louisiana House, according to USA Today.
NCAA has received criticism from women who had to swim against Thomas and from a group of former Olympians and coaches, asking the organization to “rectify” the situation caused by Thomas’ “victory.”
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Thomas, appearing on Good Morning America late last month, denied any advantages he may have while competing against female swimmers. Thomas’ claims contradict evidence that shows that the participation of gender-confused men in women’s sports threatens their integrity, according to a recent study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Louisiana joins states like Arizona and Oklahoma that have enacted similar laws. In Utah and Indiana, the state legislatures had enough votes to override the vetoes of their Republican governors.
The Pennsylvania Senate passed a similar bill late Tuesday, but Democratic Governor Tom Wolf promised to veto the legislation, pending a vote in the Pennsylvania House.
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Democratic Louisiana gov. vetoes bipartisan transgender sports bill