Indiana’s HB 1041 would ban self-professed ‘transgender’ individuals from competing on college sports teams for the opposite sex, adding to existing protections for women’s sports at the high school level.
INDIANAPOLIS (LifeSiteNews) -- Indiana state lawmakers are seeking to strengthen a pro-family law enacted in 2022 that bans gender-confused persons from competing in sports against members of the opposite sex at the high school level and below. If approved, this year’s HB 1041 would exclude self-professed "transgender" athletes from competing in college sports as well.
“While males and females are equal in worth, biological differences undeniably affect athletic performance. To ensure a level playing field, it's important that girls compete against girls, and boys against boys,” GOP state Rep. Michelle Davis, the bill’s sponsor, told local media.
The 2022 bill that Davis also sponsored was vetoed by then-GOP Governor Eric Holcomb, whose term ended today. But the GOP-controlled Indiana Senate and House overrode him at the time.
Davis’ new measure is co-sponsored by three other state lawmakers. It would officially prohibit “a male, based on the student's biological sex at birth in accordance with the student's genetics and reproductive biology, from participating on an athletic team or sport designated as being a female, women's, or girls' athletic team or sport” at the post-secondary level.
The law also mandates that out-of-state teams inform the opposing Indiana-based school of any gender-confused players at least 60 days before their scheduled competition. State-funded colleges would be compelled to establish a “grievance” policy to settle situations where athletes say their rights are being infringed upon, with institutions that violate the law being subject to civil penalties.
The bill is planned to be introduced in the state's House Education Committee this month.
In 2022, current Indiana GOP Governor Mike Braun said that he was “disappointed Governor Holcomb vetoed a bill to make this law in Indiana” and called for a veto override “to protect women’s athletics,” signaling that he would likely support Davis’ HB 1041.
Republicans control the Indiana House with a massive 70-30 majority and the Indiana Senate with a 39-10 margin.
Governors in at least 11 states, including Florida, Alabama, and Texas, have signed similar legislation for high school sports since 2020, amid reports of so-called “transgender” males claiming to be women or girls and taking opportunities from actual females across the country and even injuring opponents.
As reported by LifeSite’s Raymond Wolfe, a wave of state action comes amid widespread reports of “transgender” males, backed by left-wing athletic associations, dominating women’s high school, college, and professional sports.
Studies have repeatedly found that gender-confused males’ genetic physical advantages allow them to outperform women massively in athletic competitions, regardless of attempts at a feminized appearance. A February 2021 study in Sports Medicine reported that a full year of transgender hormones resulted in only “very modest changes” in men’s muscle mass and strength.
