Louisiana transgender sports ban bill moves toward inevitable passage; will it face a veto?

Louisiana's transgender sports ban bill continued an inevitable march toward passage in the state Legislature Wednesday with the only real remaining question being whether Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards will veto the measure as he did last year.

Republican Franklinton Sen. Beth Mizell's Senate Bill 44 would prohibit transgender athletes in Louisiana from competing on girls' school sports teams.

She said it will protect girls and young women from facing athletes who would have a biological advantage because of their birth sex.

"Women have worked too hard for too long to get to the competitive level we have attained to now face an unfair playing field," Mizell told USA Today Network.

The measure has already won full Senate approval and advanced from the House Education Committee Wednesday on a 7-1 vote. It now heads to the full House for debate.

Mizell's bill and those like it have been flashpoints in state legislatures across the country during the past two years as one of the culture war issues that spark heated debate.

The issue was elevated in March when Lia Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania became the first known transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship after taking the 500-yard freestyle swimming title.

Mizell's bill won bipartisan passage last year in the House and Senate, but Edwards vetoed the measure in 2021 because he said it fosters discrimination against some of the state's "most vulnerable" children.

That set the stage for the first stand-alone veto override Special Session in modern state history, where the attempt to overturn Edwards failed by two votes in the House.

"It feels like deja' vu all over again," Mizell said Tuesday when introducing her bill in the House Education Committee. "We've done this before."

Edwards has reiterated his opposition on the transgender legislation in March, but didn't say whether he will repeat his veto.

"It's pretty sad because theoretically it's a bill about unfairness, but as the unfairness is defined in the bill it isn't happening in Louisiana," he said. "But what is happening is we have some young people who have emotional issues and it seems like this is piling on to me.

"I never discount the possibility there can be some sort of compromise, but we'll see. I would hope it doesn't reach my desk."

Supporters like Jennifer Marusak, a former University of Louisiana at Monroe track athlete, said she wouldn't have been able to secure a scholarship if she was competing against someone whose birth sex was male.

"This legislation ensures true equality, a level playing field," Marusak testified Tuesday before the committee. "I can't imaging losing a race before even entering the starting blocks."

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But opponents testified have been no such instances identified in Louisiana and the Louisiana High School Athletic Association already has language that says athletes “shall compete in the gender of their birth certificate unless they have undergone sex reassignment."

Sarah Guidry of the Forum for Equality said last year the legislation is a "disheartening" effort to discriminate against transgender youth.

On Wednesday, she said the bill "targets transgender kids for bullying and harassment. At the end of day we want to make sure all young people can access the opportunities sports afford," Guidry said.

Mizell doesn't believe the state should wait for transgender sports participation to become common in Louisiana before making it illegal.

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana transgender sports ban bill moves toward inevitable passage