(FreedomBeacon.com)- Indiana GOP lawmakers voted Tuesday to override Governor Eric Holcomb’s (R) veto and adopt legislation prohibiting male athletes who identify as female from playing in girls’ sports. Indiana joins at least a dozen other states in the United States in passing similar legislation.
According to reports, state senators voted 32-15 to override Gov. Eric Holcomb, following a 67-28 vote by the House earlier in the day. Holcomb unexpectedly rejected the measure in March, arguing in his veto statement that it did not offer a consistent policy for what he called fairness in K-12 sports.
A report shows the override votes were almost entirely along party lines, and no legislators modified their votes from earlier in the year. Four Republican senators voted with all Democratic senators to keep the veto in place. Three Republicans voted to uphold the veto in the House, while one Democrat voted to override it.
At the state capitol, dozens of pro-trans activists protested, but to no avail. After the governor’s veto was overridden, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of a 10-year-old boy who identifies as a girl and wants to participate on an all-girls softball team. According to media reports, the lawsuit aims to prevent the law from taking effect on July 1, when the transgender sports ban is slated to take effect.
Opponents of the bill claim a lack of male athletes dominating female sports leagues in Indiana. On the other hand, the NCAA has never had a problem with males dominating female swimming previously, like in the instance of Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer. But according to news reports, female participants had taken issue with males who claim to be females competing in women’s sports.
Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, a Republican, sees the bill as a method to maintain fundamental fairness.
Eric Holcomb of Indiana has joined Utah’s Spencer Cox in defying their party’s majority feeling to protect girls’ sports, only to be overruled by Republican state senators and representatives who haven’t forgotten their base.
