Amid a wave of anti-trans bills that are sweeping the US, lawmakers in Louisiana have voted against a bill that would prohibit trans students from participating in school sports. According to Associated Press, a special session was held on June 21 in an attempt to overturn a veto from state governor John Bel Edwards. However, the bill was ultimately unsuccessful as it fell short of 2 votes.
Human Rights Campaign president, Alphonso David, said the special session was “a dangerous waste of time”, adding: “Sustaining Governor Bel Edwards’ veto by rejecting this arbitrary, discriminatory bill affirms the reality that transgender people have been playing sports for years without incident. There is simply no basis — no evidence or local examples of the issue this bill was trying to address.”
Louisiana is one of over 30 states that has considered anti-trans legislation this year. 7 states – Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Montana and West Virginia – have successfully passed bills to prohibit trans inclusion in school sports. Texas is set to become the next state to pass such a bill after the Republican-controlled Senate approved SB 2 and SB 32, both of which aim to limit trans people’s access to sports. The bills will now head to the governor’s desk.
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