The Louisiana Senate chamber, photographed on Feb. 2, 2022. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)
Another attempt to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls’ high school and women’s college sports teams advanced Tuesday from the Louisiana Senate.
The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, authored by Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, was approved by a 29-6 vote. Gov. John Bel Edwards rejected a similar proposal last year, and a veto override effort from Republicans in the Legislature fell short of the needed votes.
“I’m sorry, we’re having to ask for you to do it again,” Mizell said to the Senate. “This could have easily been done last year, but here we are.”
The bill, which heads next to the House, cited “men generally having denser and stronger bones, tendons and ligaments, larger hearts, greater lung volume per body mass, a higher red blood cell count, and higher hemoglobin as well as higher natural levels of testosterone” as reasons that people born male have an unfair physical advantage over females in sports.
There are no transgender athletes who compete on the high school or collegiate level in Louisiana. The Louisiana High School Athletics Association already bars them from participating in prep sports.
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