A bill that would ban transgender women from collegiate sports in Indiana will head to Gov. Mike Braun’s desk after the Senate gave final approval to the bill Thursday.
State Rep. Michelle Davis, R-Whiteland, authored House Bill 1041 prohibiting a male, based on the student’s biological sex at birth, from participating on a women’s athletic team. The bill also allows for a student or parent to file a grievance if a college isn’t following the law.
Davis, R-Whiteland, previously testified before the Senate Education and Career Development Committee that House Bill 1041 mirrors — in language and bill title — the piece of legislation the legislature passed in 2022 banning transgender athletes from girls sports at the K-12 level, but it extends it to the collegiate level.
Sen. Stacey Donato, who is one of the Senate sponsors of the bill, said Thursday that House Bill 1041 is “a common sense” piece of legislation.
“We will be protecting the integrity of female sports in Indiana at the collegiate level on a fair and equal playing field,” Donato, R-Logansport, said.
The bill passed 42-6, with four Democrats joining all Republicans present to support the bill. Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton, and Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago voted in favor of the bill.
Randolph said he voted in favor of the bill because he has many religious constituents who supported the bill, and because men and women have different physical builds. Pol did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sen. J.D. Ford, D-Indianapolis, said President Donald Trump in February signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports. The next day, the National Collegiate Athletic Association amended its transgender athlete policy to limit competition in women’s sports to student-athletes assigned female at birth, he said.
Ford also said NCAA President Charlie Baker recently testified before a U.S. Senate committee that fewer than 10 student-athletes were transgender.
Ford raised concerns that the bill allows anyone to file a complaint against an athlete they believe to be transgender, even if the complaint was made in bad faith. The bill also doesn’t prohibit a student-athlete from having to expose intimate body parts during the grievance process, he said.
“I just don’t feel like this bill is about fairness or about protecting women’s sports,” Ford said. “Women who work really hard, spending their lives training tirelessly to be an elite athlete, will be accused of being trans because their work has made them bulky or too muscular or not feminine enough.”
Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, said the bill isn’t about fairness in women’s sports, but “it’s about fear, it’s about control, it’s about gender policing.”
Yoder said the bill won’t protect student-athletes from inappropriate physical interactions under the guise of settling a grievance process.
“There’s no language that protects against genital inspections, forced disclosure of medical history or invasive questioning by coaches or school officials,” Yoder said. “What is in this bill is the license to discriminate, a license to sexually harass. We’ve seen what happens when adults in positions of authority abuse that power.”
Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, said she was a collegiate athlete, and she would often practice and run drills with the men’s team. But, there are physical differences between men and women, she said, “and it matters.”
“I don’t want to compete against a man. There were certainly women who I competed against who were far superior to where I was, but I knew I had literally and figuratively a fighting chance,” Brown said.
The bill doesn’t require physical examinations, Brown said. Viral videos circulating on social media showing girl athletes being injured by another player, who others state are transgender athletes, justify the bill, Brown said.
“The only reason we’re passing these bills now is because opportunities are being taken away from women,” Brown said.
Donato recalled the committee testimony of Elle Patterson, a sophomore who plays NCAA Division I volleyball for the Indiana University-Indianapolis Jaguars, who said she was recruited to San Jose State University in California “with the understanding” that she would be a scholarship athlete on the volleyball team.
While at San Jose State, Patterson said “unbeknownst” to her she played with an athlete who she claimed was a transgender woman. Ahead of her sophomore year, Patterson said she was told she wouldn’t receive a scholarship, while Patterson said her teammate received a full scholarship.
“This bill is about maintaining the integrity of women’s sports and the scholarships that have been earned by these women who train and work to be an athlete. I ask for your support on this women’s sports bill and I ask for Elle.” Donato said.
