ABOVE: Gov. Doug Burgum, photo via his Facebook page.
North Dakota’s Republican Governor Doug Burgum has vetoed House Bill 1298, an anti-Trans youth sports measure authored by Rep. Ben Koppelman, (R-West Fargo), passed on a 27-20 Senate vote last Thursday. The House on Wednesday had passed the bill 69-25.
The language of the measure would prohibit public elementary and secondary schools from “knowingly” allowing a student to participate on a school-sponsored athletic team exclusively for their opposite sex.
In a letter to the Republican Speaker of the House, Rep. Kim Koppelman, the governor wrote that HB 1298 assumes North Dakota does not have a level playing field and fairness when it comes to girls’ sports, KVRR reported.
“There is no evidence to suggest this is true. To date, there has not been a single recorded incident of a transgender girl attempting to play on a North Dakota girls’ team. This bill’s blanket prohibitions do not extend to students attending tribal or privately funded schools, thereby creating the potential for an unlevel playing field,” Burgum wrote.
The governor added the North Dakota High School Activities Association has rules in place for participation in sex-separate games by transgender students including transgender girls having to do testosterone suppression treatment for transitioning for a full calendar year before participating on a girls’ team.
The American Civil Liberties Union called the bill unconstitutional warning last week that it would open the state up to costly litigation.
In a statement released after the governor’s announcement, the ACLU said it was “thrilled” with his decision.
The measure “was never about leveling the playing field for student athletes. It was obvious from the beginning that this discriminatory legislation was about creating solutions to problems that don’t exist and, in the process, harming some of the most vulnerable people in our state,” the statement said. “Nobody wins when politicians try to meddle in people’s lives like this. Nobody wins when we try to codify discrimination like this.”
The American Civil Liberties Union called the bill unconstitutional warning last week that it would open the state up to costly litigation.
In a statement released after the governor’s announcement, the ACLU said it was “thrilled” with his decision.
The measure “was never about leveling the playing field for student athletes. It was obvious from the beginning that this discriminatory legislation was about creating solutions to problems that don’t exist and, in the process, harming some of the most vulnerable people in our state,” the statement said. “Nobody wins when politicians try to meddle in people’s lives like this. Nobody wins when we try to codify discrimination like this.”
