Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed a bill that would not allow transgender females to play on girls’ sports teams in Louisiana, despite many other southern states passing this type of legislation. Edwards has called this type of legislation discriminatory.

"As I have said repeatedly when asked about this bill, discrimination is not a Louisiana value, and this bill was a solution in search of a problem that simply does not exist in Louisiana," the governor said in a statement. "Even the author of the bill acknowledged throughout the legislative session that there wasn't a single case where this was an issue" in Louisiana.

“While there is no issue to be solved by this bill, it does present real problems in that it makes it more likely that NCAA and professional championships, like the 2022 Final Four, would not happen in our state,” he said. “For these and for other reasons, I have vetoed the bill.”

Before this law and veto, the Louisiana High School Athletics Association (LHSAA) had required that transgender athletes have surgery or be sterilized in order to participate in girls’ sports, which meant that there were no transgender athletes. These types of procedures are usually not recommended for minors.

Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, gave a statement showing support for the governor’s decision. “SB 156 was nothing more than a politically motivated bill that seeks to dehumanize transgender children,” David said. “By vetoing this bill, Gov. Bel Edwards reminded legislators that any attempts to discriminate against transgender children is intolerable and will be defeated.”

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Idaho was the first state to pass this type of legislation, along with other states like Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Montana, and West Virginia. However, Idaho has been unable to enforce its ban since the American Civil Liberties Union has challenged it.

Edwards said the bill "would make life more difficult for transgender children, who are some of the most vulnerable Louisianans when it comes to issues of mental health. We should be looking for more ways to unite, rather than divide our citizens."

People in favor of the bill pointed to Connecticut, where two transgender female athletes broke 15 records in women’s track events. They say that transgender females have a biological advantage over biological females.

"Nobody wants to treat anyone with inequity, but there is not an equal situation physically," Sen. Beth Mizell said while debating the bill.

"Women have worked too hard for too long to get to the competitive level we have attained to now face an unfair playing field," Mizell told USA Today Network Tuesday. "This was to protect biological girls to compete with biological girls."

Coach Sheila Thompson Johnson, a former Louisiana College women's basketball and a member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, said that Mizell's bill would "preserve and protect fair opportunities guaranteed by federal law," referring to Title IX.

Both transgender boys and girls would be banned from participating on sports teams of their assigned gender, but the bill mainly focused on transgender girls. Mizell called the bill "Fairness in Women's Sports Act." She said that there had been no transgender girls playing girls' sports in Louisiana, but that "We build levees before the flood ever comes. We're trying to be preemptive."

Louisiana is the only southern state to not ban transgender athletes. The bill was passed with enough votes to override the governor’s veto. Mizell hopes that there will be a session called to override the veto. However, it is not certain whether or not such a session would be called. The regular session is over and there has never been an override session under Louisiana’s current constitution that was adopted in 1974.