Controversial Louisiana transgender bill once again up for debate

BATON ROUGE, La. (KSLA) - Playing sports for some transgender students is in limbo as the historic Louisiana veto session ensues.

In June, Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed SB 156, calling it “discriminatory.” However, some lawmakers have set their eyes on overturning his decision.

“We owe it to our women and to our young ladies who compete in sports to protect them and allow an atmosphere where they can compete and no one’s saying that transgender athletes can’t compete but to have transgender females competing with biological females is a problem,” Sen. Kirk Talbot told our sister station WVUE.

A small group of protesters disrupted the opening of the Special Veto Override Session and were removed by force.

The bill would prohibit transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports teams and would apply to K-12 schools and colleges.

Dr. Tiffany Alexis Najberg, an openly transgender emergency physician, said this bill will only further ostracize young transgender people, who already struggle to fit in.

“[Bills like these] actively keep people in the box, and they actively do a lot of damage to their mental health,” she said. “Put yourself in the shoes of the people who are being legislated against. What do you think it feels like to have a legislature appear hell-bent on making something that you desperately wanted to do illegal?”

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