INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� Indiana鈥檚 governor on Monday vetoed a bill while signing another
Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb鈥檚 decisions come after both measures faced intense opposition before being approved by the GOP-dominated legislature that embraced what have become a pair of conservative causes across the country.
The governor stayed on the sidelines as legislators debated both issues and made his decisions just before his Tuesday deadline to act.
Opponents of the transgender sports bill argued it was a with the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana saying it planned a lawsuit against what it called 鈥渉ateful legislation.鈥�
Republican sponsors of the bill said it was needed to protect the integrity of female sports and opportunities for girls to gain college athletic scholarship but pointed out no instances in the state of girls being outperformed by transgender athletes.
Holcomb signaled support for the bill last month but said in that the legislation 鈥渇alls short鈥� of providing a consistent statewide policy for what he called 鈥渇airness in K-12 sports.鈥�
Holcomb also pointed to the Indiana High School Athletic Association, which has a policy covering transgender students wanting to play sports that match their gender identity and has said it has had no transgender girls finalize a request to play on girls team.
鈥淭he presumption of the policy laid out in HEA 1041 is that there is an existing problem in K-12 sports in Indiana that requires further state government intervention,鈥� Holcomb said in his letter. 鈥淚t implies that the goals of consistency and fairness in competitive female sports are not currently being met. After thorough review, I find no evidence to support either claim even if I support the effort overall.鈥�
Indiana lawmakers can override the governor鈥檚 veto with simple majorities in both the House and Senate. A veto override vote could happen as soon as May 24, which legislative leaders have scheduled as a tentative one-day meeting.
The Indiana law would prohibit K-12 students who were born male but who identify as female from participating in a sport or on an athletic team that is designated for women or girls. But it wouldn鈥檛 prevent students who identify as female or transgender men from playing on men鈥檚 sports teams.
Eleven other Republican-led states have adopted such laws that political observers describe as a after the governors in Iowa and South Dakota signed their bans in recent weeks.
In signing the handgun permit requirement repeal, Holcomb went against the to the further loosening of the state鈥檚 lenient firearms laws.
The permit repeal, called 鈥渃onstitutional carry鈥� by gun-rights supporters in reference to the Second Amendment, was criticized by major law enforcement groups who argued eliminating the permit system would endanger officers by stripping them of a screening tool for quickly identifying dangerous people who shouldn鈥檛 have guns.
Twenty-one other states already allow residents to carry handguns without permit 鈥� and last week.
Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter joined leaders of the state鈥檚 Fraternal Order of Police, police chiefs association and county prosecutors association in speaking out against the change.
Carter, wearing his state police uniform, stood in the back of the Senate chamber as the bill was being debated. He said after the vote that approval of the measure 鈥渄oes not support law enforcement 鈥� period.鈥�
Tom Davies, The Associated Press
