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The Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania vetoed a high-profile bill that would have banned biological male athletes who are transgendered from competing in women’s sports, calling it discriminatory against “marginalized youth.”
“I made it crystal clear during my tenure that hatred has no place in Pennsylvania, particularly discrimination against already marginalized youth who represent less than half of 1 percent of Pennsylvania’s population,” Governor Tom Wolf said in a statement. declaration after his veto of the “Law on fairness in women’s sport”.
Wolf added that lawmakers who voted for the bill “should be ashamed of themselves” for supporting what he called an “incredibly harmful” policy.
Legislation would have required that public school-sponsored athletics teams “be specifically designated” based on biological sex and that athletics teams designated for “female, female or female” may not “be open to male students” .
Republicans, who hold the legislative majority in both houses, pledged to continue to push the issue, while a handful of Democrats have also broken with Wolf to support the legislation.
A major sponsor of the legislation, state representative Stephanie Borowicz, R-Clinton – herself a former student athlete – criticized the governor and vowed to keep moving forward:
“Unfortunately, Governor Wolf has predictably vetoed the ‘Fairness In Women Sports Act’, which shows his contempt for female athletes and the tremendous progress we have made in athletics over the past 50 years,” Borowicz told Fox. News Monday.
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Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf speaks during a drive-in rally for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden at Heinz Field.
“We will never stop fighting and, in the end, we will win this battle to keep women’s sport competitive and exclusively for women.”
State Senator Doug Mastriano, the current Republican candidate for governor, was a sponsor of the Senate version of the bill and pledged to take action if he wins in November.
“As governor, I will sign it into law,” the retired army colonel from Chambersburg told Fox News Monday.
Using a favorite quote from former President John Adams, Mastriano remarked when it comes to this problem: “Facts are stubborn things.”
“These biological facts are indisputable and the discrepancies between the two sexes have been very evident in athletic completion,” he said, adding in a recent statement biological males have a “clear unfair advantage” over competing females.
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UPenn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas talks to her coach after winning the 500m freestyle during an NCAA college swim match with Harvard.
(AP Photo / Josh Reynolds)
In a joint statement, Borowicz joined state representative lead sponsor Barb Gleim, R-Cumberland, and others in arguing that Wolf’s veto undermines Federal Civil Rights Title IX protections against sex discrimination and ignores progress. athletic female.
Meanwhile, the only State Senate Democrat crossing the corridor supporting the bill, State Senator Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton, said she understands the high emotions on both sides: “I am empathetic with the individual in transition, a person who is looking to come to terms with who they are and see sport as an opportunity to be included, “he said in a statement.
“I also feel for the female athlete who trains and competes and sees the field as unfair in the face of competing with a transgender athlete,” added Boscola.
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Pennsylvania became the epicenter of the debate following the athletic success of University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who set a schedule record in May in a 500-yard freestyle event.
In January, the NCAA updated its transgender participation policy to defer to leading the governing body of each sport. The NCAA announced that its policy would take effect in March.
Some female athletes have also spoken out against Thomas’s competition in their anti-men’s events, with University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines telling Fox News that she believes there are many female athletes who don’t believe transgender people should compete against. of them:
“I know I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m pretty sure I speak for the vast majority of athletes,” she said in April. “This is not good and it is not right.”
FINA, the governing body of international swimming, has subsequently approved new policies for transgender swimmers, which will only allow swimmers who transitioned before age 12 to compete in women’s events. FINA members voted 71.5% in favor of the new policies.
Several states including Alabama, South Carolina and Florida have passed similar laws, while in Utah the legislature overturned a government veto to enact another.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
