North Dakota’s Republican Governor, Doug Burgum, signed two bills into law on Tuesday evening that will prohibit transgender girls and women from joining female sports teams in K-12 and college. The bills were passed with veto-proof majorities in both the House and Senate, meaning that even if the governor had vetoed them, they would still likely have become law. This move by North Dakota follows at least 19 other states that have already imposed restrictions on transgender athletes.

Across the U.S., Republican lawmakers have drafted hundreds of laws this year to push back against LGBTQ+ freedoms, targeting transgender people in their everyday lives, including sports, healthcare, bathrooms, workplaces, and schools. While the Biden administration has proposed a rule to forbid outright bans on transgender athletes, it still faces a lengthy approval process.

In 2021, Burgum vetoed a similar bill that would have banned transgender girls from playing on girls’ teams in public schools. However, this year, lawmakers wrote new legislation to replicate and expand that bill, including at the college level, which have now become law.

Source: Politico