Kentucky Gov. Andy Bashear
Kentucky Gov. Andy Bashear today (Wednesday, April 6) vetoed Senate Bill 83 which would have banned transgender girls’ and women’s participation in sports from sixth grade through college. Fairness Campaign Executive Director Chris Hartman applauded Bashear’s veto and urged lawmakers to let the veto stand. He called SB 83 “a harmful piece of legislation that would deprive transgender girls and young women of the opportunity to grow and learn from being on a team, simply because of who they are.”
Hartman continued, “From the start, this bill has been more about fear than fairness. In Kentucky’s entire school system, there is only one openly transgender girl we know playing on a school sports team. That student started her school’s field hockey team, recruited all of the other team members and just wants the opportunity to play with her friends her eighth grade year.”
He said that politicians pushing the anti-transgender bill “used their power to bully this student and others like her” rather that concentrating their efforts on “solving Kentucky’s real problems.” He said proponents of the measure “had to fly in people from out of state to give testimony in support of the bill, because few Kentuckians would.
“We’re pleased with Gov. Beshear’s actions,” Hartman continued. “Today, he joins Republican governors in Utah and Indiana, who agree that these bills are unnecessary and harmful to kids, particularly kids that are transgender. But the rights of transgender people in Kentucky are still in danger. Next week, the legislature is expected to override the governor’s veto. We urge state lawmakers to follow the lead of Gov. Beshear and show compassion to transgender people in our commonwealth by choosing not to override this veto.”
— Tammye Nash
