• WBST 92.1 FMMuncie
  • WBSB 89.5 FMAnderson
  • WBSW 90.9 FMMarion
  • WBSH 91.1 FMHagerstown / New Castle
Indiana Public Radio, a listener-supported service of Ball State University
Listen Live Online. Tap to open audio stream.

Holcomb joins 24 GOP governors to oppose Title IX protections for transgender athletes

By Lauren Chapman, IPB News | Published on in Education, Government, Politics, Sports
In Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, the 2020 Supreme Court ruled that employment protections "on the basis of sex" extended to transgender employees. (Lauren Chapman/IPB News)

Gov. Eric Holcomb signed on to a letter pushing back against the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed rule to include transgender girls under Title IX protections. That’s despite vetoing Indiana’s transgender girls sports ban last year.

Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex for education institutions. The 1972 law intended to increase opportunities for female athletes.

The proposed DOE rule pushes back on bans across the country for transgender girls to participate in girls school sports, much like the ban that Holcomb vetoed and the legislature overturned last year.

The letter, signed by 25 of the 26 Republican governors, said the Biden administration is overextending a ruling from the Supreme Court in 2020, Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia. That ruling extended protections against employment discrimination “on the basis of sex” to transgender employees.

Advocates say the push of anti-LGBTQ+ and specifically anti-trans legislation across the country is an attempt to narrow that ruling to only employment protections. In just 2023, more than 500 bills targeting LGBTQ+ children and adults have been filed, including about two dozen in Indiana.

Join the conversation and sign up for the Indiana Two-Way. Text “Indiana” to 73224. Your comments and questions in response to our weekly text help us find the answers you need on statewide issues.

When vetoing Indiana’s transgender girls sports ban, Holcomb said his reason was because Indiana already had a system in place to deal with complaints against trans athletes.

The governors’ letter said the proposed rule is part of “this administration’s relentless pursuit of draconian enforcement of its gender ideology.”

Attorney General Todd Rokita led a similar letter, signed by 16 other attorneys general.

Lauren is our digital editor. Contact her at lchapman@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @laurenechapman_.