North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) signed two transgender athlete bans into law, prohibiting biological males from playing on female sports teams in grades K-12 and college.
The Governor of North Dakota, Gov. Doug Burgum [R] has signed into law a ban on biological male athletes competing in women’s sports.
North Dakota follows in the footsteps of 19 other states that have imposed restrictions on transgender athletes.
Source: Associated Press pic.twitter.com/2AFswa2dUo
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) April 12, 2023
Lawmakers in the state House and Senate passed the bills with “veto-proof” majorities. If Burgum vetoed the bills or refused to sign them, they still would’ve become law.
Despite having 27,000 kids participating in North Dakota high school athletics, Burgum said that “there still has not been a single recorded incident of a transgender girl playing or entering the process to even ask to play on a North Dakota girls’ team.”
He added that lawmakers have “resoundingly determined” that additional restrictions on girls’ sports, including ones already in place, should be formalized in state law.
“Concerns raised last session about such policies jeopardizing the ability to host regional and national collegiate tournaments have not materialized in the roughly 20 states that have passed similar legislation,” Burgum continued.
More than 20 states have placed limits on “transgender” athletes from competing in women’s sports: Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona.
The Biden administration recently proposed a measure that prohibits bans on transgender athletes, but Congress still must approve it.
In 2021, Burgum vetoed a bill banning “transgender” girls, biological men, from playing on girls’ sports teams in public schools. Lawmakers did not have enough votes to override Burgum’s veto, prompting them to create new legislation.
North Dakota state Sen. Janne Myrdal (R) supported the legislation and argued that “transgender” participation in sports could take away scholarship opportunities from female athletes.
According to the National Library of Medicine, “The striking male post-pubertal increase in circulating testosterone provides a major, ongoing, cumulative, and durable physical advantage in sporting contests by creating larger and stronger bones, greater muscle mass and strength, and higher circulating hemoglobin as well as possible psychological (behavioral) differences.”
North Dakota state Sen. Ryan Braunberger (D) opposed the bills on the Senate floor. In an interview with the Associated Press, he said this is a “scary time” for his “transgender” friends and family.
“I have talked to several of my family members that don’t want to leave North Dakota because it is their state, and it is their home. But they’re feeling like they have to now. They don’t feel like it’s safe for them,” Braunberger said.
