After a tweet from South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem exclaiming how excited she was to sign House Bill 1217, she is now having second thoughts.
HB 1217 was passed by legislature earlier this month banning transgender girls from participating in female sports. Originally Noem backed the bill with her state’s full support. The governor has taken a second-look and is now asking the bill to only apply to elementary and high school sports, excluding collegiate athletes.
Noem says she is worried about the NCAA taking legal action against South Dakota resulting in the state not being allowed to host/participate in the national college tournament.
“This bill would only allow the NCAA to bully South Dakota. And it would actually prevent women from being able to participate in collegiate sports. So what I have done is I have asked the legislature … to change the bill.”
Tucker Carlson of FOX asked her if she folded to the NCAA’s threats. Noem defends her strategy of using a partial veto.
“Listen, I’m sick and tired of the NCAA threatening states, challenging us and bullying us, so we are going to build a coalition of leaders, athletes and people who want to protect women’s sports…”
Noem told Carlson that until they change the style and form of the bill, the overall problem is still there.
“I’m not going to let anybody from the NCAA, from any big business, I’m not even going to let conservatives on the right bully me. I’m going to solve the problem.”
Tony Katz doesn’t see anything wrong with taking the time to get in front of any potential issues. He says there is a bigger question that no one’s asking:
“Why isn’t the NCAA on the side of female athletes? And being able to engage in the best possible competition against female athletes?”
