Indiana Advances College Trans Athlete Ban
STATEHOUSE — Indiana lawmakers just passed a bill that would ban transgender women from playing on women’s college sports teams—whether it’s at a public or private school.
The bill, known as House Bill 1014, cleared the Senate Thursday with a 42-6 vote and is now headed to Governor Mike Braun. It already passed the House in February. If signed, the law would base team eligibility on sex assigned at birth, not gender identity.
Supporters say it’s about keeping a level playing field for female athletes. The bill also gives students and parents the option to file legal complaints if they think the rules are being broken.
Governor Braun has already taken steps in this direction—signing executive orders earlier this year to block state funding for promoting gender identity and to ban transgender women from college women’s teams. That move followed a similar order by former President Donald Trump.
Groups like GenderNexus have pushed back, saying the bill unfairly targets trans students and could lead to more discrimination. CEO Emma Vosicky also pointed out that lawmakers haven’t addressed bigger issues affecting women’s sports.
The NCAA updated its own rules in February, banning transgender women from women’s competitions. The organization says fewer than 10 transgender female athletes are competing across all levels of college sports right now.
Indiana already passed a similar ban for K-12 sports back in 2022. Since then, the state’s high school athletic association says it’s only seen one transgender athlete apply to play under the old policy—but that request was withdrawn.
