Opponents rally ahead of transgender athlete bill hearing

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A key committee chair on Wednesday would not commit to when or if he would bring a controversial transgender athlete bill up for a vote.

LGBTQ+ rights supporters packed the state Senate chamber Wednesday afternoon as the upper house took testimony on the bill. It would ban transgender girls from taking part in girls’ school sports at the K-12 level. The bill makes no similar requirement of transgender boys. It passed the House at the end of January on a near-party line vote.

Activists and parents of LGBTQ+ children rallied outside the Senate chamber shortly before the hearing and then lined up to testify. Alisha Hunter said her son, who is transgender, has contemplated suicide several times over the years and the transgender athlete debate brought his mental health struggles back to the surface.

“He spent seven days in the hospital recently because of this and a lot of this has to do with, it’s hard to be at school when you are a transgender student,” she said. “So kids are thinking about this.”

Several parents spoke in favor of the bill as well. Jay Hart said his young daughter wants to compete on high school track and swim teams when she is old enough. Hart said he wants to ensure his daughter doesn’t face anyone with an unfair advantage when the time comes.

“We feel bad for kids that have a hard time discovering who they are,” Hart said. “But the answer cannot be cheating our girls out of an opportunity to be a champion. I just want to make sure my daughter is not cheated out of that.”

Unlike a Jan. 24 hearing in which a House panel heard, amended and voted on the bill in the span of a few hours, the Senate Education and Career Development Committee did not take a vote after testimony wrapped up. Committee chair Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond, announced at the end of the hearing he would take amendments and a vote “next week, potentially,” in his words.