NC transgender athlete ban sent to Cooper’s desk for likely veto
The North Carolina legislature’s transgender athlete ban is headed to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk.
The state House took a vote of 62-43 on Thursday morning to send the bill to the governor after a last-minute addition to the chamber’s agenda.
Rep. Michael Wray of Halifax County was the only Democrat who voted in favor of the bill, joining House Republicans. He told The News & Observer he voted the same as in the last vote, but declined to comment further.
House Bill 574, dubbed the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” bars transgender women and girls from playing for women’s sports teams in middle and high school, as well as in colleges and universities. It applies to public schools, as well as private schools in some cases.
The bill now moves to the Democratic governor’s desk for approval, where it will likely be vetoed.
If Cooper sends it back, it would kick off a familiar showdown between the governor and Republican legislators. The legislature would then decide if it will override the veto, as it has already done on other contentious bills. Republicans gained a supermajority earlier this year.
A handful of Democratic House members debated the bill before its inevitable passage.
Rep. John Autry of Mecklenburg County made a simple plea for lawmakers on behalf of North Carolina’s LGBTQ+ community.
“Please, just stop it,” he said.
A Wake County Democrat, Rep. Maria Cervania, said the bill would not do much for the state except ostracize the few transgender children who participate in team sports around the state..
“We are making potentially a law for one person in our 10 million population state,” Cervania said.
In a statement following the vote, the conservative NC Values Coalition’s executive director, Tami Fitzgerald, commended the legislature for passing the bill. Fitzgerald said it would create a “level playing field” for female athletes around the state.
“I urge Governor Cooper to side with women and girls by signing this bill into law,” she said in her statement.
The coalition played a large part in advocating for the passage of the bill, in addition to other transgender-related bills.
HB 754 has moved rapidly through the legislature in the past two weeks. The Senate approved it Tuesday in a 31-17 vote, garnering one Democratic vote from Sen. Val Applewhite.
If enacted into law, North Carolina would join 22 other states in placing restrictions on transgender student athletes’ ability to participate in school sports, according to a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
This story was originally published June 22, 2023 at 11:59 AM.
