Athlete Ally Responds to Kentucky’s Anti-Trans Athlete Bill
April 14, 2022 — Athlete Ally responded to news that yesterday, Kentucky lawmakers voted to override Governor Andy Beshear’s veto of a bill banning transgender girls and women from playing sports according to their gender identity. This makes Kentucky the 6th state this year, and the 15th overall, to pass legislation banning transgender youth from sports.
Gov. Beshear had vetoed the bill last week, saying it “most likely” violates the Constitution because it “discriminates against transgender children.”
“This bill claimed to solve a problem of ‘fairness’ in school sports in Kentucky that didn’t exist, but its negative impacts on the mental health and well-being of trans and nonbinary youth — young people who already face disproportionate rates of bullying, depression, and suicide — are very real,” said Sam Ames, director of advocacy and government affairs at the Trevor Project.
“Kentucky’s bill is yet another discriminatory, heartbreaking attack on our transgender youth who simply want to play the sports they love,” said Joanna Hoffman, Director of Communications at Athlete Ally. “Governor Beshear and other Governors are vetoing these bills because they have found that these bills are attempts to solve a problem that doesn’t exist, do nothing to protect women’s sports, and instead cause deep, lasting damage to children’s mental and physical well-being. Transgender youth in Kentucky — and everywhere — deserve to be safe, welcome and included in all parts of their life, including sports.”