Trans athletes can no longer play sports in Indiana starting this month

[Jessica_Rose]

Trans athletes can no longer play sports in Indiana starting this month

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/07/trans-athletes-can-no-longer-play-sports-in-indiana-starting-this-month/

Daniel Villarreal (8 July 2025)

Indiana's new law banning transgender female athletes from competing in college and university sports has gone into effect this month. The ban expands the state's pre-existing ban on trans female athletes in K-12 school sports; a ban which was passed despite the state only having one trans female high school athlete.

The bill — which passed the state Senate in February, the state House in April, and was signed by a Gov. Mike Braun (R) that same month — applies to all public colleges and universities, and any private school competing against a public institution, the Public News Service reported.

The law "prohibits a male, based on the student's biological sex at birth in accordance with the student's genetics and reproductive biology, from participating on an athletic team or sport designated as being a female, women's, or girls' athletic team or sport." It also requires state schools and some private schools to "establish grievance procedures for a violation of these provisions."

Zoe O'Haillin-Berne, director of marketing and communications for the Indiana Youth Group (an LGBTQ+ youth organization), said. "Laws like [this] do more than restrict sports participation. They send a loud and resounding message that transgender youth do not belong in Indiana."

"1041 is built on the false claim that transgender girls are dominating women's sports," they added. "In reality, most transgender youth avoid sports altogether. They do this because of the scrutiny and bullying that they face on a day-to-day basis."