INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana legislatures have voted to override the governor’s veto of a bill that would ban transgender girls from participating on sports teams at K-12 public schools designated for girls.

The Indiana House voted to override the veto on Tuesday with a 67-28 vote and the Senate overrode the veto with a 32-15 vote. The law will go into effect July 1.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a lawsuit challenging the bill on behalf of a 10-year-old transgender girl, A.M. It says preventing A.

“When misinformation about biology and gender is used to bar transgender girls from school sports it amounts to the same form of sex discrimination that has long been prohibited under Title IX, a law that protects all students – including trans people – on the basis of sex and it denies the promise of the Constitution of equal protection under the law,” said Ken Falk, legal director at the ACLU of Indiana.

A.M. currently plays on her school’s all-girls softball team. Her mother says her daughter has had trouble in the past with self-confidence, but joining the team helped her come out of her shell.

“I watched as she bloomed and felt more at ease in her skin,” said A.M.’s mother. “When my daughter learned about this law, she was hurt and angry. She wants to stand up for girls like her, as well as herself, because she knows how upset they are right now.”

M. and other transgender girls from participating in girls athletics violates Title IX and is discrimination on the basis of transgender status and sex

The lawsuit says A.M.’s school, which is within the Indianapolis Public School system, told A.M. that she wouldn’t be able to play softball this year because of HEA 1041. A.M’s birth certificate gender marker was changed to female and she is on puberty blockers.

“A.M.’s school does have a boys’ baseball team. However, she cannot play on that team as she is not a boy and no one at school views her as anything but a girl,” the lawsuit reads. “Forcing A.M to play on the boys’ team would undermine the core part of her identity and undermine and contravene her treatment for gender dysphoria. It would be so traumatic for her that she would not participate on the boys’ team.”

“IPS has consistently advocated for creating school communities that embrace and support all students, including our transgender and non-binary students. We oppose H.B. 1041 as an unnecessary restriction on our ability to provide fair and equitable access to athletics for all of our students. We agree with Governor Holcomb that this legislation does not provide a clear and consistent policy to ensure fairness in the state’s K-12 sports. We will review all legal options related to this matter.”

“This issue stems from Hoosier parents like me who are concerned about our female athletes, and their opportunities to compete, earn top spots and obtain scholarships.

This law is a commonsense approach to protect and preserve the integrity of girls’ sports,” said Davis in an email statement

Democratic lawmakers also responded. Before the veto was overridden in the Senate, Senator J.D. Ford spent thirty minutes urging his colleagues not to override the governors veto. He and other democrats said the overriding the veto was a waste of tax payer dollars.

“We spend our time on these divisive issues these culture was issues but we don’t actually spend our time doing anything for Hoosiers,” said Senator J.D. Ford a Democrat Representing District 29. “We could have suspended the gas tax today.. not even suspended had a debate on it but we couldn’t even do that. “