A new petition launched by the National Organization for Marriage is urging South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to stand up for women and to honor previous promises to sign a bill that would protect female sports from incursions by biological men “identifying” as female.
Noem had tweeted her support for the bill (House Bill 1217) back on March 8 (International Women’s Day), writing, “In South Dakota, we’re celebrating #InternationalWomensDay by defending women’s sports. I’m excited to sign this bill very soon.
After the legislature passed the bill and forwarded it to her for her signature, however, Noem caved to pressure from LGBT extremists and corporate cronies like the NCAA, and vetoed the bill urging that the legislature “fix” (viz. effectively gut and render useless) the act before sending it back to her.
The petition, hosted at iFamNews, reads in part:
You have worked to cultivate an image as a principled conservative leader worthy of consideration for future national office, but we have had enough of politicians who act like conservatives but then govern like leftist activists. You are engaging in double speak by asking the Legislature to “fix” House Bill 1217 when your “fix” would actually gut the bill. Forcing female athletes attending colleges and universities in South Dakota to compete against biological males is no fix at all. Women will lose out on college scholarship opportunities and be denied the ability to compete on an even playing field.
I call on you to stick to your word and sign House Bill 1217 into law, without gutting it by exempting female collegiate athletes from the protections of the bill.
You can add your signature to the petition here: