(Montana) Having lost a court fight over an attempt to establish restrictions on college-level transgender student athletes through state legislation, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte has shifted his party’s efforts to a more administrative venue: the Montana Board of Regents.
To recap, Republican lawmakers in 2021 passed a law prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing on girls school sports teams. The law, House Bill 112, was challenged by a coalition of plaintiffs, and a district court judge ultimately deemed HB 112 unconstitutional in 2022, and the Montana Supreme Court upheld that ruling last month.
In a letter addressed to the seven-member board and copied to Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian, Gianforte urged the regents, four of whom he appointed, to enact the law he signed three years ago.
