(Reuters) – Louisiana has banned transgender girls from joining girls’ sports teams, the latest in a string of similar bans in U.S. states with conservative Republican-controlled legislatures.

The bill binds schools and colleges in the state and was approved by the Republican-controlled state legislature last month with enough support to override any veto from Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who opposed the legislation.

Edwards indicated that he would let the bill become law Monday night without his signature. According to reporters, it was evident to Edwards that even though he might veto the bill, it would nevertheless become law.

Edwards joined other transgender rights organizations in complaining about the bill for being bigoted against young people already subject to violence and discrimination. Edwards stated that there has never been a transgender female in Louisiana join or attempt to join a girl’s sports team.

Edwards spoke out about the state’s transgender youth, saying that Edwards hoped “we can all reach a point soon when we realize these young men are doing their best to survive.” I believe we can do better than this bill.

Edwards had previously vetoed an identical measure in 2021 by Republicans.

Similar laws have been passed in the last few months by Republicans from South Dakota, South Carolina and Tennessee as well as Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Tennessee, Utah, Utah, Oklahoma and Oklahoma.

In March, the head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s civil rights division wrote to state attorneys general https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1489066/download across the country in support of transgender people, reminding the states’ chief law-enforcement officials that it is illegal to discriminate against people based on gender identity.