Indiana Secretary of State Moderate Democratic Candidate Beau Bayh Supports Hoosiers Ban on Men in Women’s Sports

Marine Vet and Moderate Democratic Candidate for Secretary of State Beau Bayh talks to Hoosiers at the Indiana Democratic Convention.

Fishers, Indiana — Democratic Secretary of State candidate Beau Bayh said he supports Indiana’s existing law prohibiting males from competing in women’s sports, describing the matter as settled in the state.

“I think we should not have men playing women’s sports, and our state has already passed a law outlawing this,” Bayh said in an interview. “So, in fact, it’s a non-issue in our state.”

The comments came amid a public spat in the 2026 race involving Republican nominee Max Engling and Lincoln Party candidate Greg Ballard over the state’s restrictions on transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports. Indiana enacted a 2022 law barring students assigned male at birth from participating on teams designated for girls, later expanded to collegiate athletics. The measures have been upheld following related U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

Picture of the Indiana Moderate Democratic Candidate Beau Bayh for Indiana Secretary of State.

Bayh’s late grandfather, U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh, championed the 1972 Title IX federal law that banned discrimination against women in college admissions and sports. The connection underscores the family’s historical role in protecting female athletic opportunities.

Bayh criticized Engling for focusing on what he called peripheral matters. He said Engling wants to “talk about culture war issues that are not impacting people in their daily lives.”

At the same time, Bayh stressed broader nondiscrimination principles. “No one should be discriminated against in our state based on who you are, there’s absolutely no room for that,” he said. “If you happen to be transgender, you should not be discriminated against in housing, voting, jobs. It’s illegal, and it can’t happen.”

Bayh, a Marine Corps veteran and attorney, is the Democratic nominee after winning the party’s June convention. He faces Engling, Ballard, and Libertarian Lauri Shillings in the November general election. The Secretary of State’s office oversees elections and business records and has no direct authority over school or college athletic eligibility rules.

The exchange highlights how cultural flashpoints continue to surface even in a race centered on election administration and government accountability.