The majority-Republican Wisconsin Assembly overwhelmingly passed a measure on Wednesday that will prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
The legislation, passed by a margin of 59-38, says that no transgender athlete may compete in girls or women’s sports in any public or private school from K-12.
The strong support in the Assembly, however, is no guarantee that the bill will become law. The bill still has its opponents, not the least of which is Wisconsin’s Democrat Governor Tony Evers, who has referred to the law as “discrimination.”
Evers has strongly suggested that he would veto the bill.
“He can say today he’s going to veto it, but I hope there’s the public outcry we’ve been hearing,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Burlington) said. “We want to make sure — especially under Title IX — women have the right to competitive sports.”
Another bill is in the works, which would require the University of Wisconsin and technical colleges to follow the same trans athlete policy as the K-12 system. Uw, however, says that the following the requirements in the bill would cause them to run afoul of NCAA policy.
The move to ban trans athletes from girls and women’s sports is just one of at least 20 such measures either signed into law or working their way through state legislatures across the country.
In April, the NCAA announced that they would withhold events and tournaments from states that pass laws preventing trans athletes from competing in the category of their gender identity. However, the collegiate athletic governing body quickly reneged on that promise after nearly two dozen states responded by enacting legislation to protect female athletes from trans competition.