After hours of heated debate Thursday, the Republican-controlled Assembly passed four bills aimed at restricting transgender youth and athletes in Wisconsin, a move that comes as transgender rights remain under attack at the national level.
The four GOP-backed bills seek to ban doctors from providing gender-affirming care to minors, bar transgender students from joining girls’ and women’s sports teams in schools and require school districts to get permission from parents before agreeing to refer to students by a different name or pronouns than assigned at birth.
In 2024, a total of 14 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced during the legislative session, all of which failed to pass the Legislature or were vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers.
The proposals come at a time when restrictions for transgender people are gaining support nationally. A February Pew Research Center survey found that a majority of Americans support policies requiring transgender athletes to participate on teams that align with their sex assigned at birth and barring gender-affirming care for minors.
At the national level, President Donald Trump has focused heavily on stripping back transgender rights during his first few months back in office as Democrats grapple with whether or not their party should moderate its position on the issue.
Despite opposition from LGBTQ+ community members and advocates during numerous public hearings over the past month, Republican lawmakers have remained steadfast in their opposition of transgender rights.
“At some point, you would hope that public pressure would convince Governor Evers that he has to change his stance,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said at a pre-session news conference. “We have seen some brave Democrats across the country realize that their party has veered way too far to the left and that if they want to win elections again and they want to be on the side of the public, they’ve got to change their stance.”
Rep. Barbara Dittrich, R-Oconomowoc, has authored anti-trangender legislation during each legislative session since 2021 and said she would continue to do so because “it only takes one transgender athlete to create difficulties for an entire conference of female athletes” at a March 6 public hearing.
Ahead of the floor session, Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, told reporters at a press conference that it’s “disappointing” that Republicans are once again pushing “harmful” and “politically motivated” bills instead of working to help ensure “kids feel safe and have opportunities to be their best selves.”
Fellow Democratic lawmakers echoed Hong’s sentiment throughout the Assembly chamber during the nearly five-hour debate on the proposed anti-transgender legislation.
On the Assembly floor, Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, a father of a transgender child and a nonbinary child, urged Republicans to listen to the hours of “impassioned and compelling and heart-wrenching testimony” and to not waste time on bills that will ultimately be vetoed.
“The most hateful Republicans will head back to their districts having done nothing to improve the lives of their residents with clips in which they demonize and marginalize some folks who are just asking for basic human rights,” Clancy said.
Clancy added that Republicans should just say that they’re “unwilling to lift a finger” to improve the lives of all their residents and are instead “willing to persecute some of them.”
“Own the fact that a ‘yes’ vote today is an act of cowardice or hatred or both,” he said.
The four bills are now on their way to the state Senate floor. Evers has promised to veto anti-transgender legislation.
Anna Kleiber is the state news editor for The Daily Cardinal. She previously served as the arts editor. Anna has written in-depth on elections, legislative maps and campus news. She has interned with WisPolitics and Madison Magazine. Follow her on X at @annakleiber03.
