Republican lawmakers introduced legislation that would ban transgender girls in Wisconsin K-12 schools and transgender women attending University of Wisconsin System schools and Wisconsin technical colleges from participating on teams or playing sports that reflect their gender identity.
The first two bills would require each UW institution and technical college to designate each athletic team or sport by sex — for “males” or “men,” or for “females” or “women.” The bill would further prohibit male students from participating on an athletic team or sport designated for females as well as bar male students from using locker rooms designated for females.
Similarly, the second would do the same for K-12 schools to do the same.
The two bills, both of which were authored by Rep. Barabra Dittrich, R-Oconomowoc, and Sen. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, come after the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) changed its policy in early February to prohibit athletes from competing on a team that does not match the biological sex that they were assigned at birth.
The change was made in response to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump which banned transgender athletes from women’s school sports. Previously, the WIAA allowed transgender athletes to compete on teams that align with their gender identity.
This decision was celebrated by Dittrich and Rep. Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, who said in a column they plan to reintroduce a bill “to secure women’s and girls’ rights in Wisconsin.”
Abigail Swetz, director of LGBTQ+ rights organization FAIR Wisconsin, said the organization has fought these “discriminatory bills” before and will do so again to ensure trans Wisconsinites can play the sports they love.
“When an athlete gets to play sports on a team where they belong, that can make such a huge difference,” Swetz said in a statement Feb. 24. “Now is the time to show our trans kids love and support, not exclusion.”
Rep. Alex Joers, D-Middleton, told The Daily Cardinal these bills are a clear effort by Republicans to “start another culture war at the expense of our young people.”
“There are so many issues that our communities are facing, and yet Republican legislators prefer to focus their energy on using the full weight of the government to bully the transgender community in our state,” Joers said. “This hateful proposal directly harms our transgender youth by sending the message that our priority is passing legislation focused on excluding them.”
A total of 14 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced during the 2024 legislative session, all of which failed to pass the Legislature or were vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers. Evers has promised to veto legislation targeting transgender Wisconsinites.
The bills were referred to the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities and the Assembly Committee on Education, respectively, for further discussion.
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 Twitter at @annakleiber03.
