Wisconsin Bills Seek To Ban Transgender Athletes

WISCONSIN—To kick-off March as Women’s History Month, three Republican lawmakers — Rep. Barb Dittrich (R-Oconomowoc), Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls) and Sen. Kathy Bernier (R-Chippewa Falls) — introduced bills purporting to “protect women in sports” from men competing against them, putting them in physical jeopardy and creating an unfair advantage, as the legislators described it.

What the two bills would do, counter Democrats, is to prevent transgender student athletes from participating in most school sports. Unless the team is labeled as “coed” the bills would require an athlete to register under the biological sex assigned to them at birth. One bill addresses K-12 teams, while the other targets collegiate sports.

“It’s an issue of standing for women’s achievement, not cutting anyone out of women’s achievement,” said Dittrich in a Capitol press conference on Tuesday. Asked if progressive women would support it, she claimed she knows she has colleagues who will. But that’s not the response any progressive colleagues offered.

“Today, the Assembly GOP released legislation designed to target and discriminate against transgender student athletes,” said Rep. Greta Neubauer (D-Racine). “This legislation is cruel and discriminatory and will cause further harm to children who are already under attack for simply being themselves.”

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which advocates for LGBTQ rights, counted seven states with anti-transgender bills, including similar sports participation bills, by mid-February. Its website states that Idaho, the only state that has passed such legislation, swiftly saw the law suspended in court, and the NCAA came out against the bill.

“This effort is being driven by national far-right organizations attempting to sow fear and hate,” writes HRC’s Wyatt Ronan. “Opposing equality is highly unpopular — even among Trump voters — and states that pass legislation that attacks our community will face severe economic, legal, and reputational harm. In many cases, these legislative pushes are being prioritized above COVID-19 response and relief.”

Prioritizing such bills before passing necessary pandemic relief was one of the charges legislative Democrats levied against the Republicans pushing the Wisconsin bills.

“Today’s Republican attacks on transgender youth and children in Wisconsin continue a deeply disturbing trend of legislators seeking to limit the rights and opportunities of LGBTQ+ youth in their schools,” said a statement put out by the LGBTQ caucus legislators. “All young people, including transgender or intersex athletes, should have the right and the opportunity to participate in organized, school-sponsored athletics consistent with their gender identity.”

This article originally appeared The Wisconsin Examiner.