MADISON, Wis. — Republicans who control the Wisconsin Assembly voted to pass four bills aimed at transgender youth on Thursday.
The proposals would prohibit trans girls from using girls’ locker rooms and playing on girls’ sports teams at the K-12 and college levels, require teachers to use the pronouns and name approved by a student’s parents, and prohibit doctors from providing gender transition care to minors.
The bills passed without any support from Democrats, and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has promised to veto them. Evers also vetoed similar proposals in the previous legislative session.
Watch: Wisconsin Republicans pass bills on trans athletes, gender-affirming care
“So why, just 16 months later, reintroduce this same hateful, hurtful bill again?” Democratic Rep. Tara Johnson said during Thursday’s floor period.
The proposals come at a time when restrictions for transgender people are gaining support nationally and Democrats are splintered on their approach to the issue.
A Pew Research Center analysis published last month found that a majority of Americans support policies like the bills on trans athletes and gender transition care.
“At some point, you would hope that public pressure would convince Governor Evers that he has to change his stance,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said. “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 gotta change their stance.”
The passage of these bills comes over opposition from dozens of transgender people and allies who turned out to public hearings over the past month.
Democratic Rep. Ryan Clancy, who has a transgender child and a nonbinary child, begged lawmakers to take that opposition more seriously.
“I urge you to actually listen to the many hours of impassioned and compelling and heart wrenching testimony,” Clancy said. “Own the fact that a ‘yes’ vote today is an act of cowardice or hatred or both.”
Republicans dismissed that testimony as a minority opinion.
“Did they succeed in getting a couple dozen people to come and testify? Yes, they did, and to that they deserve the credit,” Vos said. “But the reality is, we had elections, this is an issue, and I am 100% convinced that we are on the side of the vast majority of the public on all three of these bills.”
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