Wisconsin’s Democratic governor on Tuesday vetoed a ban on trans-identifying male high school athletes competing on girls’ teams.
Governor Tony Evers (D) had previously promised that he would veto the bill, which requires trans-identifying high school students to play on sports teams that align with their biological sex.
“I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to codifying discrimination into state statute,” Evers said in a statement accompanying his veto.
“This type of legislation, and the harmful rhetoric beget by pursuing it, harms LGBTQ Wisconsinites’ and kids’ mental health, emboldens anti-LGBTQ harassment, bullying, and violence, and threatens the safety and dignity of LGBTQ Wisconsinites, especially our LGBTQ kids,” the governor said.
The bill had passed the Republican-controlled legislature last month. However, neither the state Assembly nor the state Senate has the two-thirds majority that would override a veto.
Evers said he would continue “using every power available” to defend LGBTQ children.
He added a dig at the legislature’s Republican majority.
“We expect our kids to treat each other with kindness, respect, empathy, and compassion, and we should be able to expect adults to lead by example,” said Evers. “I urge the Republican majority to do so while fully considering the harmful consequences its efforts and actions have on our kids prior to introducing similar legislation in the future.”
Republicans argued that women need separate sports teams in order to keep competition fair.
“Men have major physical advantages. They’re bigger, they’re stronger, they’re faster,” state Representative Joel Kitchens, a Republican said last year when the bill was under consideration.
“Title IX was created so that women can have the same access to the same advantages, the same character building that takes place [in sports] that men always have experienced,” Kitchens said.
At least 24 states have laws banning trans-identifying athletes from competing on school sports teams of the opposite sex.
The Biden administration is currently working on a rule to prohibit such state bans applying to trans-identifying athletes.
At least 24 states have also banned transgender medical services for children such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender surgeries like double mastectomies and genital surgeries.
In recent years, several high-profile female athletes have spoken out about issues with men in women’s sports.
Some have argued that men’s physical advantages over women cause women’s sports careers to suffer and in some cases cause them to get physically injured.
Others have criticized trans-identifying male players being allowed in women’s bathrooms and locker rooms before and after sporting events.