Today in a full floor session, the Assembly passed AB 377 related to designating school sports teams based on the sex of the participants. The vote was along party lines, with all Republicans in attendance voting in favor and all Democrats opposed. If signed into law, the bill would require public and private schools that participate in a parental choice program to organize school sports into one of three categories: male, female, or co-ed. In addition, the bill also forbids male pupils from participating on a team designated for females and allows female athletes to bring legal action against a school district if they feel the district is not complying with the law.
In the floor debate Democrats argued that AB 377 would put Wisconsin in violation of the current interpretation of federal statute, Title IX, and would negatively impact the mental health of transgender athletes and students. They also argued that the problem the bill is trying to address is not an issue in Wisconsin, and there is a lack of evidence to demonstrate that transgender athletes participating on teams correlating with their identity harms female athletes. Republicans argued that the bill would help protect the rights, safety, and scholarship opportunities of female athletes because biological males have a physiological advantage over biological women in athletics. They also argued that the bill was not targeted at transgender athletes as it allows schools to create a co-ed team if transgender athletes do not want to participate on a team that correlates with their sex at birth. Governor Evers has already declared that he will veto the legislation if it reaches his desk.
