MADISON, Wis. — Lawmakers on the Assembly floor passed three transgender-related bills Thursday, all which Democrat Gov. Tony Evers has vowed to veto.

The three bills came down to party-line votes with Republican support and opposition from Democrats.

What You Need To Know

  • Lawmakers in the Wisconsin Assembly passed three bills along party lines Thursday focused on transgender and nonbinary youth

  • The first two bills would ban transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports at both the K-12 and college levels

  • A third proposal would ban gender transition care for minors, including sterilization surgeries, mastectomies, hormones, and puberty blockers for people under the age of 18

  • All three bills now await Senate approval before going to Gov. Tony Evers, who has previously vowed to veto all of them

Taken together, the first two bills debated Thursday would ban transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports at both the K-12 and college levels.

Instead, students would have to play on one of three teams that correspond with their sex assigned at birth by a physician: male, female, or co-ed.

“I think there’s a recognition, Mr. Speaker, that this is doing harm, and I think it’s difficult for some people to swallow that when they press their green buttons that will become beacons of hate to the Wisconsinites later,” State Rep. Lee Snodgrass, D-Appleton, told her colleagues.

“Nobody has hate in this building,” State Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, responded. “Because we disagree, because we disagree with the process, does not make hate.”

A third bill would ban gender transition care for minors, including surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers.

“I love this state. We have to pick a number,” State Rep. Elijah Behnke, R-Oconto, said. “I don’t care if it’s 16 or 19. Let them go to work, get a gun, drive a car, and lop off their nuts all at the same age. I don’t care.”

“I’m deeply sorry for the harmful words and rhetoric that have been spoken in this body today,” State Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, said afterwards.

Last week, Gov. Evers vowed to veto the proposals when he stopped by an overflow room where citizens waited to weigh in on the legislation as public hearings were held.

“I know I have read some media reports where people say, ‘Why are you bringing bills forward when Gov. Evers has already said he is going to veto them?’ Well, number one: the answer is pretty simple, we think they’re the right thing to do for Wisconsin,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told reporters before floor session Thursday. “We think they’re the right thing to do for Wisconsin families.”

Though the governor has vowed to stop the bills from becoming law, the proposals still need to pass the Senate before going to his desk.

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