Wisconsin governor vetoes transgender high school athletics ban
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed a bill that would have banned high school transgender athletes from competing on teams that align with their gender identity.
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a bill Tuesday that was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature to ban high school transgender athletes from competing on teams that align with their gender identity.
Evers had promised to veto the bill ever since it was introduced. Democrats did not have the votes to stop its passage in the Legislature. He vetoed it in the Capitol surrounded by Democratic lawmakers, transgender advocates, the mayor of Madison and others.
Republicans don’t have the votes needed to override the veto.
Evers said in his veto message that this type of legislation “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.”
Evers vowed that as long as he is governor, he will not allow for “radical policies targeting LGBTQ individuals and families and threatening LGBTQ folks’ everyday lives and their ability to be safe, valued, supported, and welcome being who they are.”
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