Wisconsin’s liberal Democrat Gov. Tony Evers arranged a showy veto ceremony Tuesday to deny passage to a bill that would protect girls’ sports in the Dairy State.
The bill would have banned transgender students from picking and choosing which team aligns with their gender identity at any given time and would have restricted them to playing on teams that align with their birth gender, the Milwaukee Sentinel reported.
Evers put his veto on the bill in the state capital in Madison surrounded by progressive Democrats and extremist trans activists.
BREAKING: The Governor of WI (D) just VETOED a bill that would protect girls and ban males from female school sports teams.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 2, 2024
He claimed the bill is "anti-LGBTQ."
Democrats don't care if your young daughter gets beat up by a boy competing on a girl's sports team. They don't care… pic.twitter.com/hoR7UCDRn4
“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,” Evers exclaimed in his veto statement.
“I will veto any bill that makes Wisconsin a less safe, less inclusive, and less welcoming place for LGBTQ people and kids,” Evers added, “and I will continue to keep my promise of using every power available to me to defend them, protect their rights, and keep them safe.”
Evers went on to blast Republicans for targeting LGBTQ kids for “harm.”
“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,” Evers bloviated. “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.”
Tony Evers, governor of Wisconsin, speaks during an event at Earth Rider Brewery in Superior, Wisconsin, US, on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. (Nicole Neri/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Republicans, though, bristled at Evers’ accusations and insisted that the purpose of the bill is to protect the safety, fairness, and comfort of the great majority of girls, not to attack the tiny handful of so-called transgender girls who want to play sports on state-sponsored girls’ teams.
“Men have major physical advantages. They’re bigger, they’re stronger, they’re faster,” said state Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay. “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.”
GOP Rep. Barbara Dittrich also blasted Evers.
“While (Evers) and his ilk continue to gaslight our citizens that this legislation was about hate and exclusion, he ignores the fact that the legislation provides categories for every Wisconsin student while respecting and protecting the safety and merit of our state’s biological girls,” Dittrich said.
“Tony Evers sets himself up against the vast majority of Wisconsinites with this disgraceful veto. According to Marquette University Law School polls, 70% of Wisconsinites agreed with this legislation. His veto today clearly demonstrates his disrespect for women and girls as well as for protecting their hard-fought achievements.”
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