Trans bill clears first full Senate review

CHEYENNE — After significant public testimony in committee, and questions regarding its constitutionality, the Senate passed Senate File 51, “Fairness in women’s sports act,” through the Committee of the Whole Monday.

The bill will face two more readings in the Senate. It is sponsored by Sen. Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston, who said in previous testimony that she introduced it in hopes of “prohibiting biological males from athletic teams and sports designated for females in public schools.”

“All this legislation is about is fairness,” Schuler said. “I think most of us understand that there are some issues right now with the increase in transgender athletes competing against biological women, and we are seeing some of hard-earned (work of) people rising 50 years ago under Title IX under attack.”

Schuler continued that “science shows” that biological males have physiological advantages like being “taller, bigger, larger” with “bone density (that) is different,” and “speed and agility” that gives them an advantage over biological females. That is, she said, why women fought for Title IX athletics.

“This bill, again, is just not meant to be about anything other than fairness,” Schuler said. “There are plenty of opportunities for transgendered athletes to compete on mixed sex or co-ed teams where biology is not a factor.”

An amendment to the bill that would have created an independent appeals process directed to a board of three to five people failed.

Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, said that he opposed the process because the amendment itself created institutionally gender-biased policy. The amendment included language that allowed for the appeals board to find that a student “does not possess in a sufficient quantity the normal male physical capabilities to present a threat of unfair competition to a normal female.”

“This clearly implies that we are talking about ‘abnormal’ individuals,” Rothfuss said. “It is a bit of a creepy process, to have a state of Wyoming board of people making decisions regarding the gender identity of individuals. That might go a step too far.”

Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle, said she opposed the amendment, not for the reasons Rothfuss stated, but because it created a “loophole” in the bill and would weaken its restrictions.

On the bill itself, Sen. Tim French, R-Powell, said he agrees the legislation is about fairness.

“I have a couple young, beautiful granddaughters, 11 and 13, and I want them to have a level playing field. They enjoy sports. They love sports. The youngest one is great at soccer, and when you are young, you play in a one-set soccer club. She just got so disheartened because the boys, once they get to a certain age, they are pretty rough,” French said. “I want our young girls and young women to have a fair chance in sports.”

But Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, asked her fellow senators to put their emotions aside and simply think about whether the proposed legislation is constitutional.

“What we do know, based on the case law already decided on similar bills … is that this isn’t a moral question. It really is a legal one,” Nethercott said. “It is unconstitutional. It will be declared unconstitutional on its face.”

A legal battle, she continued, will cost Wyoming taxpayer dollars, and, ultimately, the issue should be left to local leaders.

“We, as a society, will continue to balance these interests, and in understanding how to raise our families and to raise our children in this state, (we) rely on those teachers, coaches, professionals and school boards to navigate these issues as we know they always have,” Nethercott said. “Let’s trust them to deal with these children, which they are, in the way that they know how to do.”

 

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