“Now is the time to show our trans kids love and support, not exclusion.”

Today, as we should be celebrating Public Schools Week, Republicans in the Wisconsin state legislature chose to play political games with kids’ identities instead of do anything to actually support Wisconsin children. By introducing LRB 872/2 and 880/2, bills targeting trans and nonbinary athletes in Wisconsin, these legislators are attempting to codify misinformation into law. Fair Wisconsin’s Executive Director Abigail Swetz issued the following statement: “We’ve fought these discriminatory bills before, and we’ll do it again. Playing sports is all about getting to be on a team and be part of something bigger than yourself, and it’s how so many of us feel like we belong. That feeling of belonging is so important for a kid’s development, including trans kids and young adults. Honestly, I’d say it’s even more important for trans kids and young adults because they’re living in a world that really questions them at every turn, where they often feel like they don’t belong. But when an athlete gets to play sports on a team where they belong, that can make such a huge difference, and that is especially true for our trans athletes when the trans community is under attack from a hostile federal government. Now is the time to show our trans kids love and support, not exclusion. Our trans kids and young adults, and all trans Wisconsinites, need to know that there are so many people in this state who love you exactly as you are. The fact that a few members of the Wisconsin legislature want to play political games with your joy is inappropriate, but it doesn’t change that there are so many of us who love and support you, and we will fi ght for you to be able to play sports for the same reasons everyone does: to stay healthy, be part of a team, foster friendships, and just have fun.”

Fair Wisconsin is Wisconsin’s only statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights and political advocacy organization.