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Transgender athlete ban fails

By
Mary Shimizu Harris with the Casper Star-Tribune, from the Wyoming News Exchange

CASPER — Despite strong support for the bill among Senate legislators, the Fairness in Women’s Sports act is dead. The bill, which would have barred transgender women and girls from participating in high school and collegiate sports that match their gender identity, failed to reach the House Education Committee by the deadline. 
This means that it failed even though the committee did not vote on the proposed legislation. 
“It’s unfortunate,” said the bill’s main sponsor, Sen. Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston. “I thought it would have enough votes to pass.” 
The Senate’s support of the bill was strong. The bill passed its introductory vote with 25 ayes and 4 nays, and the Senate Education Committee 3 to 2. 
Last Wednesday, the bill cleared the Senate with a 24 to 5 vote, and was then received for introduction in the House. 
But several other bills left over from Friday’s discussions were taken up at the front of the line, leaving Senate File 51 to fall off the table for consideration. 
Representatives made motions on Friday and Monday to bring the bill out of the Speaker of the House’s drawer, but both failed. 
Senate File 51 is not the only bill that was killed in this manner. The Senate also failed to deliver two other bills on time that Speaker Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, also chose not to introduce. 
“I’m not making a judgement on the content of the bills,” Barlow said. “Process matters.” 
Schuler said repeatedly that the bill was about “fairness” and protecting women’s rights under Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities that receive federal funding. 
As a former athlete, Schuler said she was grateful when Title IX was signed into law in 1972 because it created a fair space for women to participate and compete in sports, a right that she said could be compromised if transgender women and girls were allowed to compete on female teams. 
But opponents of the bill, including the ACLU, have argued that the measure would actually violate Title IX, given legal precedents ruling that the law also protects individuals from discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. 
Those against the bill have pointed out that the Wyoming High School Activities Association already has a process in place to vet these situations on a case-by-case basis. 
Some have argued, however, that this method could create an unequal playing field when teams from different schools or regions that have varying approaches to including (or not including) transgender athletes are pitted against one another. 
Schuler said she hasn’t necessarily given up on the bill. 
“I would consider bringing it back if it still has support from constituents,” she said. “I would probably try to do more legwork if I do.” 
Other states have already put in place transgender athlete bans or are in the process of considering such restrictions. 

Among Wyoming’s neighbors, Idaho passed a similar bill in March 2020. That legislation is currently under scrutiny in the Hecox v. Little case, a challenge that Wyoming legislators brought up several times in their concerns about the legal integrity of Senate File 51. 
Utah also passed on Friday a total ban on transgender female athletes’ participation in women’s sports, although Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he would veto the bill.
 
This story was posted on March 8, 2022

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