CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Senate File 51, legislation that would ban transgender women and girls from competing on the sports teams that match their gender identity, passed in the Wyoming Senate this morning. SF 51 will now go before the Wyoming House of Representatives.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Wendy Schuler, received a vote of 24- 5. Schuler sponsored the bill with the aim to keep athletic competition fair for women.
“Let’s keep it fair for our biological girls and women, let’s let them continue to have the same opportunities that I was denied years ago, but I finally got and now they should continue to have those,” said Schuler. “They shouldn’t have to worry if two or three guys are going to identify next year as females and take our places.”
The ACLU of Wyoming has issued several comments in regards to the legislation, Senate File 51.
“This bill violates both the United States Constitution and Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which protects all students – including those who are transgender – from discrimination based on sex,” said the ACLU of Wyoming.
“Senate File 51 is not about leveling the playing field for student-athletes. It’s about erasing and excluding trans people from participation in all aspects of public life,” said Antonio Serrano, ACLU of Wyoming advocacy director. “Extreme policies such as Senate File 51 are out of step with prevailing international and national norms of athletic competition. Inclusive teams that support all athletes and encourage participation should be the standard for all school sports.”
Senate File 51 was amended to create an appeals board that would hear appeals “on the issue of whether a student is being properly denied or should be denied participation on a team or in a sport designated for females.” The Wyoming High School Activities Association has a current policy in place for transgender athletes. The policy states that “All students should be considered for the opportunity to participate in Wyoming High School Activities Association activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on a student’s records.”
“It doesn’t matter what Senate File 51 ends up looking like,” Serrano said. “Senate File 51 has never been about leveling the playing field for student-athletes. It’s been obvious from the beginning that this discriminatory legislation is about solving problems that don’t exist and, in the process, harming some of the most vulnerable people in our state.”
In recent years, legislation similar to Senate File 51 has been filed across the U.S. and has been challenged in court. In 2020, a federal judge blocked Idaho’s law targeting transgender student-athletes. In 2021, a federal court blocked West Virginia from enforcing a law that bans trans girls and women from participating in school sports.
Last year, a presidential executive order which was created to prevent and combat discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, states that “children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.”
With the executive order at hand, if the bill is signed into law, Wyoming will face the federal government who is actively enforcing Title IX’s protections against discriminatory policies targeting transgender students.
