(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
(MADISON, Wis.) Republican state lawmakers put forth a bill Tuesday to ban transgender athletes from playing in women's sports from kindergarten through college, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Republican Rep. Barb Dittrich of Oconomowoc, joined by female student athletes and Olympic speed skater Bonnie Blair Cruikshank through a taped video, revealed the bill Tuesday at a press conference, saying female athletes deserve a fair playing field.
"If the governor is truly for women, why would he not sign something like this?" Dittrich said, according to FOX6. "It is wholly unfair for a [woman] to be competing and think she’s only competing against other females."
One of the student athletes, Airiana Lynch, a high school sophomore lacrosse player, said, "I did not spend the last three years with a personal trainer after school everyday, waking up at 4:30 in the morning to work out before school, my summers practicing and competing, and traveling the country to play lacrosse while maintaining two jobs to have my opportunities and athletic accomplishments diminished."
Cruikshank, who competed in four Olympics, was blunt in her assessment, saying, "Athletes should not have to compete in an unfair environment and women’s sports should be protected."
Republican Rep. Janel Brandtjen of Menomonee Falls agreed with the sentiments, referring to her and her husband's history as competitive swimmers in college.
"My life is forever changed by being able to compete but there is no doubt that I could never beat my husband," she said. “That’s the biology, the reality. And honestly, you’ll ruin women’s sports forever. Why would you compete if you knew you couldn’t win? We want a fair playing field.”
According to the Journal Sentinel, if passed, the bill faces a likely veto from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who denounced the idea that transgender people are any different on Twitter.
Other advocates and lawmakers also inveighed against the proposed bill.
State Sen. Kelda Roys made her disagreement clear in a tweet, condemning the bill as hateful.
Human Rights Campaign state legislative director Cathryn Oakley also took issue with the idea that trans athletes have a competitive advantage.
Oakley said in a statement, "Lawmakers' suggestion that student-athletes are trying to game the system for competitive advantage is nonsensical and impractical. It simply does not happen."
Seventeen other states are also considering regulations on trans people in athletics, according to the Human Rights Campaign.