Wisconsin Assembly Bill 377 (AB 377), also known as the Save Women's Sports Act, was a proposed law in the state of Wisconsin that would have restricted interscholastic sport competitions and leagues in K-12 schools to biological sex and not gender identity. It was vetoed by Governor Tony Evers on April 2, 2024, and never became law due to Republicans not having enough votes to override his veto.
The bill was generally targeted towards transgender women and sought to prohibit them from competing in women's sports, though it applied to all genders and sexes. The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association already had regulations dating back to 2015 regarding transgender people competing in school sports, mandating at least one year of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) before being allowed to compete.
Provisions Assembly Bill 377 bars transgender Wisconsinites from playing in school sports that align with their gender identity and instead restricts it to biological sex. It would have been based on the sex listed on someone's birth certificate. Assembly Bill 377 differs from Assembly Bill 378, a very similar bill, in that it targets K-12 public and private schools instead of colleges.
Reactions Support Riley Gaines, a conservative activist prominent for opposing transgender women competing in women's sports, criticized Governor Evers for vetoing the law.
Opposition Governor Evers, who vetoed the law, stated that he would never abandon LGBTQ+ people in Wisconsin nor their rights. Fair Wisconsin, the state's only LGBTQ+ advocacy group, also opposed AB 377.
See also LGBTQ rights in Wisconsin
References