The Wisconsin Assembly on March 20 passed four bills recognizing the real biological differences between males and females. The bills would protect minors from gender transition procedures, keep men out of women’s sports in both K-12 and secondary schools, and require parental consent for students to go by a different name at school. The votes came days before an April 1 election that will determine control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a contest that has become the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history.

Headlining this legislation is AB 104, “prohibiting gender transition medical intervention for individuals under 18 years of age.” The bill would protect minors from the harmful effects of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender transition surgeries. It directs the Wisconsin Board of Medicine to investigate alleged violations and empowers the Board to revoke the license of anyone found in violation.

“A child will make decisions only to change them multiple times as they mature,” said state Rep. Rick Gundrum (R). “It would be a failure on our part to allow children to make life-altering decisions — decisions that they will have to live with for the rest of their [lives].”

The Wisconsin Children’s Hospital briefly halted its provision of gender transition procedures for minors after Trump’s executive order to halt federal funds from going to entities that do so, but the hospital resumed the procedures while lawsuits proceed. It joins at least three dozen other hospitals across the country who are doing likewise.

“Our children are not experiments,” warned state Senator Cory Tomczyk (R). “Parents should not be scared or pressured into having their children receive non-medically necessary drugs or irreversible procedures before their brains are fully developed.”

The Assembly passed AB 104 in a party-line vote (50-43).

The Wisconsin Assembly also passed two bills protecting girls’ sports. One bill (AB 100) would keep biological males out of girls’ sports in K-12 schools, while the other (AB 102) would keep biological males out of women’s sports in University of Wisconsin (UW) System schools and Wisconsin technical colleges. The first proposal passed on a 51-43 vote, with state Rep. Russell Goodwin (D) joining Republicans in supporting the bill. However, Goodwin “left” before the legislature voted on the other bills, according to the Wisconsin Examiner, and AB 102 passed on a party-line vote (50-43).

“If you want to play with boys, have at it, there’s a co-ed track for you to do that,” said state Rep. Barbara Dittrich (R).

A fourth bill that passed the Wisconsin Assembly (AB 103) would require schools to receive written permission from parents for school employees to use a name or pronouns for a student that differ from the student’s legal name, except for nicknames that shorten the student’s legal name. “We don’t want to divide between home and school. This is meant to heal that,” declared Dittrich.

The Assembly also passed AB 103 in a 50-43 party-line vote.

Assembly Democrats responded to these bills by accusing the majority of bullying. “The majority party is trying to gain an advantage in the Supreme Court election by bullying kids,” huffed Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D). “We know it. You know it. It’s mean-spirited, and it’s not helping [the] people of Wisconsin.”

Wisconsin holds elections on April 1, including school board races and a seat on the state Supreme Court that will decide whether progressives hold onto the one-seat majority they gained in 2023. Spending on the race is expected to reach $100 million.

But Republicans had a ready answer to Neubauer. “The only bullying I saw was coming from the trans community,” Dittrich responded. During debate over the bills, Dittrich was physically threatened, was called a Nazi, and needed a security escort from her car to her office. Pro-trans activists also made “vile” comments on social media about her and her family.

These four bills now head to the Wisconsin Senate, where Republicans hold a slender majority, 18-15. If any of the bills pass the Senate, Governor Tony Evers (D) has indicated he will veto them, along with “any bill that makes Wisconsin a less safe, less inclusive, and less welcoming place.”

According to the Wisconsin Constitution (Article V, Section 10), a bill would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override a veto. This would require 66 votes in the Wisconsin Assembly and 22 votes in the Wisconsin Senate.

Assembly leadership was aware that the bills were long-shots, but they hoped that raising the issue would put pressure on Evers, especially as public support for protecting women and children increases.

“At some point, you would hope that public pressure would convince Governor Evers that he has to change his stance,” said Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R). “If you look at where [most] of Wisconsin is, I think everywhere there’s broad bipartisan support,” while Madison “is the one place where the majority of people think that it’s okay to mutilate your kids, it’s okay to have women never win another sporting event.”

“We have seen some brave Democrats across the country realize that their party has veered way too far to the left,” Vos averred, “and that, if they want to win elections again, and they want to be on the side of the public, they’re going to change their stance.”