Wyoming has become the 19th state to ban transgender athletes from playing on girls’ or women’s sports teams. Republican Governor Mark Gordon on Friday allowed the legislation to become law without his signature.
In a formal statement, Gordon said he supports and agrees with the overall goal of fairness in competitive female sports, but also called the ban “draconian” and “discriminatory without attention to individual circumstances or mitigating factors.”
The law applies to public school students in grades 7-12 who participate in interscholastic sports and Gordon noted there are only 4 known transgender students competing in school athletics in the state.
Gordon said “This seems to call for individualized consideration, where families, students, teams, and others can thoughtfully address specific circumstances, rather than such a punitive, ostracizing broad-brush approach.”
Coincidentally, the bill stipulates that if the law is suspended because of a suit, a 5-member school activity commission will determine transgender requests on an individual case-by-case basis.
The ACLU says the new law is unconstitutional and violates the Civil Rights Act, but the group has not indicated if it plans to file a lawsuit.
Sara Burlingame, director of Wyoming Equality – the state’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, told the Casper Star-Tribune that a lawsuit is planned and her group has contacted local and national groups interested in joining it.
Common sense- all this talk- the NCAA should follow suit