Holding true to his word, Governor Tony Evers vetoed a bill on April 3 that would have effectively been a ban on transgender students participating in high school athletics. The bill was introduced in the fall, and was passed by the Republican-controlled legislature, despite large community opposition and a promise from Evers that it would never become law even if it made it to his desk. Republicans in the legislature do not have the power to override the veto, which means that this particular bill, at least, is dead.

The bill would have required athletes to compete on teams that coincide with their assigned sex at birth, even if that is not the gender that they identify or present as. This topic has been a hotbed of debate around the country, with many on the right deeming it unfair and unsafe for kids who were assigned male to compete with and use the same lockers rooms as those who were assigned female. Republican Rep Barb Dittrich echoed those talking points when she released a statement regarding the veto, calling Evers “misogynistic” and that “his veto today clearly demonstrates his disrespect for women and girls as well as for protecting their hard-fought achievements,” according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

Opponents to the bill argued that there was no real issue with this in Wisconsin, and that the ban “was a form of discrimination and harmful to transgender youth,” according to the same article. Evers, in his veto message, said that these bills “harm LGBTQ Wisconsinites’ and kids’ mental health, emboldens anti-LGBTQ harassment, bullying, and violence, and threatens the safety and dignity of LGBTQ Wisconsinites, especially our LGBTQ kids.”

As these bills spread across the country, with some becoming laws (especially in red states), we see the truth of what Evers said in his statement come to fruition, as hate crimes have risen sharply in recent years, and support for LGBTQ people and their rights has started to decline for the first time since 2015. A report by the Washington Post that counted the number of anti-LGBTQ school hate crimes reported to the FBI (which includes crimes committed on K–12 and college campuses) shows a stark reality and a skyrocketing jump in 2022 that has only continued through 2023 and into 2024. The largest number of attacks happened in red states, where these laws have largely been passed, but the uptick in blue states shows that even when these bills don’t become law, the rhetoric and lies behind them spark violence that is dangerous to queer kids.