The Wyoming Legislature’s general session ended on March 6.
Even though the session may have gaveled out, Wyoming Public Radio’s coverage of what happened during it isn’t over. WPR reporters are shifting gears to document how bills that are now law are impacting Wyomingites.
News director Kamila Kudelska spoke with state government reporter Chris Clements about two bans on where transgender people can go in Wyoming.
Editor’s note: This transcript has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Kamila Kudelska: Let’s explain what these two bans are, starting with House Bill 72.
Chris Clements: House Bill 72 requires people using public facilities that are affiliated with the state, like restrooms, locker rooms and sleeping quarters, to only use the facilities that correspond with their assigned sex at birth. It also lets the public sue these spaces if they believe someone is violating that law. This one goes into effect on July 1.
KK: That ban will impact state facilities like jails, the university, colleges, towns and cities. There’s another ban that is specific to public school bathrooms, right?
CC: Yes, Senate File 62 requires restrooms and locker rooms in public schools to have exclusive use designations by assigned sex at birth. This bill went into effect immediately when Gov. Mark Gordon signed it.
KK: So what do the bill’s sponsors say are their reasons for creating these new laws?
CC: Well, a common refrain I heard during discussions for these bills is that they’re needed to protect women and their right to privacy in these spaces. Here’s the sponsor of House Bill 72, Rep. Martha Lawley (R-Worland). This [is the bill that] more broadly applies to all state-run public facilities.
Martha Lawley: That right to privacy should not be threatened by or trumped by someone else's view about gender. And that's really kind of what the bill seeks to do.
CC: Lawley says she represents a very conservative district, and these bans are what her constituents want. It’s worth noting that these bills passed the Legislature with big margins. That means they had the support of Wyoming Freedom Caucus members and non-members alike, including moderate Republicans.
KK: These kinds of bans have been popping up around the country, like in Utah and Florida. Is there data that show these laws are needed?
CC: Research shows that cisgender people – that’s folks whose current gender identity matches their sex at birth – are at no increased risk when trans people use restrooms that align with their authentic gender. According to GLAAD, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, it’s trans Wyomingites who are at higher risk of harassment and violence in those places.
KK: You talked to Wyomingites who say these bans will impact them. What did they say?
CC: I asked three sources about that, all of whom identify as either trans or two-spirit. Let’s start with Ella. They’re an employee at the University of Wyoming (UW) who asked us to only use their first name because they’re worried about getting death threats.
Ella: I've had some really good jobs in my life, but the job I have right now is by far the best job I've ever had. I just love it. I get to help people every day do amazing things for Wyoming, these students that I'm working with. But once I feel that it's too unsafe for me, I'm going to leave. And the ‘unsafe’ is not just physical safety. Certainly it is that, but I feel [what’s] bigger is the mental strain of what this does.
In the unit that I work in, we have only single stall restrooms, which is unusual. Most places aren't that way. I'm kind of lucky on that front, on this bathroom bill. But if I am doing anything in most parts of campus, I now do what most trans people already do, and what I do in other places when I'm in public, which is basically a dehydration plan.
I'm just going to watch my fluid intake, and that's it. But I'm fortunate I can do that. I don't have a medical condition that [would mean] I might need to go to the restroom a lot. So I can ride this out in my job, but when I’m existing in public, it's a different thing. It's not a matter of if I leave Wyoming, it's just a matter of when. But I'm determined that when I leave, it's going to be on my own terms.
CC: Next, we’ll hear from Ari Kamil, who lives in Riverton, talking about the impact they believe these bans will have on public school students specifically [SF 62].
Ari Kamil: So as an adolescent, there are endless possibilities. As humans, [we] are so expansive, and there are so many ways that we can exist. That is the beauty of being a conscious creature. And obviously, queer kids have always existed, and they continue to exist. [But] this doesn't just hurt queer kids. It does predominantly hurt queer kids, but this really does hurt everybody.
You are telling people that they cannot imagine and expand and be creative in their own identity. It's such a vulnerable and intimate and just very creative and exciting exploration, and you're just stomping on it. You're just stomping it out. That stunts growth, it stunts development. It leads to mental health crises.
CC: Finally, here’s Layha Spoonhunter. Spoonhunter is a community activist on the Wind River Reservation who’s Eastern Shoshone, Northern Arapaho and Oglala Lakota and two-spirit. They were speaking about these bans in general.
Layha Spoonhunter: I think it is coming from a place of fear, and it's also coming from a place of – I don't want to say the word, but it is hatred, bigotry, towards a community that has already faced intense discrimination. They face so much backlash.
To be able to be open with one’s gender identity – in reality, that's all the trans community wants to do, is live their life as they feel and [with] their [own] authenticity. But it seems to be a threat that people just want to live their lives openly and without prejudice, without fear. It's so disheartening today. I always state when I'm out there traveling that 20, now 27, years after the death of Matthew Shepard, this is what we are. We're getting further and further from being the Equality State.
CC: My colleague, statehouse digital reporter Jordan Uplinger, asked Gov. Mark Gordon about his rationale for signing both of these bans into law at a recent virtual press conference.
Mark Gordon: I do think that we have men and we have women. We can also find places where there’s a family bathroom. I think there’s workarounds that can be sensitive.
CC: And just to note, Gordon signed another bill recently, Senate File 44, that [would] ban trans athletes from playing on sports teams that don’t match their sex assigned at birth. Plus, there’s one more bill sitting on Gordon’s desk [the What is a Woman Act, HB 32] that as of taping this piece, he hasn’t decided on yet. It would further limit trans peoples’ rights.
KK: Got it. We’ll be watching what else Gordon does. Thanks for being with me today, Chris, to talk about these two bans.
CC: Of course, Kamila.
Editor’s Note: On March 14, Gordon allowed the “What is a Woman Act” to pass into law without his signature.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
