LGBTQ

Transgender women and girls will no longer be allowed to compete in female-designated high school sports in the state of Wyoming, once a new law takes effect in July.

The Wyoming Legislature has passed a bill banning trans girls and women from competing in high school and middle school sports.

Wyoming's "Don't Say Gay" bill has failed this session, having missed a key deadline Friday evening.

A bill banning transgender girls and women from female high school sports is one step closer to becoming law, advancing out of its second committee.

Wyoming lawmakers have considered two bills this session aimed at outlawing gender-affirming care for people under 18. One of those bills is still in play, but "Chloe's Law" died in a committee Wed., Feb. 22, ending its path through the legislature.

Supporters say the bills are about stopping alleged assaults on children's health and education — but the claims made by these supporters are at odds with the best available research in the fields they seek to legislate.

A bill working its way through the Wyoming Legislature would forbid teachers from covering certain topics in kindergarten to third grade classes. The bill is touted by its supporters as a necessary check to keep classroom conversations age-appropriate, but opponents fear it will stigmatize queer youth.

“This idea that children are the vulnerable spot – the way to go after the LGBTQ community – is really taking hold,” says Olivia Hunt, the policy director at the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Bills of this nature are opposed by every major medical and pediatric association and both the Wyoming Psychological Association and the State Academy of Pediatrics testified against it.