March 31, 2026

On Day of Visibility, Evers Vetoes GOP Anti-Trans Bills

On Day of Visibility, Evers Vetoes GOP Anti-Trans Bills Featured Image

One day after vetoing a Republican bill to opt into a $50 billion Trump Administration voucher school program, Governor Tony Evers vetoed several Republican bills that would have placed new legal prohibitions on transgender students and minors.

The vetoed bills, broadly seen as attempts to stir up anti-LGBTQ+ prejudice for political gain, included denying access to gender affirming medical care, banning students from joining athletic programs that align with their gender identity and preventing educators and other from using students’ preferred names and pronouns.

Throughout the United States, there have been more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in state legislatures in this year alone, and many of them are nearly identical to the bills Wisconsin’s Republicans passed and Governor Evers vetoed on March 31.

WEAC President Peggy Wirtz-Olsen was on hand for the veto signings, and applauded Governor Evers for supporting transgender students and standing up to legislative bullying. One survey of LGBTQ+ Wisconsin youth found that more than 90 percent have been negatively affected by news coverage and political debate related to anti-transgender legislation and policy.

“These bills harm students’ mental health and encourage anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ bullying and violence inside and outside our schools,” Wirtz-Olsen said. “Governor Evers’ vetoes today offset some of the hatred and harassment that our LGBTQ+ students have endured because of the bills and the rhetoric surrounding them, but much damage has already been done.”

The governors’ vetoes were signed on International Transgender Day of Visibility in a room full of transgender and LGBTQ+ students and their families and longtime supporters like Wirtz-Olsen.

The Vetoed Bills

 The bills Evers vetoed pressed all the anti-LGBTQ+ hot buttons that politicians focused on so intensely in the run-up to Trump’s 2024 election and time since he took office in January 2025. WEAC was in opposition to each of the bills.

  • Assembly Bill 104 prohibited doctors and healthcare workers from providing medical gender affirming care for anyone 17 or younger, and Senate Bill 405 made it easier to sue health care providers who perform gender transition procedures on minors.
  • Assembly Bill 100  and Assembly Bill 102 banned transgender girls in K-12 schools and women in college from joining sports teams and using locker rooms aligned with their gender identity.
  • Assembly Bill 103 mandated that school districts have policies that required parental consent for school personnel to use names or pronouns that are different from those on students’ birth certificates.

In a statement, Evers said, “While the federal government and other states across this country may give way to anti-LGBTQ hate, here in Wisconsin, we will continue to decline to do the same.”