WEAC Statement: WIAA Transgender Athlete Ban

The Wisconsin Education Association Council stands with parents, educators and student groups to demand the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletics Association restore its policy relating to transgender and non-binary youth in school sports teams. The following can be attributed to Peggy Wirtz-Olsen, a teacher and president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council:

“School sports are more than competition. They are an extension of the promise of public education: an equitable, inclusive, and welcoming learning community for all students, no exceptions. The Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state’s largest union of teachers and school support staff, calls upon the WIAA to repeal its guidance banning transgender athletes and to restore equal access to play.

“It may be hard for some to understand what it means to be transgender, but we can all understand that it’s essential to treat every student with dignity and respect. We can all agree it’s wrong to single out and attack anyone, including a transgender youth, just for living their lives and being who they are. We need more kindness and less hate.”