Wisconsin
Wisconsin Assembly passes trio of bills targeting transgender youth
The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Assembly on Thursday passed a trio of bills targeting transgender young people. The legislation, which would ban gender-affirming health care for minors and prevent transgender girls from competing on women’s K-12 and college sports teams, now heads to the state Senate, where the proposals are expected to pass.
The three bills were each approved in a 63-35 party-line vote, with all Democrats voting against the measures and nearly all Republicans voting for them. Republican state Rep. Todd Novak was absent for Thursday’s vote but said he would have joined his GOP colleagues in supporting the bills.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, has pledged to veto all three bills if they reach his desk.
“We’re gonna veto every single one of them,” Evers told a group of LGBTQ advocates and youth gathered at the state capitol in Madison this month. In a Thursday post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Evers called the GOP-led bills “scary” and “downright dangerous.”
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — not one of these bills will become law in Wisconsin as long as I am governor. Period,” he wrote.
The health care ban, Assembly Bill 465, would prohibit health care providers in the state from administering gender-affirming medical care to transgender minors “for the purpose of changing the minor’s body to correspond to a sex that is discordant with the minor’s biological sex.”
Medications including puberty blockers and hormones, as well as certain surgeries, would still be available to minors “born with a medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex development,” according to the bill. Doctors who violate the law, if it is enacted, could lose their medical licenses.
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican, on Thursday said providers of gender-affirming health care are “mutilating” children and falsely suggested care is being given to transgender youths as young as 3 years old. The only acceptable form of gender-affirming care for minors who have not begun puberty is social transition, which includes wearing gender-affirming clothing or using a different name or pronouns.
Vos also likened gender-affirming medical care to lobotomies and said the opinions of medical experts — who overwhelmingly support gender-affirming care for transgender youths and adults — are likely to change.
“People a hundred years ago said the way to deal with mental illness was to lobotomize the mentally ill. That was settled science,” Vos said Thursday on the Assembly Floor. “You know what we realized a hundred years later? That was cruel and it should have never been done in America, because we realized that ‘settled science’ doesn’t always mean that they’re right.”
Vos spoke immediately after Democratic state Rep. Melissa Ratcliff, whose son is transgender, described gender-affirming health care as lifesaving.
“This legislation takes away the ability of parents to help children like I was able to help mine,” she said.
The bills restricting transgender athlete participation — Assembly Bill 377 and Assembly Bill 379 — would bar transgender students from participating on K-12 and college sports teams consistent with their gender identity. A similar proposal was advanced by Assembly Republicans in 2021, but failed to progress in the Senate.
LGBTQ advocacy and civil rights groups on Thursday condemned the bills’ passage in the Wisconsin Assembly and called on the Senate to strike the proposals down.
“Let’s get the record straight. The legislation passed today will only make it difficult or impossible for a transgender or non-binary child to grow up as their authentic self,” said Wendy Strout, the Human Rights Campaign’s Wisconsin state director.
“All young people deserve to feel supported, valued and cared for, but the assembly representatives who voted in favor of these bills today sent a message to trans youth that they are the exception,” said Dr. Melinda Brennan, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, in a statement.
“Life’s problems don’t come from being trans — they come from barriers to living openly and authentically,” Brennan said. “If politicians want to help youth, they need to make sure young people know that they belong, can pursue the activities they enjoy, have access to the healthcare they need, see themselves reflected in their books and curriculum, and — like everyone — feel respected for who they are.”
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Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes was named as the chief of police in Seattle on Friday, five days after he was thrust into the national spotlight because of a shooting at a religious school in Wisconsin that killed a teacher and student.
Barnes’ departure comes as Madison police are still in the early days of their investigation into what motivated 15-year-old Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow to open fire at Abundant Life Christian School, killing teacher Erin West and 14-year-old freshman Rubi Patricia Vergara and critically wounding two other students. Rupnow then killed herself, authorities said.
In a statement announcing the decision, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said Barnes has demonstrated “impressive leadership capabilities” during the school shooting investigation.
Barnes was known to be a finalist for the Seattle job before the shooting. He has served as the chief of police in Wisconsin’s capital city since 2021. He also was a finalist to become chief of police in Chicago in 2023 and San Jose, California, in October.
Barnes did not mention the shooting in the statement from Harrell’s office. “My family and I are excited about the opportunity to integrate into Seattle’s vibrant community, known for its diversity, innovation and resilience,” Barnes said.
The Seattle mayor’s office office said Barnes was chosen over two other finalists, an assistant police chief in Montgomery County, Maryland, and a deputy chief in Los Angeles.
Harrell, Seattle’s mayor, reassigned former police Chief Adrian Diaz in May over allegations that Diaz discriminated against women and people of color. Diaz was fired this week after an investigation found he had an intimate relationship with a former television news anchor before he hired her as his chief of staff.
Barnes had long been rumored to be looking to leave the job in Madison, which has a population of about 280,000. Seven months into the position, he told the news outlet Isthmus that despite the rumors he was in the job “for the long haul.” Barnes’ three children and wife continued to live in Illinois, where he previously worked, while he rented an apartment in Madison, Isthmus reported.
Barnes has taken center stage responding to the school shooting with mixed results. His department initially reported that five people had been killed.
Two wounded students remained in critical condition Friday but were stable, UW Hospital said.
Barnes also said at a news conference that the first 911 call came from a second-grade student. A day later, Barnes said it had in fact come from a second-grade teacher.
Barnes has done many interviews with local and national media outlets this week, while defending not releasing more details about the shooter’s motivation or whether her parents may be charged, citing the ongoing investigation.
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway on Friday congratulated Barnes on his new job and praised his handling of the shooting.
“I’m grateful that the Madison Police Department responded to this unthinkable crisis with the utmost professionalism and compassion,” Rhodes-Conway said in her own statement.
Barnes is a former U.S. Marine who began his law enforcement career in 2000 with the Greensboro Police Department in North Carolina. He left to become deputy chief of police in Salisbury, North Carolina, from 2017 to 2020. He worked as the director of training and professional development with Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability starting in August 2020 before coming to Madison as chief in February 2021.
The snow is starting to sink south this morning bringing this impressive system to an end for some. There will be the chance for lake-effect snow showers right along the lakefront through this morning as colder air wraps in from the northeast, which could keep roads messy through the morning. Overall, the heaviest bands of snow set up over Dodge, Washington, and Ozaukee counties, where we expect some of the highest snowfall totals to come from as things come to a close.
Skies will start to clear as we get into the afternoon, but winds will pick up as well as the low-pressure system departs. Winds will gust as high as 25 to 30 mph and temperatures will start to tumble this evening. Highs today will sit in the lower 30s falling into the lower teens tonight with wind chills in the single digits.
Things will be a little chilly on Saturday but not a bad day for some winter activities with highs in the mid-20s and a mix of sun and clouds. Expect low 30s on Sunday with mostly cloudy skies as we round out the weekend. A warm up then heads our way towards Christmas with a light mix of rain/snow Monday morning.
FRIDAY: Snow Ends, AM Lake-Effect Near Lake, Breezy & Clearing SkiesHigh: 34
Wind: N 10-20 G 30 mph
TONIGHT: Mostly Clear, Chilly (Wind Chill: Single Digits)
Low: 15
Wind: NNW 10-15 mph
SATURDAY: Partly Cloudy
High: 24
SUNDAY: Mostly Cloudy
High: 31
MONDAY: AM Mix Chance, Mostly Cloudy
High: 38
TUESDAY: Mostly Cloudy
High: 38
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