MADISON, Wis. — Today, Republican State Senators held a public hearing on bills that would prevent youth in Wisconsin from receiving medically necessary gender-affirming care and exclude transgender athletes from full participation in youth and collegiate sports. This hearing comes just days after UW Health and Children’s of Wisconsin announced that they were ending gender-affirming care for young Wisconsinites due to threats from the Trump Administration to cut off their access to Medicare and Medicaid funding.
Members of the WI LGBTQ+ Caucus and the Transgender Parent and Non-Binary Advocacy Caucus provided testimony in opposition to Assembly Bills 100, 102, and 104. Senator Mark Spreitzer, Chair of the Wisconsin Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus, and Senator Melissa Ratcliff, Co-Chair of the Transgender Parent and Non-Binary Advocacy Caucus, testified at the hearing and issued the following statements in response:
Wisconsin LGBTQ+ Caucus Chair Senator Mark Spreitzer released the following statement:
“These bills are part of a long-term nationwide agenda to marginalize and erase Transgender people. The harms of these bills have been made even more clear with this week’s news that rules proposed by the Trump Administration are reducing access to healthcare for Wisconsin kids right now. Hundreds of patients and their families are working to find healthcare as their existing providers at UW Health and Children’s Wisconsin are under threat of losing Medicaid and Medicare funding from the federal government if they continue to provide safe, medically necessary care. Adding the threat of AB 104, which would eliminate this care entirely, only serves to further stress hundreds of families who are scrambling to rearrange critically needed care for their children. Bullying hospitals, families, and transgender people is not new for the Trump Administration, but Wisconsin Legislators should not choose to make themselves a part of that agenda.”
Transgender Parent and Non-Binary Advocacy Caucus Co-Chair Senator Melissa Ratcliff released the following statement:
“The Transgender Parent and Nonbinary Advocacy Caucus (TPANAC) is saddened and disappointed that two of the state’s largest pediatric hospitals have been bullied by this federal administration into halting access to gender-affirming care for minors. This decision is dangerous and discriminatory overreach that puts politics ahead of our children, families and medical science. Care for youth who are transgender is evidence-based, supported by leading medical organizations, pediatric and mental health experts, and is lifesaving. Removing access to this care increases the risk of suicide, anxiety, and depression among young people who already are facing disproportionate mental health challenges because they are not accepted as themselves. We should be protecting kids and supporting families, not using government power to deny care, spread fear, and force families into crisis. Transgender and nonbinary youth deserve dignity, safety, and the freedom to thrive. ”
Senator Mark Spreitzer is the Chair of the Wisconsin LGBTQ+ Caucus and
Senator Melissa Ratcliff is the Senate Co-Chair of the Transgender Parent and Non-Binary Advocacy Caucus.
