MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers celebrated International Transgender Day of Visibility today by vetoing five anti-LGBTQ bills targeting Wisconsin’s transgender and gender nonconforming kids, making good on his promise to veto any anti-LGBTQ legislation sent to his desk that hurts LGBTQ kids and Wisconsinites. The governor vetoed the bills in a private ceremony at the Wisconsin State Capitol building in Madison, surrounded by LGBTQ kids, families, advocates, and community members.
Gov. Evers vetoes bills with stakeholders in the Governor’s Conference Room.
“My promise has always been that I will veto any bill that makes Wisconsin a less safe, less inclusive, and less welcoming place for LGBTQ people and kids. It has been my honor to keep that promise over the course of two terms as governor, and I am proud to deliver on that promise again today,” said Gov. Evers. “This type of legislation stirs harmful rhetoric, negatively affects Wisconsinites’ and kids’ mental health, emboldens anti-LGBTQ harassment, bullying, and violence, and threatens the safety and dignity of LGBTQ Wisconsinites, especially our trans and nonbinary kids. Especially in the wake of continued attacks against LGBTQ communities, particularly targeting the trans community, our work to fight this hatred and bigotry is more important than ever. I’m proud to stand with LGBTQ kids and Wisconsinites today and every day.”
The governor’s action today comes as attacks against transgender and nonbinary individuals, as well as attacks against the LGBTQ community as a whole, continue to persist across the country. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, currently, there are approximately 500 anti-LGBTQ bills that have been introduced throughout the United States so far in 2026, including several bills in Wisconsin that target transgender individuals, specifically youth.
President Donald Trump and the Trump Administration have also made it a priority to target and attack LGBTQ Americans, underscoring how Gov. Evers’ continued efforts to defend, protect, and keep LGBTQ Wisconsinites safe are more important than ever. Since January 2025, the Trump Administration has produced a number of anti-LGBTQ misinformation campaigns, including orders to roll back anti-discrimination policies, cut essential health programs, efforts, and policies to meet the health needs of LGBTQ individuals, restrict transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming care or participate on school athletic teams that align with their gender identity, ban and remove transgender individuals from military service, and much more.
Gov. Evers has been a consistent and vocal champion for the LGBTQ community during his time as governor. The governor’s first action after being sworn into office was signing Executive Order #1, which prohibited discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, as well as other classes such as age, race, religion, color, disability, military or veteran status, national origin, etc., in state employment, public services, state contracts, and grants. Executive Order #1 also directed state agencies to develop policies to ensure all people are afforded equal opportunity, along with other measures to prohibit discrimination and harassment.
Additionally, in June 2019, for the first time in state history, Gov. Evers signed Executive Order #29 to raise the Rainbow Pride Flag over the East Wing of the State Capitol building and throughout the state of Wisconsin in recognition of Pride Month and to send a clear and unequivocal message that Wisconsin is a welcoming and inclusive place for all. Since then, the Rainbow Pride Flag has flown over the Capitol each year for the month of June until June of 2022, when Gov. Evers raised the Progress Pride Flag over the State Capitol for the first time. The Progress Pride Flag has flown over the Capitol during the month of June each year since.
During the Pride Month celebration in June 2021, Gov. Evers signedExecutive Order #121 and directed Evers Administration cabinet agencies to use gender-neutral language whenever practicable in external documents. Gov. Evers also signed Executive Order #122, requiring the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Wisconsin Department of Corrections, and the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families to take appropriate steps to expressly disallow payment of state and federal funds allocated by their respective agencies for conversion therapy for minors. Numerous medical associations and professional organizations oppose the practice of conversion therapy, and according to research conducted by the Family Acceptance Project, adolescent conversion efforts contribute to higher risks of depression and suicide for LGBTQ youth.
Further, over the last seven years, the governor has spoken out against and pledged to veto numerous bills targeting LGBTQ Wisconsinites, including bills discriminating against transgender kids and athletes and restricting education around LGBTQ issues and history in schools, similar to the bills vetoed by Gov. Evers today.
In December 2023, Gov. Evers vetoed another anti-LGBTQ bill passed by Republican lawmakers that would have banned gender-affirming care for minor patients with gender dysphoria. Gender-affirming care is recognized by most major medical associations as the evidence-based treatment for transgender and gender nonconforming youth with gender dysphoria. The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry have all stated that gender-affirming care saves lives. Gov. Evers also used his constitutional veto authority during the 2023-25 biennial budget process to protect access to gender-affirming care for Wisconsinites, blocking a Republican-backed provision to prevent the state’s Medicaid program from covering gender-affirming care.
Additionally, in April 2024, Gov. Evers vetoed Assembly Bill 377, which targeted transgender and gender nonconforming youth by banning them from participating on school athletic teams that align with their gender identity.
Last year, Gov. Evers also celebrated the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s 5-2 decision in Evers v. Marklein II, which ruled statutes giving a legislative committee ‘the power to pause, object to, or suspend administrative rules for varying lengths of time, both before and after promulgation’ are facially unconstitutional. Thanks to this ruling, numerous administrative rules directed by the Evers Administration that were previously delayed due to the Legislature, including rules to ban conversion therapy, were found legal and were able to be put into practice.
The governor’s veto messages are available below.
Veto Message for Assembly Bill 100
Veto Message for Assembly Bill 102
Veto Message for Assembly Bill 103
Veto Message for Assembly Bill 104
Veto Message for Senate Bill 405
An online version of this release is available here.
