A Wyoming Senate bill that would bar transgender students from playing college sports is progressing.

SF 44, sponsored by Sen. Wendy Schuler (R-Evanston), passed a third reading in the Senate on Jan. 22 and now heads to the House for consideration.

It would build on a law passed in 2023 banning trans girls from playing high school sports.

State legislators who back the bill say it’s a way of preserving fairness in college athletics.

“Our women and young girls should not be forced to compete against biological males, losing out on opportunities to the biological males who want to be women,” said Patricia McCoy, who testified at a Senate Education Committee meeting on Jan. 17 as the chapter chair for Moms for Liberty of Laramie County.

But Nyoka Erikson, a Laramie resident who also testified, said she’s played on hockey teams against and alongside men and trans women throughout high school and college.

“There’s other issues that the state of Wyoming would work on to protect me, and this is not one of them,” said Erikson. “I … believe that trans women do belong in women’s sports. It’s not just sports. It’s one of the most important parts of my whole life.”

Lawmakers have introduced two other bills that would ban trans student-athletes from competing.

HB 60, which is set to be considered by the House Education Committee on Jan. 24, and HB 274, set to be heard by the House Labor Committee, would extend the ban on trans athletes from kindergarten or 7th grade through college, respectively.

Wyoming’s sole U.S. representative, Harriet Hageman, co-sponsored a similar measure that passed the U.S. House this month.

This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.