Resident blasts legislators who voted 'no' to What is a Woman Act

McKee, who had expressed drag show concerns during an Oct. 17 Rock Springs City Council meeting, and Jan. 2 council meeting, discussed the failure of House Bill 50 — “What is a Woman Act.” The bill was sponsored by Rep. Jeanette Ward of House District 57. It failed on introduction in a 37-24 vote during the Legislative Budget Session. Non-budget bills must get a two-thirds vote of support to be introduced for consideration during a budget session. The bill would have defined the term “woman,” among other identifiers.

Speaking to the elected officials who represent Sweetwater County, she pointed out that Rep. Joshua “JT” Larson, of House District 17, Rep. Tony Niemiec, of House District 60 and Rep. Cody Wiley, of House District 39, voted against the bill. She also identified Niemiec as a co-sponsor of the bill.

She said that the bill would have protected athletes, prisons or others with respect to detention facilities, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, locker rooms and restrooms.

“Any kind of safety or privacy is a concern. I just want to know how you could vote that way?” she asked them. “Now there will be sexual assaults; they could happen in bathrooms, and it doesn’t protect our athletes.”

Gov. Mark Gordon allowed Senate File 133, “Student Eligibility in Interscholastic Sports,” also known as the “transgender sports bill,” to pass into law without his signature. The legislature set the effective date for the bill as July 1 of this year.

“I don’t want to hear ‘there wasn’t enough time.’ I know it was 20 days. I know how it works,” she said, noting that they had other bills to read for Wyoming. “Yes, reading is important, but not as important as protecting women in this great state.”

Wylie pointed out that House Bill 50 is a “very controversial issue.”

“If it had moved forward, it was going to take a huge amount of time. Time is an issue, I assure you,” said Wylie, mentioning that the legislators didn’t know if they were going to be able to finish on time or go into a special session. “When you bring these social bills at a time when we’re supposed to be working on a budget, which is already so convoluted, there just wasn’t room for this.”

He noted that the bill can be brought up again during the 2025 Legislative General Session. He also mentioned that House Bill 50 was being touted as a parental rights bill.

“We were working on several other parental rights bills that were going to help our community and constituents,” he said, mentioning that the legislators didn’t want House Bill 50 to get in the way of getting other legislation through.

During the first week of March, Gordon refused to put his signature on Senate File 9, “Parental Rights in Education — 1,” after it was signed by Ogden Driskill, Senate president. The bill will still go into state law, since the governor did not choose to veto it, according to a Wyoming Tribune Eagle March 24 news article.

Gordon also signed Senate File 99, “Children Gender Change Prohibition,” which bans physicians from performing procedures for children related to gender transitioning and gender reassignment.

McKee said that the governor hasn’t signed some of the conservative bills and urged every citizen in Wyoming to “get off their rear ends and email or call the governor’s office and demand that these bills be signed into law.”

She said, “I know you guys all worked hard, but I expect the integrity part of it. If you are not going to vote in lines with your party, then you should register as the other party and run as the other party.”

In response to McKee’s statement, Wylie said that he has been a registered Republican since he could vote. He also questioned the websites and other sources she has relied on for information.

“Where is the funding coming from and where are the people behind this?” he asked. “Be careful about what you’re reading and what you’re seeing out there and look at what people are trying to do, and what we worked toward, because we got a lot done.”

McKee said that one of the sources she gets her information from is the Wyoming Family Alliance website, which is also known as wyomingfamily.org.

Wylie noted that just because a bill dies or there’s no time for it, it doesn’t mean the legislature is not considering the needs of the “folks at home.”

“It just means we’re following the system and not trying to burn something down.”