MADISON, WI (WSAU) – On Thursday night, the Dane County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of a resolution “declaring Dane County a sanctuary for trans and nonbinary individuals.”
According to Wisconsin Right Now, the non-binding resolution was passed 25-1 with three abstentions. People from both sides of the issue spoke during the meeting and voiced a variety of opinions on the matter.
“In this hostile environment, some cities and counties across the country are taking steps to support and protect trans and nonbinary individuals,” the resolution states. “Dane County values its transgender and nonbinary residents and vigorously opposes measures that would allow legal violence toward trans people in accessing gender-affirming care or expression.”
One resident who spoke out against the resolution during last night’s meeting said, “There is no language in here about children and protecting children. I think that’s the biggest problem here. We don’t have anything in here that says children will be protected from this.”
A local 12-year-old who identifies as transgender also spoke during the meeting about the resolution saying, “Trans kids, we just want to live our lives; we want to walk outside and not fear for our lives that we’re going to get harassed.”
Wisconsin Right Now also reported that there was a motion to remove the language that involved minors from the resolution, but it was quickly voted down by the board.
The meeting got somewhat conferential when some of the people making public comments who were there to support the resolution began calling those there in opposition “N*zis.” One of the county supervisors asked the board’s chair if that kind of language was appropriate and the chair stated that people are allowed to openly state their opinion, according to Wisconsin Right Now.
Dane County Republican Party Chair Brandon Maly denounced the resolution and some of the comments made during the meeting saying, “Leftists were calling parents, pastors & concerned citizens N*zis for opposing Dane County becoming a sanctuary for genital mutilation of minors. As the great-grandson of Holocaust survivors, I condemn the praise of this despicable behavior.”
Rep. Pat Snyder spoke with The Federalist about the resolution and agreed with Rep. Scott Allen when he said that legislators could withhold funds from the county over the resolution saying, “I’m totally with Scott Allen, and I’m pretty sure the entire Republican caucus on the Republican side is, too.” “Besides funding public schools, [the legislature] also controls shared revenue, so that’s another area where we could squeeze the purse of Dane County and Madison.”
The resolution will take effect immediately and Dane County will now join several cities around the country that has passed similar bills, including Austin, Texas and Kansas City, Missouri.
