AB1157 and SB565 would require Wisconsin's parental choice private schools to comply with gender identity mandates — or face penalties. 32 legislators have co-signed. No press conference. No announcement.
"They didn't eliminate your parental choice. They put a condition on it. Comply with the gender identity mandate — or face penalties. Your school. Your family. Their law."
Under current Wisconsin law, private schools participating in the Milwaukee, Racine, and Wisconsin Parental Choice Programs operate by their own values — that's why parents chose them. AB1157 and SB565 change that.
32 legislators have co-signed bills that could penalize your child's school. Each new name is added through a legislative tracking system. No press release. No town hall. Just a notification — if you were watching.
See who signed →A faith-based or values-based private school that participates in the choice program could face legal penalties for operating by its own beliefs about biological sex. The bill doesn't ban the program. It conditions participation in it.
Understand the mechanism →The same bill has been reintroduced in 2021, 2023, 2025, and 2026. Every session it returns with more names. They are not trying to pass it today. They are building the list for when they can.
See the full timeline →Search by name or filter by chamber. Every name on this list co-signed legislation that could penalize your parental choice school — without public announcement.
| Legislator | Chamber | Bill | Date Added | Role |
|---|
Use the tracker above. If your representative is on it, contact their office and ask why they did not publicly announce this position.
At every candidate event, ask: "If SB565 passes, should a faith-based parental choice school be required to comply?" Record the answer. Share it.
After New Richmond: request your district's gender identity policy in writing under Wisconsin's public records law. Do it before the next board meeting.
Every Republican bill Evers has vetoed since 2019 is one governor away from becoming law. That governor is decided in November 2026.
Each reintroduction adds names, normalizes the language, and prepares the vote. This is not failure. It is infrastructure.
In Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District, a Wisconsin family sued the district after it refused to allow a transgender student to use bathrooms matching their gender identity. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals — the federal court that covers Wisconsin — ruled that the school district violated federal law. That decision is binding precedent for every Wisconsin school district today.
In 2024, Fair Wisconsin and GSAFE filed a federal Title IX complaint against the Kettle Moraine School District in Waukesha County, accusing the elected school board of creating a "hostile environment" for transgender students. The complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.
This is not hypothetical. Federal complaints against Wisconsin school boards are already happening. The legal infrastructure is already operational. SB565 and AB1157 extend that infrastructure — with penalties — into every private school participating in the parental choice program.
The Wisconsin Legislature runs a free notification system that emails you every time there is activity on a bill or keyword you are tracking. This is the same system that generated the notification at the top of this page. Anyone can sign up — it takes five minutes and costs nothing.
Visit the official Wisconsin Legislature notification system and create a free account.
notify.legis.wisconsin.gov ↗In the search box, type "gender identity" and click Search. The system searches the relating clause of all proposed bills and resolutions in the current session.
Click the "Add" link next to your keyword. Every morning Notify checks for activity. If anything happened the previous day on bills matching your keyword, you get an email with details.
In the same system, search "SB565" and "AB1157" and add each one. You will be notified the moment a new co-sponsor is added — before any press release or announcement.
You requested to be notified of the following legislative activities:
Subject subscriptions: Based on the keyword: "gender identity"
Proposal: AB1157
relating to: pupil discrimination and private schools participating in a parental choice program... discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression, and providing a penalty.
→ 3/20/2026: Representative J. Jacobson added as a coauthor
This is a real notification from the Wisconsin Legislature system. Every new co-sponsor, every committee hearing, every vote — you get an email before anyone else. That is how this tracker stays current.
"If SB565 passes, should a faith-based parental choice school be required to comply with gender identity mandates — or face penalties?"
That question forces every candidate off talking points and onto the actual mechanism. Record the answer. Share it. That single question is the most disruptive tool you have.
"One party trusts you to live your life. The other party needs a law to make sure you live theirs."
"The legislature has done its job. One Republican governor and these bills become law. Give them the pen."
"They didn't eliminate your school choice. They put a condition on it. Comply — or lose your program."
"32 legislators signed a bill that could penalize your child's school. No press conference. Did yours tell you?"
"They are not building inclusion. They are building enforcement. And your school is the target."
"Medical decisions for children belong to parents and doctors. Not to politicians. Not to compliance officers."