A Wyoming resident purposely referred to Wyoming Sen. Tim French (R) as “madam” in an effort to point out the hypocrisy of Senate File 0077, which states “compelled speech is not free speech,” and employees of the state are not required to use another employee’s preferred pronouns.
During Friday’s Wyoming Senate Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources committee meeting, Britt Boril joined the meeting via video and addressed French as “Madam Chairman.” When French told Boril to call him “Mister Chairman,” Boril responded that she “cannot be compelled to use” his preferred pronouns.
“I prefer to be called Chairman French,” French said. “That’s my preferred pronoun.”
“I know, and you all voted that preferred pronouns cannot be compelled speech in SF77,” Boril said. “Anyway, my name is Britt Boril…”
Boril did not respond to a request for an interview, but in a video posted on her Instagram, she said that “misgendering people is not cool,” and it’s “always disrespectful and dehumanizing whether intentional or not.”
She said she’s been watching her Wyoming legislators “tear people down” and not listen to residents’ testimony, so when she deliberately misgendered French, “Disrespect was the message.” She said she worries that others will do the same in “bad faith.”
“We’re all about mindful malicious compliance here,” she said.
French did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wyoming Sen. Lynn Hutchings (R), who sponsored the bill, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Boril joined the committee meeting to share testimony regarding What Is A Woman Act, which states that a female is a person who has, had or will have the “reproductive system that at some point produces, transports and utilizes eggs for fertilization.”
Boril told the committee that the act puts women in “real danger through government overreach” because if a woman don’t present as “female enough,” Boril asks if they would have to undergo a genital inspection just to use the bathroom.
She asked why legislators are attacking women and trans people instead of focusing on issues “that actually matter” to Wyoming citizens. She also asked the legislators to vote no on the bill and to “do their jobs.”
Go Ad-Free — And Protect The Free Press
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
French thanked her for her testimony and said, “We are doing our job. We work hard at it every — it starts with a D. Every D-day.”
A trio of anti-trans and anti-DEI bills in Wyoming, including What Is A Woman Act, made headway last month. The other two bills would close DEI offices in the state and the University of Wyoming, and one would ban transgender students from playing sports at UW and other community colleges in the state.