In Wyoming, we pride ourselves on being independent and logical. Too often, though, our legislature has confused logic with denial.
A strange pattern has emerged: whenever lawmakers dismiss an issue by saying “that doesn’t happen here,” we can be sure it will soon arrive on our doorstep.
Take women’s spaces.
In the past, bills to protect girls’ locker rooms, sports, and sororities were brought forward, only to be killed by legislators who shrugged, “the transgender debate is a big-city problem, not a Wyoming problem.”
Then reality knocked. A biological man joined a Wyoming sorority, leaving young women to fend for themselves without state protections.
Their only option was federal court, where a judge curiously admitted he wasn’t qualified to define what a woman is. Horrifyingly, the girls lost.
Thankfully the 2025 legislature passed HB72, the Protecting privacy in public spaces act.
Or consider parental rights in education. Bills to require schools to notify parents if their children express a desire to change “gender identities” were killed.
“That doesn’t happen in Wyoming,” we were told. Yet it did happen here, and a family was torn apart in the process.
The very safeguard some legislators called “unnecessary” would have shielded parents and children alike.
This recurring blindness has consequences.
By the time these issues “happen here” – and they do – it’s too late for the people most directly affected. Our children, our families, and our communities pay the price while lawmakers hide behind outdated talking points.
Thankfully, the Wyoming legislature has shifted in a more conservative direction in recent years.
Most of us know that it’s better to act proactively rather than to wait for a crisis to erupt.
Wyoming may be rural and small, but we are not insulated from the toxic cultural currents sweeping the nation. To believe otherwise is to leave our citizens unprotected.
The lesson is simple: when constituents raise concerns about threats to their families, faith, or freedoms, the proper response isn’t to shrug them off with “not in Wyoming.”
The proper response is to ensure the law is clear, strong, and protective before a crisis arises.
For too long, our refusal to act has left ordinary Wyomingites as guinea pigs in social experiments they never asked for.
Now it’s our duty to correct the course. Protecting women’s spaces, upholding parental rights, and defending Wyoming values isn’t reactionary — it’s responsible. If we wait until every danger materializes, we’ve already failed those we serve.
The people of Wyoming deserve better than denial. They deserve leaders who see the storm coming and act before it hits.
My good mother used to say, “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure”.
That is the kind of legislature I am committed to building.
Joe Webb represents House District 19 in Rock Springs
