TOPEKA, Kan. — A bill banning transgender athletes from participating in women's sports from kindergarten through college is once again headed to Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly's desk without a veto-proof majority.
Dubbed by supporters the Fairness in Women's Sports Act, the measure is part of a national wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation and rhetoric. The objective is to eliminate biological advantages they say transgender women have over cisgender women in sports.
It passed the House 74-39 and the Senate 25-13, both margins short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a gubernatorial veto. A version of the bill fell just short of passage in 2021 when the Senate was one vote away from overriding a veto by Kelly.
Supporters pointed to Lia Thomas, a transgender woman who swims for the University of Pennsylvania and won an NCAA Division I Championship last month, as a reason to move on the legislation, which supporters say disadvantages cisgender women athletes.
"Women, we've come a long way, let's not go back. Let's figure out how to include everyone without harming biological girls and women," said Rep. Susan Humphries, a Wichita Republican, during the House debate Friday.
Borrowing from opponents who have called the legislation bullying, supporters argued that allowing transgender women to participate in women's sports bullies cisgender athletes.
"I ask you to vote against the bullying of my biology," said Republican Tatum Lee of Ness City during debate. "This push for biological males to infiltrate my lane, our lane, is bullying and discrimination against me."
But opponents say lawmakers are using transgender individuals for political gain, which will further affect the mental health of LGBTQ youth.
"We are deeply worried for the safety and welfare of these kids who are hearing themselves being attacked and erased on the six o'clock news every day," said Tom Witt, executive director of Equality Kansas. "This just gives license to people that they're in context with on a daily basis, particularly at school, to say, 'You don't belong here.'"
Lawmakers voted largely along party lines. One exception was Rep. Bradley Ralph, a Dodge City Republican who voted "no" on the same bill last year and was one of a few House Republicans who voted against the legislation Friday night. It's unnecessary for state lawmakers to get involved, he said.
"Expanding governments in this way is unnecessary at this point, I think the state's dealing with it perfectly fine at this stage, and maybe overall more importantly, we don't have any business trying to keep something from kids, things are tough enough for them right now and if it's not necessary we don't need to be putting that on them right now," Ralph said.
A Gallup Poll conducted in 2021 found that 55% of Democrats thought people should be able to play on teams that match their gender identity rather than teams that match their birth gender. Only 10% of Republicans agreed. Legislation banning transgender athletes from women's sports has become law in several GOP-led states, including Oklahoma, Arizona and Iowa.
Passage of the bill comes as the United States Education Department is finalizing Title IX regulations that would protect transgender students from discrimination under federal civil rights law, The Washington Post reported earlier this week.
It is unclear if legislation will face legal challenges if it becomes law. Last year, the ACLU of Kansas pledged to sue if it passed.
Opponents of the legislation say these bills seek to address non-issues. And if a transgender athlete competing in women's sports became an issue in Kansas, the Kansas High School Athletics Association should exercise their jurisdiction to address it, they say.
Sen. Brenda Dietrich, a Topeka Republican who voted "no" on this year's bill and last year's, said transgender athletes at schools was not an issue she heard about from constituents. Ahead of the Senate vote on March 22, she called each superintendent in her district and none said it was a problem, she told The Star.
Other opponents say the Republican-led legislatures that introduce this legislation are out of touch with their constituents.
"When you vote on this, I hope you vote with your backbone and your conscience, not just with your party, not just with your perception of who's going to support you and who's not. Because I promise you, your constituents write me," said Rep. Stephanie Byers, a Wichita Democrat and the first transgender lawmaker in the Kansas Legislature, ahead of Friday's vote. "They start their letters with, 'I would tell my representative but they wouldn't listen. But you represent me even though I'm not in (your district).'"
"There's uniqueness to all of us, and the uniqueness to someone who's trans is amazing because they get to live a life where they see things from different perspectives with different expectations, and the courage that it takes for them to stand and be themselves in a world that seemingly does not want them is incredible."
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(The Star's Katie Bernard contributed to this report.)
