TOPEKA
Kansas lawmakers moved one step closer Wednesday night to banning transgender girls and women from competing in school-sponsored girls sports, an issue Republican lawmakers in DC and statehouses nationwide have moved to the front lines of the nation’s culture wars.
By a 24-10 margin, three votes short of the 27 necessary to override a gubernatorial veto, the Senate approved the “Fairness in Women Sports Act.” The measure will move to the House, which allowed a similar proposal to die in committee earlier this month. If the bill becomes law, the American Civil Liberties Union has pledged to sue.
Like proposals in more than 20 other states, the Kansas bill specifies that girls sports in K-12 schools and higher education are open only to biologically female participants. As a result, transgender girls and women would be barred.
This month, Missouri lawmakers held hearings on two similar bills. A measure to ban transgender students from playing on sports teams that match their gender was passed by a House committee and awaits a vote in another. It is unique in proposing a constitutional amendment, which means if passed it would go to voters on a statewide ballot.
Lawmakers also heard testimony on another bill that would ban gender reassignment medical treatments, including puberty blockers, hormone treatments and surgery, for minors. That bill is awaiting committee votes in the House and Senate.
Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall has pushed for similar laws on the federal level.
The Kansas Senate vote followed a heated two-hour debate. As Republican lawmakers spoke of concerns over biological advantages men had in athletics over women, Democrats told stories of transgender Kansans who they said would be harmed, bullied and marginalized.
Senate President Ty Masterson said the bill was about nothing more than fairness and ensuring women aren’t made the “underdogs” in girls sports.
Republican lawmakers said Democrats’ arguments over bullying of transgender students were were not relevant to the bill. Sen. Renee Erikson, a Wichita Republican, said the Democrats were relying on “emotionally laden” arguments because there was no rational reason to oppose the bill.
“I know there’s emotion that exists in modern identity politics,” Masterson said. “Without those things this would be a very simple non controversial bill.”
At points the debate spiraled off onto bizzare tangents.
Sen. Virgil Peck, a Havana Republican, suggested that men needed to protect young women from having to share showers with biological males.
“Are there no longer any alpha-males to defend our daughters?” Peck asked.
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, called the assertion that women are underdogs “misogynistic” and said the bill was based on a “lie” that women’s biggest threat is transgender people.
“Excluding women that are trans hurts all women,” Sykes said. “This legislation reinforces stereotypes that women are weak and in need of protection. This is not about protecting women, this is about excluding women from sports.”
In a statement after the vote, Sykes said that by passing the bill the Senate sent a message to transgender youth about “how little their elected representatives value their lives.”
The Kansas State High School Sports and Activities Association said Tuesday they knew of no transgender student athletes the bill would impact. Transgender students must seek approval from the association if they wish to compete on a team that differs from their biologically assigned gender.
Brittany Jones, director of advocacy for the Family Policy Alliance of Kansas, said even one or two transgender athletes could have an impact and that passage of the bill would give girls in Kansas a fair playing field that was “specifically carved out” for them in Title IX regulations barring discrimination based on sex.
“We’ve seen in the past, the high schools, the colleges, they don’t want to create spaces for girls because it doesn’t help their bottom line,” she said. “Girls deserve that opportunity.”
Rep. Stephanie Byers, the first openly transgender legislator in Kansas, called the bill a waste of time and money, because she does not believe the legislation will remain on the books for very long if passed.
“Trans girls are real girls, and their bodies are just diverse, they’re different, and as anyone can tell you, no two women are exactly alike,” she said. “It’s realizing that we have those differences. That’s part of the richness of what makes us human beings.”
In a joint statement, attorneys for the University of Kansas and Kansas State University warned of potential Title IX violations and financial impacts to colleges. They urged the legislature to leave the issue to athletics organizations like the NCAA.
In response to the Senate bill, Rep. Brandon Woodard, a Lenexa Democrat and one of three openly LGBTQ lawmakers in the Kansas legislature, filed a bill Wednesday that would make it illegal to disclose the gender or sexual orientation of a child without the child’s permission.
Sen. Ethan Corson, a Prairie Village Democrat, introduced an amendment Wednesday night that would have replaced the transgender sports bill with Woodard’s legislation. The amendment was ruled to be a violation of Senate rules.
“If the goal and intent of the Senate is to continue their obsession with genitals and being on crotch watch, then we need to make sure it’s a criminal offense if they’re going to disclose it,” Woodard said.
In the Woodard bill, a physician who disclosed a child’s gender without their permission, would face up to 12 months of probation.
This story was originally published March 17, 2021 9:23 PM.
