(Updated to include comments from the governor and Rep. Robinson with edits throughout)
The Kansas Legislature on Wednesday overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill banning transgender female athletes from competing in interscholastic sports for women or girls at any public school or postsecondary educational institution.
The House voted 84-40 to turn aside the governor’s veto of the bill and the Senate followed it up hours later with a 28-12 vote to override the veto.
It was the first time in three years that the Legislature has been able to override the governor’s veto of the legislation.
“I am disappointed that the Legislature has doubled down on this unnecessary and divisive legislation,” Kelly said in a statement.
“As I’ve said previously, (the bill) will harm the mental health of our students and make Kansas less attractive to businesses and families looking to call our state home.”
Democratic Rep. Marvin Robinson of Kansas City put the bill over the two-thirds majority needed for overriding the Democratic governor’s veto in the House.
Robinson, who fought for years to have the Quindaro Ruins in Kansas City, Kansas, recognized as a national historic landmark, was elected last year to replace Broderick Henderson in the House.
Robinson said he wouldn’t have run for office if he had known the transgender issue would have been such a high-profile issue.
“This is an exotic, chaotic item for the area in Wyandotte County,” he said in an interview early Wednesday evening.
“People aren’t talking about this,” he said. “People are trying to figure out how to live and pay bills, utilities, groceries, gas in the car – just the basics – and then not be hurt by the morning news of another murder.”
“This subject never came up during the primary, “he said.
“When I got ready to file, this was not a burning issue,” he said. “If this was going to be the hot topic for 2023…I wouldn’t have filed.”
The vote left Democrats disheartened.
“This is a sad say for the state of Kansas and this chamber,” said Democratic state Rep. Jerry Stogsdill of Prairie Village.
“We have put targets on the backs of some of our most vulnerable citizens,” he said.
“We have sullied the reputation of our state and have potentially caused economic damage to the state of Kansas all on the pretext that there is a problem with fairness in girls sports in this state,” he said.
“This will portray us as bigoted and discriminatory, and as a proud Kansan I am ashamed.”
Supporters saw the bill entirely differently.
Republican state Rep. Cyndi Howerton of Wichita said she been accused of “hating” the LGBTQ community, something she said was not true.
“Today, we can choose to be whoever we want to be,” Howerton said.
“Regardless of who we choose to be, the fact still remains that biological women should not have to compete with a biological male in any physical sport,” she said.
“The truth is the biological makeup between a male and a female is too different to make it fair. Today, I am voting for women and for girls who deserve fair competition.”
Even a lawmaker who supported the bill said it was flawed because it covered elementary schools and raised questions about how the gender of those students would be verified.
“I am going to vote aye because an overwhelming majority of my constituents told me that’s what they wanted to do,” said Republican state Sen. Carolyn McGinn of Sedgwick.
She said her support for the bill was focused on not wanting “men playing against girls in high school basketball or swim team or volleyball or whatever.”
But McGinn singled out the provision covering elementary schools.
“We do not need little kids in this bill,” McGinn said.
McGinn said it would just take one parent to complain if “little Susie” runs faster or performs better than their kid.
“How are we going to figure it out?” McGinn asked. “Everybody says it’s a birth certificate. I don’t think you have to go give your birth certificate to everybody freely.
“How else are we going to figure it out? It’s going to be a personal inspection,” she said.
“I believe that child will always be questioning themselves. ‘Why did this happen, Mom, Dad?'” McGinn said.
Kansas is now the 20th state to ban transgender athletes from playing on girls or women’s sports teams, the most recent being Wyoming after Republican Gov. Mark Gordon allowed the bill to become law without his signature.
The override vote came a day after the Legislature sent the governor a bill called the Women’s Bill of Rights, which would establish in state law that an individual’s sex means their biological sex – either male or female – at birth.
Critics of that bill said it would prevent transgender people from using restrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender and effectively erase trans Kansans.
Supporters of the Fairness in Women Sports legislation said it was about ensuring an even playing field for girls and young women as well as protecting the integrity of Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program.
“The Fairness in Women’s Sports act protects the rights of female athletes in the state by requiring that female student athletic teams only include members who are biologically female,” House Republican leadership said in a statement after the vote.
“House Republicans are united in our commitment to defending the intention of Title IX,” House Speaker Dan Hawkins, Majority Leader Chris Croft and Speaker Pro Tem Blake Carpenter said in a joint statement.
“We proudly stand with the female athletes across Kansas in their pursuit of athletic awards, opportunities, and scholarships and believe they deserve every chance at success afforded to their male counterparts.”
Brittany Jones, director of policy and engagement for Kansas Family Voice, said Kansans “overwhelmingly support this common-sense legislation.”
“We are so thankful to see it finally become law,” Jones said in a statement.
“Kansas girls can grow up secure, knowing that their opportunities will not be taken by biological men.”
Stogsdill said the bill was trying to address a problem that doesn’t exist in Kansas.
He said the Kansas State High School Activities Association reported just 11 students out of 109,402 were trans athletes.
He said there were no complaints about unfair competition.
The bill requires all public and private interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural and club athletic teams to be expressly designated based on the biological sex of the team.
The bill sets out that any athletic teams or sports designated for females, women or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex.
In the event of a violation, the bill would allow individuals and organizations to bring a civil action in court and seek relief in the form of monetary damages and attorney fees, and any other appropriate relief.
The American Civil Liberties Union has said it doesn’t believe the law is constitutional because it singles out transgender girls and young women for different treatment based on sex and transgender status.
The ACLU said the law violates the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
West Virginia is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow enforcement of a similar law, which was blocked by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia.
A federal judge initially blocked the 2021 West Virginia law, which was challenged by a 12-year-old transgender girl.
The judge later found that the law was constitutional, setting off the appeal.
Kansas is one of 21 states that filed brief in support of West Virginia in the case.
The states argue that the 4th Circuit was too hurried in blocking the law.
“The Fourth Circuit could have reviewed that holding in the normal course on appeal,” the states contend.
“Instead, it jumped the gun and, in a two-sentence order, enjoined the law again.
“West Virginia remains unable to provide girls-only sports teams — even though the most recent consideration of the merits held its law to be constitutional.”
