Kansas proposals to limit transgender athletes and health care advance in Legislature

Lawmakers on Thursday approved a raft of bills to limit transgender rights in Kansas, joining a national trend as critics argue the legislative barrage is an attack on the LGBT community.

After three years of falling short, the Kansas House approved the transgender athletes ban with a path to a veto-proof majority, with two GOP members opposing the bill and one Democrat supporting it.

The Kansas Senate also passed both bills limiting gender affirming care for minors and a so-called "women's bill of rights" that restricts state agencies from recognizing a person as anything other than their biological gender.

More:'Today is the start of hate week' — Advocates decry flood of anti-transgender bills in Kansas

Transgender athletes ban approved for third straight year

The passage of the transgender athletes ban will again set up a showdown with Kelly, who has vetoed the bill each of the past two years.

But their margins appear to give the House the upper hand. Only two Republicans, Reps. Mark Schreiber, R-Emporia, and David Younger, R-Ulysses, voted no.

Wichita Democrat Ford Carr's vote in favor of the bill would give Republicans the 84 votes needed to override, assuming absent GOP members supported the measure, as they are expected to do.

Kelly's veto isn't in doubt, telling reporters earlier this year that the trend of anti-trans bills "breaks my heart."

"Cut it out," she said. "This is an ideological statement has nothing to do with the welfare of the state of Kansas and doing nothing in the interest of their constituents. It just needs to stop."

Those advocating the bill argue it is necessary to guard against situations seen in other states, where trans athletes have won championships.

University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines has appeared in states across the country and cut television ads supporting Republicans in Kansas, pointing to her experience finishing behind the University of Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas, who won a National Collegiate Athletic Association championship in 2021.

"Why should women be forced to compete against a male in a woman’s sports, why?" said Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita. "The physicality is now the same. Why do we expect women to have to undress in locker rooms along with males. Why would we force women and young girls to undress in front of a male and vice versa?"

The Kansas State High School Activities Association reported only two transgender youths in after-school activities this year, though it is unclear whether they are participating in athletics or other programs, such as debate. And KSHSAA does have policies in place regarding trans athletes, though critics say they don't go far enough.

Opponents said there is not nearly enough evidence that the issue exists in Kansas to target transgender youths, with opponents pointing to data that trans children are more likely than their cisgender peers to have depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation.

Rep. Heather Meyer, D-Overland Park, whose child is transgender, said children "should not be bullied back into the closet" and that the bill addressed an issue that doesn't exist.

"Our kids don’t just make these decisions out of the blue," Meyer said. "There is so much fear and hatred and bullying, and if they don’t have affirming parents, they are in so much trouble, so much worse. There is no child that would say, ‘I want to be more competitive at sports, so I want to be a woman.’ That is ridiculous."

Lawmakers pointed to the potentially negative economic ramifications, noting chambers of commerce in the Kansas City metro area opposed the idea.

Rep. Barb Wasinger, R-Hays, countered that states with similar laws in place had been patronized by the NCAA in recent years, despite the governing body's threats in 2021.

"It is an empty threat," she said during a House Republican caucus meeting.

Effort to ban gender-affirming care for minors in Kansas moves forward

In the Kansas Senate, meanwhile, lawmakers advanced a pair of bills that have been called an even more aggressive attack on transgender rights.

Both bills fell short of the threshold needed to overturn a veto from Kelly after three GOP senators — Sens. Brenda Dietrich, R-Topeka, John Doll, R-Garden City, and Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick — passed or voted no

Senate Bill 233 would ban doctors from providing gender-affirming care to minors, requiring state regulators strip anyone found in violation of the bill of their medical license.

Transgender individuals say the bill would target care that is vital for their health and wellbeing.

But Sen. Beverly Gossage, R-Eudora, a former elementary school teacher, compared decisions about transitioning to nickname preferences.

"They change their way they see themselves. They like to change their hair. They don't know what they want to be when they grow up," she said. "That changes often. We're talking about children. Clinicians have no reliable way of knowing whether the discomfort the children are feeling with their body means they are destined to feel this way for the rest of their life."

Younger teens can receive puberty blockers that halt or delay the onset of puberty, with the goal of allowing a young person more time to determine their gender identity before certain sex characteristics — such as genitalia, hair or breasts — more fully develop.

Older teens or adults also can take estrogen or testosterone in an effort to develop sex characteristics more in line with their identity. The largest physician and health groups in the country have remained consistent in their belief that the treatments can be important in boosting the mental health of an otherwise vulnerable population.

Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, referenced the August vote against a bill to erode state constitutional abortion protections in voicing her opposition to the matter.

"This bill would set a precedent that medical providers should not give you the best medical care available, but instead give you the medical care politicians decide you should have access to," she said.

Kansas lawmakers advance 'women's bill of rights'

The Senate also approved a measure, Senate Bill 180, that would create a "women's bill of rights," legislation that would impact transgender adults and youths alike.

The bill would define "woman" in state statute as a person who was deemed to be female at birth and it would require individuals use public facilities, such as restrooms, locker rooms and detention centers, in line with their biological sex.

It also would mandate government statisticians count individuals based on their biological sex and would prevent public documents, such as birth certificates, from being changed to reflect an individual's gender identity.

Supporters have maintained that it does not directly deal with transgender individuals, though critics counter that is a charade. The Kansas bill text is a near carbon-copy of language promoted by a cadre of national groups.

Jennifer Braceras, of Independent Women's Voice, one of those groups, told lawmakers during a hearing earlier this month that the state is "threatened by activists who want to redefine common sex-based words.

"Our institutions must not be required to integrate men and women in prisons, domestic violence shelters where differences between men and women matter," Braceras said.

Opponents argue the bill would effectively make transgender individuals invisible in the eyes of the state.

"The irony of Women’s Bill of Rights is it doesn’t actually enumerate any rights," said Rev. Caroline Dean, a Lawrence pastor representing Kansas Interfaith Action. "It weaponizes the rhetoric of rights to erase protections for transgender people."