Kansas legislature passes transgender bathroom bill by enough to override veto
Misty Severi
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Both houses of the Kansas state legislature have now passed legislation that would prohibit transgender people from using public bathrooms or changing their name or gender on their driver’s license. The bills passed with enough votes to override a veto if one comes down.
The state Senate passed the legislation on Tuesday with a 28-12 vote, sending the bill to the desk of Gov. Laura Kelly (D-KS). Kelly is expected to veto the bill, but the Senate passed the bill with one vote more than the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. The state House passed a version of the bill last week.
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The measure declares that “sex” refers to “biological” sex, meaning “either male or female, at birth.” It says women have a reproductive system “developed to produce ova,” and men have one “developed to fertilize the ova.”
State Senate President Ty Masterson, a Republican, said the lawmakers are trying to protect families amid what people see as a growing number of cases of biological men who identify as women using facilities with biological girls and women.
“People are starting to pay attention,” Masterson said. “There have been enough problems that several members of our body are interested in finding solutions.”
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Seven other states have enacted similar laws banning transgender students from using school bathrooms and locker rooms associated with their gender identities. However, the Kansas measure goes a step further to cover prisons, jails, rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, and other spaces “where biology, safety or privacy” prompt separate facilities for men and women. It defines male and female people based on a person’s biological sex at birth.
Kentucky is the most recent state to pass a transgender youth bill. The state legislature overrode the governor’s veto last week. The bill addresses several issues related to transgender youth, including bathroom use, surgeries, and pronoun usage at school.