TOPEKA, Kan. — Efforts to ban transgender athletes from girls sports and establish a “parents bill of rights” failed in the Kansas Legislature on Thursday, but Republicans have pledged to make the issues a hallmark of campaigns this August and November.
The Kansas House failed to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto on both issues, falling short of the needed two-thirds majority.
The Senate easily passed the overrides on Tuesday, but attempts in the House were a long shot. The House’s original votes on the bills fell several votes short of the needed majority.
Earlier this week, House Speaker Ron Ryckman, an Olathe Republican, told reporters he wouldn’t have enough votes if the decision came this week. On Thursday, he said that day would be the chamber’s best chance; they had 85 Republican members present and needed 84 votes for the override. The chamber is allowed to reconsider the votes Thursday or the next day the body meets.
Proponents of the bill banning transgender athletes from girls sports have focused on the argument that those athletes have an unfair advantage over cisgender athletes — those who were assigned the female gender at birth. But the discussion has strayed into the validity of transgender identities in recent days.
“That is a mental health issue,” Rep. Barbara Barbra Wasinger, a Hays Republican, said during a GOP caucus meeting Thursday. “I feel greatly and deeply for these young people and all people that are confused.”
Last week, Rep. Cheryl Helmer, a Mulvane Republican, said in an email to her constituent that she was uncomfortable sharing a restroom with her transgender colleague, Rep. Stephanie Byers. She went on to falsely claim transgender people are attacking women and children in restrooms.
Opponents have called that rhetoric evidence that the bill is motivated by an underlying fear and hatred of LGBTQ Kansans.
“If the events of this past week do not demonstrate that this is not about athletics, I’m not sure what does,” Byers, a Wichita Democrat and Kansas’ first transgender lawmaker, said.
“We’re targeting someone, and by extension an entire community.”
Both issues have been hallmarks of Republican campaigns over the past two years, and the Kansas bills mirror legislation pushed by conservative think tanks nationwide.
Similar “parents bill of rights” legislation passed the GOP-controlled Missouri House last week on a 85-59 vote. The bill outlines a set of rights parents may employ over their child’s education, including reviewing curriculum and visiting classes during school hours. It would allow parents to sue school districts that violate the bill’s rules.
The legislation is now in the Missouri Senate, where it’s expected to undergo minor changes.
“They will be major campaign issues, a lot of money from both sides,” Ryckman said. “That shows the difference between Republicans and Democrats.”
When Kelly vetoed both bills, she said they were harmful to Kansas and “came from politicians trying to score political points.”
The bill banning trans athletes from girls sports, Kelly said, would prevent businesses from coming to Kansas while the “parents bill of rights” would imbue more division into schools and result in lawsuits. The bill requires districts to allow parents to inspect and challenge material in schools.
School districts and teachers have consistently said parents already have access to curriculum information and can raise concerns. Rep. Valdenia Winn, a Kansas City Democrat, claimed the bill was born out of a “national manipulation of parent anxiety.”
But Republicans insisted the legislation was needed to help parents who feel ignored by their schools.
“Do you want the government raising your children?” Rep. Stephen Owens, a Hesston Republican, said.
“It’s an issue that’s going to come into play in this election cycle,” Rep. Steve Huebert, a Valley Center Republican, said as he urged lawmakers on the House floor to override the veto.
Kelly’s likely November opponent, Attorney General Derek Schmidt, has said he would have signed the bill banning transgender athletes from sports if he was governor.
His campaign has placed a focus on education curriculum and transparency issues, pushing for policy banning from Kansas schools critical race theory — a complicated legal theory on institutional racism that is not taught in Kansas schools. Republicans nationwide have successfully capitalized on frustration from parents over classroom curriculum and COVID-19 protocol in schools.
Kelly’s veto has been pointed to in the campaign as proof of her allegiance to teachers unions rather than parents.
“From shutting down schools for the year earlier than any other state to vetoing legislation that would protect a parent’s role in their children’s education, Democrat Laura Kelly has told voters repeatedly the parent’s concerns don’t matter,” Republican Governors Association spokeswoman Joanna Rodriguez said in a statement after the vote.
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The Star’s Kacen Bayless contributed to this report.
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