Republican lawmakers overruled the Democratic governor to prohibit transgender athletes from women's and girls' sports in Kansas.
After state legislators' passage of a comprehensive bathroom measure the previous day, Kansas Legislature overrode Governor Laura Kelly's third veto of a bill banning transgender athletes in three years on Wednesday. Transgender athletes are bound by restrictions in 19 more states, most notably Wyoming.
The Kansas legislation, which goes into effect on July 1, is one of more than a hundred bills that Republican legislators throughout the country have sought to pass this year to restrict LGBTQ rights, according to Wavy.
Legislators in Kansas who support the ban are also pushing legislation to limit bathroom usage and halt treatment for kids that are gender-affirming.
Kansas legislators on Tuesday passed a bill that would make it illegal for transgender persons to legally change their names or gender markers on government-issued identification documents or use public toilets, locker rooms, or other facilities based on their gender identity.
LGBTQ Rights Advocates Decry The Measure
According to advocates for LGBTQ rights, transgender, non-binary, gender-queer, and gender-fluid persons are being actively targeted by right-wing traditionalists, per ABC News.
Without the one Democratic supporter who stood up to Kansas Governor Laura Kelly this year, backers of the Kansas transgender athletes ban would not have been able to overturn Kelly's veto.
Rep. Marvin Robinson of Kansas City told the media that he had hoped to "meet in the middle" but had found the discussion to be "all or none out there."
Supporters of these Kansas transgender restrictions say that they maintain fair competition throughout the United States, according to ESPN.
Track and field, like swimming, did last year, banned transgender athletes from global competition last month.
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