Kansas Bands Transgender Athletes from Women’s and Girl’s Sports
CNN reports Kansas is banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports from kindergarten through college. This is the first of several possible new laws restricting the rights of transgender people through Republican legislators. Nineteen other states have imposed restrictions on transgender athletes.
On Wednesday, April, 5, Republican legislators overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s third veto in three years of a bill to ban transgender rights. Per CNN, in her latest effort to reject the bill dubbed as “The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” Gov. Kelly said, “Let’s be clear about what this bill is all about – politics. It won’t increase any test scores. It won’t help any kids read or write. It won’t help any teachers prepare our kids for the real world. Here’s what this bill would actually do: harm the mental health of our students.
According to AP News, the new law will take effect July 1, and Kansas lawmakers that back the ban are also pursuing proposals to end gender-affirming health care for minors and restrict restroom use. The measure approved by Kansas lawmakers Tuesday, would people from using public restrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities associated with their gender identities, and bars them from changing their name or gender on their driver’s licenses. CNN Reports Gov. Kelly is expected to veto that.
This restrictive and unjust bill joins others being pushed by Republicans across the country targeting LGBTQ rights. Advocates for LGBTQ rights argue that these laws are part of a national campaign from “right-wing traditionalists” to erase transgender, non-binary, gender-queer, and gender-fluid people from American society.
