A controversial new bill was passed in Kansas on Wednesday that has triggered both support and outrage from the public. According to reports, HB 2238 will prohibit transgender students from participating in women's and girls' sports from kindergarten through college. The bill will require student athletes to compete on sports teams according the gender they were assigned at birth. And to ensure that this happens, student athletes could be forced to undergo "genital inspections" before joining a sports team.
The bill has been introduced three times in the last three years by the Kansas GOP
Each time, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has vetoed the bill. But this time around, the Republican supermajority overrode Kelly's veto with a 84-40 vote in the state House and a 28-12 vote in the state Senate.
Supporters of the bill insist it's simply about promoting "fairness in women's sports," but opponents say it's yet another attack on trans female athletes, who actually make up a very small minority of youth sports as it is. The Kansas State High School Activities Association stated that there are only three trans girls competing in sports at the high school level right now, reported The Kansas City Star.
"The sports ban has never sincerely been about protecting women's sports," said Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas, in a statement on Wednesday. "Rather, it arises out of the same gender discrimination, stereotyping, and paternalism that has held back progress for cisgender women athletes for centuries, and will now open up all girls and women to potentially invasive examinations just to be able to participate."
The governor has described the bill as 'awful'
"It sort of breaks my heart," Kelly told reporters on Wednesday. "It certainly is disappointing. I know that there's some legislators for whom this was a very, very hard vote, and one that I think they will regret as they look back on their time in the Legislature."
According to the Kansas Reflector, Kelly also said it was tragic that lawmakers were so focused on a transgender sports ban at a time when there are many other pressing education issues that continue to need attention.
"This is sort of a moral values vote," Kelly noted. "I think they voted against their own moral code and their own values. I think that’s going to be very tough for them long-term."
As the news swept Twitter, people immediately began weighing in
BREAKING: Kansas Republicans have successfully overridden the Governor veto to now authorize genital inspections of children in order for kids to play sports. A very dark & disturbing day.#ksleg
— Davis Hammet (@Davis_Hammet) April 5, 2023
Some called the bill "damaging" and the result of more "scaremongering" around trans issues. Others found the possibility of "genital inspections" particularly horrifying.
"This is sick and wrong on so many levels," one person tweeted.
"If you don’t need a permit to carry a gun, you don’t need to look down my kids pants for them to participate in sports," added another. "This is beyond and invasion of privacy. The people of Kansas that supported this, need to initiate a deep search and figure out where they hid their souls."
Many wondered what parent would allow genital inspections in the first place
"Some dude tries to check my kid’s genitals and it will be a bad Day for them," one dad tweeted.
Along with the HATE HB 2238 perpetuates, thanks to the Kansas House and the Senate, my amazing athletically talented daughter will not be playing sports in High School. I will NOT subject my child to a physical inspection of her genitals because y’all are transphobic. #ksleg
— meischa z (@meischa) April 5, 2023
Supporters of the bill added that the actual legislation does not explicitly require the invasive procedure.
According to BuzzFeed News, Republican Rep. Barbara Wasinger, who introduced the bill, was asked during a House meeting to explain how exactly the legislation would be enforced. She confirmed that it would be done during a student's "sports physical," but would neither confirm nor deny the possibility of a genital inspection when pressed further.
Some supporters of the bill made their thoughts known on Twitter
"I respect this decision," one person tweeted. "I hope more parents & students follow suit."
Others said the law is the law, and that once Kelly's veto was overridden, the matter should be considered settled.
This is how the system is supposed to work.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of HB2238 was overridden Wednesday after both houses of the Kansas state legislature, cleared the two-thirds majority required for the bill to become law.https://t.co/UmEnEvll29
— Walter Brown (@w_l_brown) April 6, 2023
This is just one of several anti-trans bills the state has introduced lately
Another piece of legislation that's causing controversy right now is SB 180 — otherwise known as the "women’s bill of rights" — which was passed in February. According to the bill, transgender women will be banned from entering female-designated spaces, such as public restrooms, locker rooms, and domestic violence shelters.
"The irony of this ‘Women’s Bill of Rights’ is that it doesn’t enumerate any actual rights, instead focusing on weaponizing the rhetoric of rights to erase protections for transgender and nonbinary people," Caroline Dean, a pastor with the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference of the United Church of Christ, told the Kansas Reflector. "But I can name some rights that women need: the right to pay equity. The right to be free of gendered violence and sexual discrimination. The right to have affordable child care, and to have access to health care when I or my children are in need."
There's also SB 233, which bans access to gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 18. In addition, physicians who provide any medications or procedures for trans youth patients are subject to legal ramifications within the state.
As of now, the legislation is set to go into effect on July 1
In the meantime, critics continue to loudly oppose it, and call into question why other important education issues are being put on the back burner.
"Let’s be clear about that this bill is all about — politics," the governor said this week, according to CNN. "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."
