The transgender sports measure is “damaging to children and their families, and it’s terrible for business,” Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said.
On Friday, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a Republican proposal to prohibit transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports, as well as a GOP proposal to make it easier for parents to remove items from public school classrooms and libraries.
Kelly also vetoed a bill that would tighten the state’s standards for non-disabled persons without children receiving food assistance, as well as a bill that would prolong litigation protections for health care professionals who were sued during the coronavirus outbreak.
None of the four bills received the two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate required to overcome a veto in the Republican-controlled Legislature. Kansas lawmakers are on their customary spring vacation, but will rejoin on April 25 to wind off the year’s work.
While conservatives have yet to override Kelly’s vetoes, the transgender athletes law and the education bill, which Republicans refer to as a “parents’ bill of rights,” are likely to be hot topics in Kelly’s re-election campaign this year.
Both topics have become major concerns for Republicans around the country as the November elections approach. Kelly implied that politics influenced her veto communications to lawmakers, but Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, retorted that the governor’s actions prove she is “primarily governed by the extreme left.”
Attorney General Derek Schmidt, Kelly’s expected Republican opponent, has stated that he will sign the transgender athletes bill. She claimed the bill was “divisive” and would hinder the state’s ability to attract businesses.
In a statement, Kelly added, “It’s destructive to children and their families, and it’s awful for business.”
Transgender athletes are now legal in fifteen states, including Kentucky, which passed a bill last week. Last year, Kelly vetoed a similar bill.
Supporters of such prohibitions say that they are attempting to maintain possibilities for females and young women to get scholarships. They refer to transsexual women and girls as “biological” men, guys, or boys on several occasions.
“It’s about defending the lady who has toiled and trained her entire life and should not have her hard work undone by being forced to compete on uneven playing grounds,” Masterson said.
In addition to decrying potential bans as anti-LGBTQ discrimination, critics around the country have pointed out that transgender athletes are few and far between. Only six or seven transgender athletes have been reported in Kansas, according to the state agency that oversees extracurricular activities for grades 7 through 12. Only one of the lawmakers is a transgender girl, according to several MPs, but the organisation could not confirm this.
