Kansas Governor Vetoes Transgender Sports Ban
previous vetoes withstood override attempts, it is unclear whether the Republican-led legislature will amass the votes needed to enact the measure over Kelly’s objections — although initial vote tallies in both chambers seem to indicate the votes are there.Last year, Republicans seized upon Kelly’s vetoes as a major campaign issue, trying to paint her in TV and radio ads as out-of-step with Kansans and as hostile to women’s athletics, arguing that allowing transgender females to compete puts cisgender athletes at a disadvantage, robbing them of the opportunity to win awards and other honors.During the campaign, Kelly said that decisions on transgender eligibility should be left to individual schools, doctors, families, and local officials.
As reported by The Associated Press, Kelly claimed that the bills favored by Republicans would have “created unnecessary new government mandates,” and could have potentially hurt the state’s business climate by creating a backlash similar to the one experienced by North Carolina when it passed a transgender restroom ban in 2016.
Despite the onslaught of attack ads trumpeting the transgender sports issue, Kelly was ultimately re-elected narrowly last November.If Republicans do override Kelly’s veto, it would make Kansas the 19th state to pass a law restricting transgender participation in female-designated sports, prohibiting any student assigned male at birth from competing against women athletes, except in the case of a co-ed sports team or club.
