The Religious-Right Coalition Behind Kansas’ Sweeping Anti-Trans Legislation
Kansas legislators passed sweeping anti-trans legislation this week that has a religious-right coalition’s fingerprints all over it.
On Tuesday, the Republican-led Kansas legislature passed Senate Bill 180—which would make it illegal for trans people to use the bathroom corresponding with their gender identity and illegal to change their name or gender identity on drivers’ licenses—sending it to Democratic Gov.
Laura Kelly’s desk with a veto-proof majority. SB 180, which opponents say attempts to erase trans people from society, was introduced by Kansas state Sen.
Renee Erickson. Erickson is a graduate of the Family Policy Alliance’s Statesmen Academy, which promises to “equip [participants] with foundational Christian worldview training.” The Family Policy Alliance is also a leading partner in the anti-trans coalition that has dubbed itself “Promise to America’s Children.” Formed in 2021, “Promise to America’s Children” vows to “protect” children who it says “are under attack” from “politicized ideas about sexual orientation and gender identity ideology.” The 23 groups that make up the coalition portray feminism and LGBTQ equality as threats to the Christian right’s narrow vision of “the natural family.” With behemoth partner organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom and the Heritage Foundation, the coalition drafts model legislation and works with aligned state lawmakers to introduce them in their state legislatures.
