Kansas Senate passes bill prohibiting trans women from competing in women’s sports

The Republican-controlled Senate passed the bill with 24 voting in favor and 10 voting against. All nine Democrats and one Republican voted against the bill. The bill will now move on to the Kansas House of Representatives, which is also under Republican control.

The law follows the examples of Idaho and Mississippi have already enacted laws prohibiting transgender women from competing in women's sporting events. South Dakota's legislature has also passed such measures, with Governor Kristi Noem promising to sign it.

Supporters of the legislation argue that it is a necessary move to prevent biological men from unfairly competing against biological women. They argue that in physical sports, men have a biological advantage due to differences in height, weight, muscle mass, bone density, and various other factors, suggesting that these advantages can only partially, but not fully, be overcome by hormone replacement therapy.

They will also point to a variety of examples of transgender women dominating women's sporting competitions, suggesting that continuing to allow transgender women to compete against biological women will eventually lead to cisgender women being excluded from their own sporting events.

Some argue that the very concept of allowing transgender women to compete as equals to cisgender women is based on a postmodern understanding of gender identity which should not be reflected in the law.

Opponents of such laws argue that the laws are bigoted and rooted in ignorance surrounding gender transition. Many will point to the Olympics, which allows transgender people to compete in the gender categories which they identify with so long as they fulfill a certain set of criteria such as hormone therapy. They also argue that testosterone levels in people who were born female varies widely between different women, and it is nonsensical to exclude transgender women who may often have the same levels of testosterone as some cisgender women.

State Rep. Stephanie Byers, a Democrat who is the first transgender state lawmaker in Kansas, described the legislation as an "intentional attack on a small group of people that are part of a marginalized community."

Democratic state Rep. Dinah Sykes also criticized the bill, stating that the claims that men have a biological advantage over women in sports is "misogynistic and rude."

Governor Laura Kelly, who is also a Democrat, has not stated whether she will veto the bill, although it may not matter given the Republican Party's dominance of both houses of the state legislature. Republicans hold more than a two thirds majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in Kansas, so a veto could easily be overridden if Republicans vote in unison on the issue.

The bill comes within months of President Joe Biden signing an executive order banning discrimination against transgender women, including in school sports.