TOPEKA — As tensions boiled over in a heated debate Wednesday night over a proposal to ban transgender girls and women from sports, Sen. Renee Erickson deflected concerns about the mental state of transgender youths.
Democrats insisted the scrutiny the bill would place on a vulnerable population of children would lead to more suicide, that lawmakers will have blood on their hands. Erickson, a Republican from Wichita, insisted the legislation was just about ensuring fair competition among girls.
“I find it incredibly insulting to use the hyperbole that there will be blood on our hands,” Erickson said.
By the time the Senate passed the bill on a 24-10 vote, the 2.5-hour debate had ambled through clashing views on female empowerment, a showcase of male bravado, and references to compassion, underdogs, snowflakes, the superiority of men, and the “wild west” of genital exams. There were concerns about the legality of a discriminatory bill, how much the law would cost to defend, the lack of a definition for “biological sex,” and a refusal to acknowledge the bill’s author.
Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, tried to narrow the scope of debate by telling lawmakers at the start to set aside emotional pleas and focus on the need for fair competition. And, he said, he knows a lesbian volleyball coach who agrees with him.
Under the proposed legislation, which still requires approval from the House before going to the governor, universities, public schools and the private schools they compete against would be required to sort teams into one of five categories: boys, girls, men, women, or coed. Participation would be limited to an individual’s corresponding “biological sex.”
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, said the bill doesn’t define “biological sex,” or specify what should happen if someone questions a child’s gender. Without guardrails, she said, “this will create the wild west for reinforcement.”
“I appreciate several of my male colleagues telling me how they want to protect the underdog and how men are superior,” Sykes said. “I actually find that rather misogynistic and rude. And that’s what bills like this do. They say they’re going to protect women, but they’re not. Excluding women who are trans hurts all women.”
The legislation apparently was forged by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a group that claims a “homosexual agenda” will destroy Christianity and society. The Southern Poverty Law Center says the group has supported other anti-LGBTQ policies, including state-sanctioned sterilization of transgender people abroad.
In other states, passage of the law has prompted immediate legal action. The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas has promised to file a lawsuit if it passes here.
Corson pointed to the potential for the law to cost millions of dollars to defend. Erickson responded: “I’m certainly glad to see that our colleagues across the aisle are concerned about the fiscal health of our state.”
“The bigger question is can you put a cost on providing opportunities for girls and women?” Erickson said. “I didn’t know that you could put a cost on that.”
