Kansas lawmakers voted Tuesday to pass a bill defining what it means to be a woman, forwarding it to the Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly’s desk Tuesday.
The Republican-controlled Senate passed the Women’s Bill of Rights in a 28–12 majority vote, with all GOP members voting yes except for one, and all Democrats voting no. The bill’s summary says it is “establishing the women’s bill of rights to provide a meaning of biological sex for purposes of statutory construction.” The bill comes at a time when partisan divisions have been riling up discussions around the use of terms like gender, sex, male, female, man, and woman.
“An individual’s ‘sex’ means such individual’s biological sex, either male or female, at birth,” said the bill. “A ‘female’ is an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova, and a ‘male’ is an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertilize the ova of a female,” adding that “the terms ‘woman’ and ‘girl’ refer to human females, and the terms ‘man’ and ‘boy’ refer to human males.”
Gov. Kelly is expected to veto the bill as the Democrat had earlier vetoed three times bills that sought to bar biological males from entering female competitive sports. However, with a two-thirds supermajority, Republicans in both the House and Senate are poised to override the veto.
What’s a Mother?
“The term ‘mother’ means a parent of the female sex, and the term ‘father’ means a parent of the male sex with respect to biological sex. The term ‘equal’ does not mean ‘same’ or ‘identical’; and with respect to biological sex, separate accommodations are not inherently unequal,” said the bill.The bill has also touched upon the spaces eligible for the different sexes. “Distinctions between the sexes with respect to athletics, prisons or other detention facilities, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, locker rooms, restrooms and other areas” where safety and privacy are implicated through separate accommodations will be ensured protections by the government.
Finally, any school district, public schools or state agency which collects vital statistics and other data shall identify each individual as “either male or female.”
Supermajority and Opposition
Opponents of the bill claim legislators are repressing the rights of LGBT individuals.State Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, said lawmakers are trying to protect families amid what people see as a small but growing number of cases of transgender individuals using facilities with biological girls or women.
“People are starting to pay attention,” Masterson said.
Kansas House members included provisions requiring accommodations for some intersex people born with chromosomes, genitalia, or reproductive organs not associated with typical definitions for males or females.
The House vote last month was 83–41, one vote shy of the two-thirds majority necessary to override any veto, but one conservative Republican likely to support the bill was absent.
Republican lawmakers in Kansas also are pursuing a bill aimed at stopping gender-affirming care for minors, something at least 11 states have done.
The measure would take effect July 1 and make Kansas the 20th state to enact such a ban for either K-12 schools or colleges or both.
