Kansas House debate on latest installment of trans athlete ban produces laughter and name calling
TOPEKA – Rep. Heather Meyer hoped she would not have to stand in front of her colleagues again and speak about the life-threatening effects of hateful laws on transgender children, including her own.
For a third straight year, Republicans are planning to debate a proposal to ban transgender girls from playing sports with cisgender girls — a scenario involving about two athletes in Kansas schools.
Meyer, a Democrat from Overland Park, said Republicans’ fears on the issue were “nonsense.”
“Every time you bring these bills, you’re going to see me,” Meyer said during Wednesday’s debate. “I’m not going away. Neither do the rest of us. I will stand here and continue to fight for our trans children. And I don’t care if you all don’t like it or not.
“You’ll never get rid of me. Even if I lose my place. I literally don’t care. I will still be here knocking on your door and telling you how important our children are. Our trans kids are important, and they shouldn’t be pushed back into the closet by legislators, of all people.”
This year’s debate, which lasted about 90 minutes, echoed previous discussions about transgender athletes. Republicans refused to recognize a distinction between transgender girls and “biological men.” Democrats berated them for using talking points spawned by anti-LGBTQ hate groups. In the end, the bill went ahead by a vote of 79 to 40, with final action scheduled for Thursday.
The Legislature has passed similar legislation in each of the past two sessions, but has been unable to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto, which requires 84 votes in the House of Representatives.
“Let’s hope the third time is the stimulus,” Representative Barb Wasinger said at a meeting with House Republicans ahead of the debate. “It can be heard on Ash Wednesday.”
Wasinger, a Hays Republican, led the charge in passing House Bill 2238 that would restrict participation in girls’ sports to students born with female reproductive systems. According to the Kansas State High School Activities Association, the law would only apply to two Kansas students.
As Wasinger put it, “Biological men should not compete against women.”
Men have stronger bodies, stronger bones and better cardiovascular health, Wasinger said.
“You can just do better,” she told her colleagues.
Rep. Chuck Smith, R-Pittsburgh, said he asked officials at the Kansas State High School Activities Association why this issue is affecting so few students in Kansas. The answer, Smith said, is that local school leaders guide decisions about who participates in the sport.
“If a boy can dominate a girl’s sport, the school shouldn’t let her play,” Smith said.
Wasinger replied, “Well, that’s a nice fairy tale. That is nice.”
Her fellow Republicans roared with laughter.
Later, during the indoor debate, Rep. Boog Highberger, D-Lawrence, hinted that the laughter would not stop.
“This bill is so 2021,” said Highberger. “At some of these conferences you go to, they’ll laugh at you behind your back, ‘Psst: did you hear? Kansas still working on the transportation bill? Oh dear God!’ You and I know that this bill is a fabricated problem.”
Meyer opposed hypothetical examples proposed by Republicans in which men would suddenly choose to identify as women in order to have a competitive advantage. That’s not how it works, Meyer said.
“There’s no kid who’s going to say, ‘You know what? I want to be more competitive in sport, so I’ll be a woman. That’s not happening,” Meyer said. “This is absolutely ridiculous. There wasn’t a single case where that happened. none.”
Rep. Susan Ruiz, a Shawnee Democrat and member of the LGBTQ community, said, “You know you’re marginalized because your rights are voted on every few years.”
She reminded lawmakers that the model law was a product of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a group that claims a “gay agenda” will destroy Christianity and society. The attention the group received by promoting the ban on transgender athletes, which stems from a major misunderstanding of what it means to be transgender, inspired other groups to join the cause.
“These hate groups found traction in using girls and women in sports to influence lawmakers to pass laws that would ban transgender girls from competing with cisgender girls in sports,” Ruiz said.
The issue has proven lucrative for fundraising efforts, she added.
Rep. Brandon Woodard, D-Lenexa, questioned Wasinger about how children should prove their gender when questioned. Wasinger had to admit that the proposed law would require a physical examination.
“It would subject women to genital exams to play sports,” Woodard said. “Don’t talk to me about the fairness of women up here. All of them would not even advocate that women should have the right to vote during the state state. How dare you.”
His comment was in reference to the governor’s state of the state address, in which only the Democrats drew a standing ovation.
Woodard, who is also a member of the LGBTQ community, said Republicans wouldn’t even allow a hearing on legislation that would protect against discrimination — “but sure, let’s pass legislation that targets two people in Kansas.”
“Just because I was trying to organize testimony I was called ‘paedophile,’ ‘groomer,’ and a quote so I wouldn’t get put down, ‘fag,'” Woodard said. “That’s the rhetoric that’s going on because of what you’re all doing. Stop passing on such bills. Focus on actually helping Kansans.”
Rep. Clarke Sanders, R-Salina, pointed out that the wording of the law does not include the word “transgender” or “LGBTQ.”
“It just says that biological males shouldn’t be allowed to compete on biological female teams,” Sanders said.
Rep. Lindsay Vaughn, D-Overland Park, said the injustices she faced as a high school athlete “had nothing to do with the substance of this bill.”
“We got old-fashioned uniforms, we often shared the practice ground, and our events were never as heavily promoted as the boys’ teams,” Vaughn said. “If we really care about fairness in girls’ sport, why not advocate for equal funding and resources for women athletes?
“More than that, why don’t we demand equal pay for professional female athletes? Or why not fight to abolish or extend the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases to find justice for the many female athletes who were sexually abused as children? The reason is that this bill is not about fairness. It’s about discrimination.”
As Rep. Jerry Stogsdill, D-Prairie Village, put it: “This is a shameful law—hateful, bigoted, and dangerous. This is more about promoting an extremist political agenda than it is about women’s sport.”
At the end of the debate, Wasinger lamented the abuse she endured.
“Today I’ve just been called a bigot, a misogynist, an extremist, shameful and hateful, and I’m offended because I wasn’t hateful towards anyone on this panel,” Wasinger said.