Kansas Lawmakers Crush Governors Veto, Pass Law Protecting Womens Bathrooms From Biological Males

Kansas Legislature Overrides Governor's Veto to Protect Women's Bathrooms and Locker Rooms

Kansas lawmakers have overridden Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of Senate Bill 244, a measure that prohibits biological males who identify as women from entering restrooms and locker rooms designated for women and girls in public buildings.

The Kansas Senate voted 31 to 9 on Tuesday to override the veto, followed by the House on Wednesday with an 87 to 37 vote. The bill, originally passed in January, will now become law.

SB 244 requires authorities overseeing public buildings to designate multiple occupancy private spaces for use by one sex only. It mandates that officials "take every reasonable step" to prevent members of the opposite sex from accessing those spaces.

The bill includes exemptions for custodial and maintenance work, medical emergencies, law enforcement duties, and children under age nine accompanied by a caregiver.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Legal Counsel Sara Beth Nolan praised the override.

Women and girls shouldn't be forced to sacrifice their privacy in pursuit of gender ideology. This bill prioritizes privacy and safety over ideology.

Gov. Kelly vetoed the bill on Feb. 13, claiming it had "numerous and significant consequences" beyond its stated intent. She argued that lawmakers should instead focus on affordability issues affecting Kansas families.

The ACLU of Kansas Executive Director Micah Kubic criticized the measure, calling it "discriminatory" and claiming it "subjects people to unacceptable privacy violations."

The legislation also requires driver's licenses and birth certificates to reflect a person's biological sex at birth. Transgender Kansans who previously changed their gender markers on official documents would have them reverted to their original designation.

Violations carry escalating consequences: a warning for a first offense, a $1,000 fine for a second, and a misdemeanor charge for a third.

Kansas GOP Secures Supermajority to Pass Women's Privacy Protection Bill Into Law

Critics of the bill's passage noted that lawmakers used a procedural tactic known as "gut and go," which replaced the bill's original unrelated language with the bathroom provisions without public notice or opportunity for testimony. Only one Republican, Rep. Mark Schreiber, joined all Democrats present in opposing the override.

The Crusader's Opinion

This is what elected representatives are supposed to do: protect women and children. It is not "discriminatory" to say that biological men do not belong in women's restrooms and locker rooms. It is common sense. For decades, every civilization on earth understood this. Now we are told that questioning it makes us bigots.

Governor Kelly vetoed a bill protecting girls and then told us to focus on "affordability." Tell that to the mother whose daughter has to share a locker room with a biological male. The ACLU calls protecting women "unacceptable privacy violations." Read that again. They believe protecting female spaces is the violation. The world has gone mad, but Kansas chose sanity. Thank God for lawmakers who still have spines.

Take Action

• Contact your own state legislators and urge them to introduce similar legislation protecting women's private spaces. Find your representatives at usa.gov/elected-officials.
• Support the Alliance Defending Freedom, which has been leading legal efforts to protect women's privacy nationwide: adflegal.org.
• Share this story with your church, small group, or Bible study. Start a conversation about what it means to protect the vulnerable in our communities.
• Pray for the leaders in Kansas who stood firm, and pray for leaders in other states to follow their example.
• Support Christian journalism and advocacy through www.TheShepherdsShield.org.