TOPEKA, Kan. — Lawmakers in Topeka could soon consider a bill banning transgender girls and women from competing in women’s sports.
Monday the Senate Education Committee held a public hearing to review SB484, a bill to establish the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.
The proposed bill requires any K-12 public school as well as any public college or university designate sports teams into one of three categories based biological sex to reflect:
Males, to include men or boys.
Females, to include women or girls.
Co-Ed or Mixed, to include multiple genders.
SB484 requires college and university sports teams to only compete against other collegiate teams with the same classification. The bill also prohibits students of the male sex from participating in sports or activities designated for females, women or girls.
The bill bars any governing body, licensing or accrediting organization or athletic association from taking legal action against a school district, colleges or university that follow the guidance established by the bill.
If approved by the legislature, the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHAA) would be responsible for creating new regulations to implement the rules created in the bill. The Kansas Board of Regents and individual governing bodies for state universities, community college and technical colleges will be required to adopt new regulations to enforce the rules set by the bill for collegiate athletes.
The committee received 125 pieces of testimony on the bill and heard from 23 people during the public hearing Monday afternoon.
Proponents:
Idaho Representative Barbara Ehardt spoke to the commission virtually. Ehardt, a former collegiate athlete and coach, supported similar legislation in Idaho helping to pass the nation’s first transgender sports ban in 2020.
“Right here in Idaho our athletes had the disadvantage of having to compete with June Eastwood, who had run as John Eastwood for three years at the University of Montana. The last year, deciding to run as June. June annihilated our women in the Big Sky NCA Championships, annihilated our women in 2020,” Ehardt said. “College athletics is about Pete and repeat. If June had run as a freshman, I guarantee you that in order for every school in the Big Sky to compete they would have had to go out and recruit somebody that could compete against June or face losing their jobs.”
Matt Sharp, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, said the goal of the bill is to set eligibility standards for female athletes.
“It ensures that spots on female teams are not taken by male athletes and that taxpayer funded scholarships go to female athletes who spent years honing their talent to earn,” Sharp said.
Brittany Jones, Director of Policy and Engagement for Kansas Family Voice, criticized policy put in place by KSHAA and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) with regards to transgender participation in women’s athletics. Jones argues SB484 would protect opportunities for athletes born female.
“Women deserve a fair playing field for competition, something the NCAA has continually denied them and has only done so when they were forced to do so. It is up to the Kansas legislature to demand that women be treated fairly and not coware to the threats of a group that does not have women’s interest at heart,”Jones said.
Neutral Testimony
Kansas Independent College Association (KICA) President Matt Lindsey raised concerns over a provision in the bill that says if any institution plays against a public school or public college, they are subject to the provisions of this law. Lindsey said this would affect many private schools like Newman University and Hesston College that compete against public colleges and universities throughout the state.
“Most of our schools have invitations to play tennis, swimming or any number of sports against public institutions as well. Our concern with this bill we would like to see fixed is to remove those provisions,” Lindsey said.
Opponents:
“This is my 18th session here and every damn one of them we’ve had to come up here and defend our community against anti-LGBT bills. Every session it’s something different. It’s not about sports like other people have said. It’s just flat animus towards the LGBT community,”Equality Kansas Executive Director Tom Witt said.
Mid America LGBT Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Suzanne Wheeler said with approximately five percent of the state workforce identifying as a member of the LGBT community, bills like SB484 send a message that those workers are not welcome in Kansas.
“We’re opposed to the attack on transgender children in our state shrouded in the guise of protecting our daughters in sports. This bill addresses a non-issue, puts the ideology ahead of our state’s economy and goes against the Kansas tradition of small government,” Wheeler said.
Although the bill does not directly prohibit students born female from participating in designated male sports, Holly Terrell worries about what implications SB484 could have for her transgender son.
“I watch my child worry about whether or not he will get to do cross country again next year, because it was hard enough without a bill like this for him to run alongside other boys,” Terrell said. “If this bill passes it impacts so many children. It impacts those who aren’t sure whether or not they identify as a boy or a girl. It impacts those who already know, but are no longer allowed to participate based off the identity they have come to understand for themselves. It discriminates against children.”
Reverend Caela Simmons Wood, of First Congregationalist United Church of Christ in Manhattan and member of Kansas Interfaith Action said the proposed bill is dangerous for transgender kids.
“This bill would not only create unnecessary barriers for transgender youth, who have every right to participate in sports, but it does something much more dangerous. It calls into question their very existence,” Simmons Wood said. “Since I’m a religious person, I will use religious language to describe what that is. That is blasphemy. Any attempt to deny the image of God within another human being, to deny another human beings very existence is an affront to the faith of Jesus.”
No formal action was taken by the committee during the hearing. If the bill is approved the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act would go into effect on Friday, July 1.
