Takeaways
- Republicans have enough votes to override the veto, so long as multiple members don’t change their vote. Only one Republican voted against the bill.
- Democrats believe they can get the law thrown out in court.
- Parts of the bill were passed without any hearing or public comment.
Kansas Republicans have overridden the veto.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill that dictates which bathrooms transgender people use.
The bill requires people to use multiple-occupancy private spaces based on their gender at birth in government buildings, which includes public schools and universities. That means locker rooms, bathrooms and other similar facilities that multiple people use at the same time.
Kelly said the bill has broader implications.
“If your grandfather is in a nursing home in a shared room, as a granddaughter, you would not be able to visit him,” she said in her veto message. “If your wife is in a shared hospital room, as a husband, you would not be able to visit her. If your sister is living in a dorm at K-State, as a brother, you would not be able to visit her in her room.”
Parents can’t go into bathrooms with their child if they are the opposite gender and the child is older than 9. All-gender bathrooms with a single toilet, for example, would not have this restriction. Neither would private buildings.
“I believe the Legislature should stay out of the business of telling Kansans how to go to the bathroom and instead stay focused on how to make life more affordable for Kansans,” Kelly said.
Under the bill, someone is issued a warning if they incorrectly use a bathroom the first time. A second mistake leads to a $1,000 fine and a third infraction is a misdemeanor charge. Government agencies that don’t enforce these rules can be fined $25,000 for a first offense.
The bill started out as a ban on changing someone’s sex on their driver’s license and birth certificate. It was then amended in committee without public comment to include bathroom bans.
Republicans said this bill is necessary for a few reasons. Accurate gender markings on driver’s licenses can help in medical emergencies, though an amendment to require weigh-ins for accurate weight measurements on driver’s licenses was shot down.
Republicans also argue, without evidence, that police can’t catch criminals unless someone’s driver’s license is accurate.
“Biology matters especially in certain spaces … It’s not about what a person looks like or the identity they claim,” said Sen. Kellie Warren, a Johnson County Republican, during the bill debate. “It’s about biology.”
House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Sedgwick County Republican, agrees.
“It’s hard to wrap my mind around why the governor would veto something so fundamentally common sense,” he said in a press release after the veto was announced.
The bill currently has the votes to survive the veto. The House needs 84 members to override a veto, and the bill passed with 87 votes. The Senate needs 27 votes to override, and the bill passed with 30 votes.
Rep. Mark Schreiber, a Lyon County Republican, was the only member of his party to vote against the bill.
House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, a Johnson County Democrat, isn’t confident his party can rally the votes to strike down the bill. Woodard did say the bill will end up in a court case that he is confident Democrats can win.
“It’s gonna go back to court, where (Kansas Attorney General) Kris Kobach will lose again,” Woodard said after the bill passed.
Democrats have blasted the bill as transphobic and an attempt to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. Lawmakers pointed out that transgender Kansans may look completely different now than they did years ago. So hairy, bearded men might be forced to use a women’s bathroom and have their gender listed as female — creating the exact problem Republicans wanted to avoid.
“He is going to sit down at the stall next to your granddaughter,” said Rep. John Carmichael, a Sedgwick County Democrat, about hypothetical situations during the Jan. 28 floor debate. “Is that what you really want? Not only that, there are other facilities which have locker rooms or the like. That hairy-faced man will be standing naked, showering next to your daughter. That’s what this bill requires.”
Democrats are also frustrated at the lack of transparency around the bill.
Kansas Republicans jammed through portions of the bill without any public hearings. The bill was amended in committee by Rep. Bob Lewis, a Finney County Republican, to add bathroom bans, but no members of the public were able to comment on that topic.
Republicans amended a bill that had already passed the Senate, which means the bill didn’t need a hearing in that chamber. The Senate just needed to agree with the changes, which they did.
