Republicans in the Kansas Legislature obtained the necessary two-thirds supermajority needed to overturn Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill that requires Kansans to use public restrooms that correspond to their sex.
The law will reinforce that “distinctions between the sexes” in such spaces advances "the important governmental objectives of protecting the health, safety and privacy," the bill reads.
“We want to have safety," Republican state representative Brenda Landwehr, told the Associated Press.
Last Thursday, Governor Kelly vetoed a raft of bills passed by the Republican-controlled legislature concerning the transgender community, including legislation requiring that people use locker rooms and public facilities that correspond to their sex.
"Companies have made it clear that they are not interested in doing business with states that discriminate against workers and their families," the governor said in an official statement following the announcement.
"I'm focused on the economy. Anyone care to join me?"
However, state Republicans have countered that the initiative is geared toward protecting children.
"By any reasonable standard, governing from the middle of the road should include ensuring vulnerable children do not become victims of woke culture run amok," Senate president Ty Masterson responded in an official statement following Kelly's remarks.
Some have criticized the legislation for being difficult to implement in practice.
“The lack of clarity is by design because it allows them to disclaim the worst possible interpretation while also allowing for the worst possible outcome to happen," Micah Kubic, an executive director with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) chapter in Kansas told the AP.
Transgender people have also protested the bill arguing that it endangers the entire LGBT community.
"I am what they are scared of," one thirteen-year-old transgender boy proclaimed at a rally outside the Kansas Statehouse. "I am a human being and I deserve to be treated as such, and I deserve to be happy."
Meanwhile, Independent Women’s Voice, a conservative feminist organization, released an official statement lauding the vote.
“The Kansas Women's Bill of Rights will prevent judges, unelected bureaucrats, and administrators in Kansas from unilaterally redefining the word 'woman' to mean anyone who ‘identifies as a woman,'” the group wrote on Thursday.
“The Women's Bill of Rights preserves the legislature's authority to determine whether, and in what circumstances, rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, athletic teams, lockerooms, and dormitories should remain single-sex or be opened to biological males who identify as female.”
Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer and outspoken critic of transgender athletes competing in divisions based on gender self-identification, lent her support to the measure as well.
"Today is a huge win for Kansas women! I applaud the Legislature for their leadership and commitment to protecting the sex-based rights of women. As a woman and a female athlete, I can attest first hand to the importance of women having private spaces when safety and fairness are at risk. Now that the Women's Bill of Rights will be Kansas law, women have clarity that when they enter a space labeled for 'women', biological men will not be inside."
Kansas now joins at least eight other states which have enacted similar measures.
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