A story by The Associated Press unhappily reported Kansas has approved what the liberal wire service calls the most “sweeping transgender bathroom law” in the United States. The bill earned that description because similar legislation in other states addresses transgender students in schools, such as restrooms and locker rooms, but the Kanas bill applies to all locker rooms and also to prisons and domestic violence shelters.
The bill passed in an 84-40 vote in the Kansas House and a 28-12 vote in the Kanas Senate, and then legislators overcame Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto. The law takes effect July 1.
Beyond protecting women, Brittany Jones of Kansas Family Voice tells AFN there is a legal importance, too. Because the new state law says "sex" means "biological sex" from birth for legal purposes, she predicts courts will interpret state laws accurately and fairly.
“It simply ensures that when courts are interpreting laws it doesn't tell them what to do with any sort of policy. It doesn't create any sort of policy. It doesn't create any sorts of action,” she explains. “But it ensures that courts cannot become activists and reinterpret words in our statutes or in other places in our law.”
