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 bill states that it will reinforce that "distinctions between the sexes" in such spaces advances "the important governmental objectives of protecting health, safety, and privacy."
Republican state representative Brenda Landwehr told the Associated Press, “We want to have safety.”
Last week, 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.
However, state Republicans have countered that the initiative is geared toward protecting children.
Transgender people have protested the bill arguing that it endangers the entire LGBTQ+ community.
Meanwhile, Independent Women’s Voice, a conservative feminist organization, released an official statement lauding the vote.
Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer and outspoken critic of transgender athletes competing in divisions based on gender self-identification, also lent her support to the measure. #queer_up_usa