Free Press: Issue 3, Edition 24

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Students targeted in new bills

uring a year filled with fallout from the pandemic and political uprisings, some Kansas legislators have focused their attention on other matters: transgender youth.

proven high testosterone levels increase muscle mass, heart size and the amount of oxygen in the blood. All of these qualities can give an advantage in athletic ability. Supporters of the bill are suggesting high school and college-aged males could publicly transition just A History of anti-LGBTQ legislation to have the opportunity to compete and win against females. ansas is no stranger to discriminatory bills. In “Letting biological boys compete in biological 2019, seven representatives sponsored a bill that girls’ high school and college sports is not equal, it aimed to outlaw same-sex marriage doesn’t level the playing field and it’s by classifying homosexuality as a Our kids deserve certainly not fair,” Senator Roger religion whose followers participate in Marshall (R-KS) said. compassionate an “organized daily code.” During the While SB 208 was introduced on government and a state wave of “bathroom bills” in 2016, the level, Marshall presented a bill leadership and... that would make this a national law. Committee on Federal and State Affairs sponsored a bill allowing students to The original bill proposed a the Senate has sue their district for up to $2,500 if they physical examination in response failed them found a person of the wrong sex in their to disputes over a student’s gender - Dinah Sykes school bathroom. that would evaluate the athlete’s During this year’s legislative session, three bills reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup and naturally directed at transgender youth have been introduced: produced testosterone levels. There was no mention Senate Bill 208, House Bill 2210 and a matching bill of how these examinations would be paid for or what in the senate. would happen in the case of an intersex student. The Senate Committee on Education removed this language from the final bill. “This bill may be one of the most extreme The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act examples of this type of hateful legislation,” said Committee Ranking Minority Member Dinah he Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, SB 208, aims Sykes, D-Lenexa. “Our kids deserve compassionate to ban transgender women from participating on government and leadership and... the Senate has women’s sports teams. The bill says women are at an failed them in their duty to provide that. Trans youth inherent disadvantage in athletics when compared to are seeing how little their elected representatives men. This is true: the National Institute of Health has value their lives and contributions to our state. I am

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