The Catholic Defender: Freedom isn’t Free/America, Freedom always comes at a High Price
- Donald Hartley
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
House Bill 2238, previously approved 82-40 by the House, was embraced Thursday by the Senate on a vote of 28-11.
The bill now goes to Gov. Laura Kelly, who last year vetoed a comparable measure.
In 2022, the Senate voted 28-10 to override the governor, but the House fell short of the necessary two-thirds majority to complete that process.
The House vote last year was 81-41, three votes shy.
The new bill would forbid the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Kansas State High School Activities Association and any other accrediting organization or governmental entity from taking action against an institution maintaining separate sports programs based on gender.
The bill would require students in Kansas to be assigned to male and female sports teams based on biological evidence at birth, including a person’s genitalia, chromosomes or reproductive potential.
Among 41,000 girls competing in Kansas high school athletic events, only three are known to be transgender.
Sen. Renee Erickson fought back against what she viewed as offensive criticism for avidly supporting legislation banning transgender athletes from school-sponsored sports teams for girls and women.
Idaho has become the first state in the United States to bar from participating in girls’ and women’s sports and to legalize the practice of asking girls and women to undergo sex testing in order to compete.
A 2024 report submitted to the United Nations, titled "Violence against women and girls in sports," cited that over 600 female athletes in more than 400 competitions have lost roughly 890 medals to transgender-identifying males.
Despite the contentious overall numbers, there are documented instances of transgender women winning titles in various sports. Examples include Lia Thomas winning an NCAA Division I swimming championship in 2022, CeCé Telfer winning a Division II NCAA championship in 2019, and various examples in running, cycling, and high school track, such as in California.
In response to fairness concerns, many international sporting bodies, such as World Athletics and World Aquatics, have banned transgender women who have gone through male puberty from competing in elite female categories.
UN Report Tally: A report titled "Violence Against Women and Girls in Sports," presented to the UN General Assembly in October 2024, stated that transgender athletes had won approximately 890 medals across 29 different sports. The report noted these wins occurred in over 400 competitions globally, though it did not specify the levels of competition or the exact timeframe.
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