Kansas wants to protect biological sex and legally defines "males" and "females"

The state Congress becomes the first in the nation to pass a bill that assigns a definition to a person's biological gender.

Los demócratas de California quieren que las escuelas públicas tengan baños de género neutro. — (Unsplash)

Published by

Verónica Silveri Pazos

5 de abril, 2023

Topics:

The Kansas Congress passed a bill Tuesday upholding "the Women's Bill of Rights." This bill defines people as "male" and "female" according to their biological sex at birth.

The bill, supported by a 28-12 vote in the Senate, is intended to defend, protect and safeguard single-sex spaces (public restrooms, sports equipment and locker rooms). Kansas becomes the first state in the nation to legally assign a definition to a person's biological sex. The standard describes that:

Male and female individuals possess unique and immutable biological differences that manifest themselves before birth and increase as such individuals age and experience puberty (...) Biological differences between the sexes imply that only females can become pregnant, give birth and nurse their infant children (...) and that biological differences between the sexes imply that male individuals are, on average, larger, stronger and faster than females.

Kansas Bill 180 Senate by Verónica Silveri

The standard describes that "the terms 'woman' and 'girl' refer to human females, and the terms 'man' and 'boy' refer to human males." It also describes the roles of both sexes in families and households:

The term "mother" means a female parent and the term "father" refers to a male parent.

Lawmakers gear up for fight against Democratic governor

Lawmakers say they are preparing for a fight with Gov. Laura Kelly for her signature and endorsement. The Democrat previously vetoed bills three times that attempted to ban men from participating in women's sports. However, the state Senate and House of Representatives - with a Republican majority - united to support the latter, which, according to them, "protects women's right to privacy and security."

House Republicans stated in a release:

The Women's Bill of Rights protects women's right to privacy and safety in restrooms, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, prisons, locker rooms and other areas where biology, safety and/or privacy are involved.

Opponents of the law condemned the bill and referred to it as a "bathroom bill" aimed at preventing transgender people from using the facilities that correspond to their gender identity and "erasing" them by declaring that there are two sexes, male and female.