Kansas Republicans Enact Law Forcing Transgender Individuals to Use Bathrooms by Biological Sex

Kansas Republicans have overridden Democrat Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of Senate Bill 244, a law requiring transgender individuals to use restrooms and changing facilities based on biological sex rather than gender identity.

The Kansas Senate voted to override the governor’s veto Tuesday with a 31-9 margin, and the Kansas House followed Wednesday with an 87-37 vote. This makes SB 244 the second law enacted during the 2026 legislative session and the first to take effect immediately.

Senate President Ty Masterson, a Republican, called the override “restoring sanity.” He accused Governor Kelly’s veto of forcing “mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters” to share bathrooms with biological men in government buildings. “Kansas Democrats are for They/Them,” Masterson stated in a public declaration. “I will continue to fight for you, and protect women and girls across our state.”

Transgender state Representative Abi Boatman condemned the measure, stating it “obviously discriminates against transgender people in ways that make our lives exponentially more difficult and dangerous.”

Under SB 244, government buildings—including public schools and universities—must separate bathrooms and locker rooms by biological sex. The law also applies to other designated spaces tied to privacy and changing. Violations could trigger fines up to $1,000 or criminal charges for repeated use of facilities inconsistent with one’s biological sex.

The bill includes exceptions allowing parents to take children under nine into opposite-sex bathrooms and permitting coaches in opposite-sex locker rooms when all individuals are clothed. It further prohibits Kansas residents from altering the sex marker on state-issued driver’s licenses and birth certificates.

Governor Kelly defended her veto, calling the legislation “poorly drafted” and warning it would create unintended consequences: “Under this bill, if your grandfather is in a nursing home in a shared room as a granddaughter, you would not be able to visit him. If your wife is in a shared hospital room as a husband, you would not be able to visit her.” She added that “if your sister is living in a dorm at K-State as a brother, you would not be able to visit her.”

Republican State Senator Kellie Warren countered that the governor’s examples are “not the subject of the bill,” emphasizing it addresses only government-designated spaces for changing and undressing. Republican State Representative Susan Humphries similarly criticized Kelly’s veto message as “full of red herrings” and ineffective at addressing the law’s merits.

The bill initially passed with more than two-thirds support in both chambers before Governor Kelly’s veto. In 2025, lawmakers overrode Kelly’s veto to enact a law banning sex change drugs for minors, which is currently being challenged in state court.