Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly Says NO to Protecting Fairness in Women’s Sports

The Kansas legislature passed a bill called the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which would have required female sports teams to include only females.

Governor Laura Kelly vetoed the bill last Friday. She’d previously vetoed two similar bills.

Congress amended the federal code in 1972 to add Title IX to guarantee equal opportunity for women in education. The law prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government. Men and boys generally are stronger, larger, taller, and faster than women and girls. They have more muscle mass and quicker reflexes than females. A teenage boy running a race against a girl will defeat the girl — unless he throws the race.

This is how Gov. Kelly justified her failure to guarantee these protections for female athletes in Kansas:

“As I’ve said before, we all want a fair and safe place for our kids to play and compete. That’s why I support the Kansas State High School Activities Association, which was set up to ensure nobody has an unfair advantage on the playing field. The Legislature should let the Association do its job.”

But will the the Kansas State High School Activities Association protect fairness in sports for female athletes? It won’t matter what the organization does if lawmakers override the veto. Apparently the legislature would need only a few votes.

Riley Gaines, who swam for the University of Kentucky and competed against a man calling himself Lia Thomas in the NCAA championship, said on Twitter that Rep. Ford Carr was the only Democrat to vote in favor of protecting women’s sports.

“Gov Kelly vetoed the bill (for the 3rd time) but will hopefully be overridden with majority veto thanks to most Republican reps + Carr. We need more bold voices like his!”

1 year ago today we watched Lia Thomas become the first male to win a D1 national title in the women’s category. Notice how Thomas beats the fastest females in the entire country by body lengths…. @NCAA you’re responsible. pic.twitter.com/ocNHaoViDJ

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) March 17, 2023

Gaines has been outspoken about this issue. Thomas won the NCAA women’s 500-yard freestyle race last year but tied with Gaines in the 200-yard race (coming in fifth). Thomas easily could have won all the races and obviously threw the rest because the optics were bad. In a complete mockery of women, decency, and common sense, the NCAA named him “Women of the Year.”

Gaines said she and the other women shared a locker room with Thomas. I’m glad Gaines is speaking up now, but she and the other women should have walked out in protest.

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