As Emporia State’s campus celebrates Pride, bills are being passed in the Kansas Legislature that affect those in the LGBTQIA+ community. 12 of 13 bills are currently being heard, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. 

The 13th bill, HB2238, passed with the house voting 84-40 and the senate voting 28-12 on April 5 after Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the bill in March and a motion to override the veto prevailed . The bill would “require that female student athletic teams only include members who are biologically female.”

The bill will be enforced after its publication in the statute book which occurs on July 1 each year, according to the bill and the Secretary of State website. 

ESU Senior diversity officer, Nyk Robertson, said they are keeping up with the bills and will be considering the safety of the state for their own kids saying “it’s difficult to feel at home in Kansas right now.” However, Robertson said they have peace of mind knowing that federal-level laws still stand. 

“I definitely put hope in the fact that there are other systems and other ways to continue to fight this,” Robertson said. “Even though it was put into law and the veto was overturned.”

In January, President Joe Biden administration released the Federal Evidence Agenda on LGBTQIA+ Equity which will help to gather data about those in the community. This data will be included in the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey which will “illuminate disparities LGBTQIA+ people continue to face,” according to whitehouse.gov.

Biden’s administration has been working to expand Title IX, which protects people from sex-based discrimination in federally funded schools, many of these state laws will most likely be overruled, according to Robertson and npr.org.   

“With a lot of these bills, states will pass certain things,” Robertson said. “But then the federal government, oftentimes through cases brought to the Supreme Court will make law saying, actually, the state laws are not legal”

Robertson sees many issues with the bill, including the fact that it disregards those born intersex and only discusses transgender women in sports. 

“We are not allowing trans women to compete in women’s sports,” Robertson said. “But there’s no conversation about trans men competing in men’s sports.”

Robertson said they are concerned about other bills such as SB12 which would “enact the Kansas child mutilation prevention act to criminalize performing gender reassignment surgery or prescription of hormone replacement therapy on certain persons.” 

“Gender affirming surgeries do not happen on adolescents,” Robertson said. “So whether this bill existed or not, doctors do not do any type of surgeries on bodies that are adolescents.” 

Hormone replacement therapies such as hormone blockers are non-permanent options for transgender youth, according to Roberston. 

“At a young age, you may think you identify some way or you may feel like that’s the place that feels at home,” Robertson said. “But that may not be true forever… and so the point of hormone blockers is it lets you get some time without your body developing in a way that doesn’t feel like it’s at home and yourself.” 

SB201 is another anti-LGBTQIA+ bill which would prohibit “the expenditure of state moneys for the production or performance of drag shows for which minors are the primary audience.”

Drag show performer Claire St. Claire recently performed at a drag show held by Wichita State University where these bills were brought up during intermission. 

“No drag queen is snatching kids up against their will and bringing them to a drag show and saying, ‘watch my show and give me a one-dollar-bill,’” St. Claire said. “No drag queen ever impedes on the freewill of a child and makes them come and see the show.”

St. Claire pointed out that drag performers are aware of what is appropriate for their audience and often teach children without provocative performances. 

“There are other shows like we do storybook readings,” St. Claire said. “Or Disney shows or kid shows that are specifically designed for kids where we’re not wearing sexy outfits, the lyrics to the songs are clean and there’s something that a kid can really learn from the show.” 

Robertson further explained this point saying “drag shows can be provocative but similar to comedians, adjust to the setting they are in.”

St. Claire has been interested in drag from an early age of four and has always used it as a way to express herself. 

“If Drag is self-expression, and self-expression is clothes and hair, that’s what drag is too,” St. Claire said. “Drag is wigs, and hair, and costumes and makeup. That’s what drag is. And to control that is to control what people wear every day.”

Emporia State’s own drag show will be held on April 14 at Bourbon Cowboy located on Commercial Street. Bourbon Cowboy only allows admittance for those 18 or older. 

For those wanting to keep up with these bills, they can do so by using the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) website.