Battle Over Women’s Bathrooms Delivers A Biological Reality Check

Kansas will enact legislation banning males who identify as female from using women’s bathrooms after Republican lawmakers overrode Democrat Governor Laura Kelly’s veto. 

The Kansas House voted 87-37 on Wednesday to overturn Kelly’s veto of a bill, which requires that multi-occupancy private spaces in public buildings be separate by sex. The state Senate previously voted 31-9 on Tuesday to do the same. 

“Today, Speaker Hawkins and I signed the veto override for SB 244. Common sense has prevailed against Laura Kelly and the radical left, and now women and girl’s (sic) private spaces will be protected from biological men,” Senate President Ty Masterson wrote on social media on Wednesday, sharing a photo alongside House Speaker Dan Hawkins. 

Today, Speaker Hawkins and I signed the veto override for SB 244. Common sense has prevailed against Laura Kelly and the radical left, and now women and girl’s private spaces will be protected from biological men. pic.twitter.com/8UCu7tUzzK

— Ty Masterson (@TyMastersonKS) February 18, 2026

The law applies to multi-occupancy restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, and shower facilities designated for use by males or females.

The legislation also defines “gender” for purposes of state law as a person’s biological sex and requires driver’s licenses to reflect a person’s sex rather than gender identity. Birth certificates must also list a person’s sex. 

Responding to the override, Kelly said the bill was “poorly drafted” and would have “far-reaching consequences.” 

She claimed it would prohibit “brothers from visiting sisters’ dorms and husbands from wives’ shared hospital rooms.”

The bill’s passage was condemned by leftist groups such as the ACLU of Kansas. 

“This discriminatory bill undermines our state’s strong constitutional protections against government overreach and persecution,” said Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas. 

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) praised the state legislature for overriding the veto. 

“Congratulations to the Kansas Legislature on this important win for our state. Grateful for the strong leadership of Senate President Ty Masterson, Speaker Dan Hawkins, and the entire Legislature for standing up to radical left gender ideology, and delivering commonsense protections for Kansas girls,” said Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) on Wednesday. 

The veto override was also praised by American Principles Project President Terry Schilling.

“Gov. Laura Kelly tried to smuggle boys into your daughters’ locker room. And when Kansans blocked her, she pretended it was about hospital visitation,” he told The Daily Wire. “What Laura Kelly and Democrats lack in common sense, they make up for with bald-faced lies and indifference to the safety of children.”

Last year, Kansas’s GOP supermajority overrode Kelly’s veto to enact a law banning transgender medical procedures for children.