Kansas lawmakers fall a few votes short of banning transgender athletes from women's sports

Kansas House lawmakers failed to override a veto from the governor, spelling the end for a ban on transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports.
TOPEKA, Kansas — Kansas lawmakers failed Thursday to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a ban on transgender girls and women competing on girls’ and women’s sports teams.

The Senate successfully voted to override, but the failure in the House spells the end of the bill for this year. Republicans came close to the needed 84 votes in the House, but ended up with only 81 when a few members of the GOP didn’t support the plan.

It’s a repeat of last session, when Kelly vetoed a similar bill and lawmakers lacked the votes for an override.

The measure would have prohibited transgender athletes on girls’ and women’s teams at institutions like public grade schools, high schools and colleges.