Kentucky lawmakers pass ban on transgender athletes

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The Kentucky Senate completed passage of a bill Thursday to bar transgender girls and women from participating in school sports matching their gender identity from sixth grade through college.

The Republican-dominated Senate voted 26-9 to send the measure to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.

GOP-led states increasingly have adopted such prohibitions on transgender girls or women, though the culture war-related bans have been challenged in several states as violations of federal law. 

Republican governors in Utah and Indiana this week vetoed bans in their states.

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Republican state Sen. Robby Mills, right, discusses his bill in Frankfort, Ky., that would require Kentuckians to present photo identification in order to vote on Jan. 8, 2020.  (AP Photo/Bruce Schreiner, File)

In Kentucky, the bill's opponents immediately called on Beshear to veto it.

"This bill is a solution in search of a non-existent problem," said Samuel Crankshaw, a spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. "It is rooted in hate and unconstitutional."

Under the Kentucky bill, a student’s gender would be determined by the "biological sex" indicated on the student’s certified birth certificate "as originally issued at the time of birth or adoption."

Republican Sen. Robby Mills, the bill’s lead sponsor, said the measure would ensure girls and women compete against other biological females.

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The Republican-led House strengthened the bill by extending it to include college athletics, Mills said. The Senate accepted