FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Senate Bill 83, a bill that bans transgender girls from participating in girls' sports, passed in a 26-9 vote.
The bill was originally passed on March 17, but the bill was amended to extend the law from 6th grade through college, opposed to sixth to 12th grade.
ACLU-Kentucky responded to the final passage of SB83, stating it is a solution in search of a non-existent problem, "rooted in hate."
"Senate Bill 83 violates students' Constitutional rights to equal protection and privacy, and Title IX of the Civil Rights Act by imposing a wholesale ban on transgender girls from participating in athletics consistent with their gender identity. Similar bans have been blocked in federal courts in Idaho and West Virginia, and a challenge to including trans girls was dismissed in Connecticut.
Senate Bill 83 was amended to ban girls and women from sixth grade through college. This could jeopardize colleges' and universities' participation in organizations like the National Collegiate Athletic Association because Senate Bill 83 could force Kentucky teams to violate NCAA policies.
For the full statement from ACLU-Kentucky click here.
The Fairness Campaign also shared a statement on the final passage, calling on Governor Andy Beshear to veto the measure.
"Shame on the Kentucky General Assembly for prioritizing discrimination against some of our state's most vulnerable youth," said Fairness Campaign Executive Director Chris Hartman. "Now the only transgender girl we know currently playing sports in Kentucky schools, a 12-year-old seventh grader who started her middle school's field hockey team, will be denied the opportunity to play with her friends during her eighth grade year. The Fairness Campaign now calls on Kentucky's most pro-equality Governor Andy Beshear to protect the lives of transgender youth and let all Kentucky kids play by vetoing Senate Bill 83."
