We have made a difference!

After Governor Kelly vetoed Senate Bill 208, we were so scared.  What if the veto got overturned?  We knew that only a few Senators needed to change their votes to create a supermajority.  But this morning, I heard a notification on my phone while I was at work and when I sneaked a peak at the screen I almost jumped for joy - the movement to overturn the veto failed!  This is a huge victory!  Thank you to everyone who signed our petition and to every Senator who chose to stand up for trans youth by opposing this legislation!

To be clear, we are not out the of woods yet.  The movement to veto the bill failed by slimmest possible margin - only 1 vote.  We must remain vigilant and continue to shout our support for trans youth loudly and proudly. We will also continue in our efforts to grow support for the trans community so that, hopefully, we will be able to defeat future measures with a wider margin.

We continue to keep a close eye on House Bill 2210, and will fight that as well if it gets brought to the House floor for a vote.

Transgender youth are under assault in Kansas. Along with other bills designed to eliminate the transgender community in Kansas, the proposed sports ban —Senate Bill 208 — would undermine basic human rights by depriving trans youth of the opportunity to fully participate in their schools and communities.

As a high school educator, I can say firsthand that a law like this would erode the trust that students have in their teachers and coaches. This trust protects transgender students, many of whom do not have the support of their families, by giving them the lifeline provided by an adult mentor to whom they can turn for help and understanding.

Senate Bill 208 directly attacks the physical and mental well-being of transgender youth by shaming them for their identities. Whether or not a child chooses to try out for a sport, this law would increase bullying by making it clear that kids are not welcome if they identify as transgender.

These relationships can mean the difference between life and death, and if they are undermined by the proposed legislation, the results will be tragic.

All children deserve love, acceptance, and the support of their families and communities. Too often, the voices of faith that we hear on these concerns don't espouse love. Not this time. Some want to carve out protections for religious freedom, because they wrongly assume that it’s a sin to be transgender. 

This is not the tradition of freedom and equality that abolitionists fought and died for to found the state of Kansas, and certainly not the position that we take at Plymouth Church, United Church of Christ.  

The proposed legislation tries to pretend that transgender people are not valued members of society. The role of the church is to love, support, and ally itself with all persons. Thus we condemn transphobic legislation in the strongest possible terms. Every Sunday, we state that “All are welcome” at Plymouth Church and we do not take those words lightly. 

We stand with the transgender community in demanding that the shared humanity of all persons be respected and that members of the legislature vote against this act which is based on hate and fear and, instead, promote the values on which our state was founded.