FRANKFORT — The Kentucky Senate approved a controversial bill Friday that would limit transgender students to school bathrooms that match their biological sex or to accommodations such as unisex bathrooms.
The Republican-led Senate sent Senate Bill 76 to the House on a 27-9 vote, but House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, indicated that the measure won't win House approval.
The Democratic-led House can better spend the remainder of the legislative session working on other bills, Stumbo said. Friday was the 20th day of the 30-day session.
Stumbo said the Senate spent two days last week "deciding where kids can go to the bathroom."
Digital Access For Only $0.99
For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today.
#ReadLocal
Three Republican senators — Jared Carpenter of Berea, John Schickel of Union and Julie Raque Adams of Louisville — voted against the bill, as did six Democrats: Julian Carroll of Frankfort, Perry Clark of Louisville, Denise Harper Angel of Louisville, Morgan McGarvey of Louisville, Gerald Neal of Louisville and Reginald Thomas of Lexington.
Thomas said the issue is "the civil rights issue of our current time." He and other critics contended that the issue of which bathrooms students use should be left up to local school boards.
The bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. C.B. Embry Jr. of Morgantown, said the legislation is aimed at protecting the privacy rights of all students.
During discussion on the bill, which is backed by The Family Foundation of Kentucky, Thomas asked Embry whether he thinks homosexuality is a choice or determined naturally at birth. Embry replied that his bill has nothing to do with homosexuality.
Thomas then asked the same question about transgender persons. Embry said he was not an expert on the subject.
Chris Hartman, director of the Fairness Campaign, dubbed it the "Bathroom Bully Bill." He said it lacks legal muster and will increase bullying in schools.
"What an embarrassment the Kentucky Senate has made of our commonwealth," Hartman said in a news release.
Several groups plan to hold a rally against the bill at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at the Capitol.
Friday's vote came after the Senate Education Committee held two meetings to consider the measure.
Henry Brousseau, 16, a transgender student at Louisville Collegiate School, and his mother, Dr. Karen Berg, testified against the bill during the first committee meeting last Thursday.
Henry told the committee that he has identified himself as male for the past three years but has at times been forced to use girls' bathrooms. Henry predicted that the bill would increase bullying in schools.
The panel voted 6-3, with one member passing, for Senate Bill 76 that day, but it failed because it needed seven votes to get out of committee. In a surprise move, the committee reconsidered the bill Monday night, approving it on an 8-1 vote.
Testifying for the bill Monday were David Kelty and his daughter Christina Kelty, a sophomore at Louisville Atherton High School.
They said some students weren't comfortable sharing a bathroom with a transgender student. "You are putting the rights of transgender students above the rights of other students," said Christina Kelty.
The bill stems from a controversy last year at Atherton, where a transgender student, born male but who identified as female, wanted to use the girls' bathrooms and locker rooms. A controversy arose and the school eventually adopted a policy of letting students use bathrooms based on their gender identity. The decision was backed by the school's site-based council and a Jefferson County Public Schools appeals committee.
Comments