18 November 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT)- The Kansas Board of Regents has adopted a rule, banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports at state universities.
In a board meeting Wednesday, the regents updated its policies based on the new state law, House Bill 2238, which passed earlier this year. The Republican-backed law establishes the “Fairness in Women Sports Act,” requiring athletes to be categorized into teams based on their biological sex.
Matt Keith, a spokesman for the Kansas Board of Regents, told Kansas Capitol Bureau that the policy does not apply to Washburn University, which has its own governing body.
According to the act, independent governing bodies for municipal universities, like Washburn, would also need to adopt the rules of the act.
In an email to Kansas Capitol Bureau Friday night, Lori Hutchinson, a spokeswoman for Washburn University said, “Washburn University has been in compliance with this Kansas law since it took effect in July.”
Under the law, “biological sex” is defined as “the biological indication of male and female in the context of reproductive potential or capacity, such as sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, gonads and nonambiguous internal and external genitalia present at birth, without regard to an individual’s psychological, chosen or subjective experience of gender.”
According to the Board of Regents policy adopted Wednesday, each state university shall use information collected when individuals elect to participate on a team or in a sport to determine which sex team is appropriate for each respective student. Should a dispute arise, the state university shall refer to the original birth or adoption certificate completed at, or near the time of birth. If the original birth or adoption certificate is not available, documentation provided by a licensed physician indicating biological sex at birth may be utilized.
The policy continues to state that if biological sex at birth is unable to be determined by the above means, the student shall be eligible to participate in male, men’s, boy’s, coed or mixed athletic activities only.
It also states that nothing in the policy shall be construed to require a state university to take any action that would violate Title IX of the Higher Education Amendments of 1972 or any other provision of federal law.
The full policy is included on page 143 of the November 15 report for the Kansas Board of Regents. To read the updated policy, click here.