As Kansas nears gender care ban, students push university to advocate for trans youth

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — With Kansas poised to ban gender-affirming care for minors, college students are trying counter Republican efforts to roll back transgender rights by pushing the state’s largest university to declare itself a haven for trans youth.

The GOP-controlled Legislature approved its proposed ban on puberty blockers, hormone treatments and surgeries for minors Wednesday, apparently with the two-thirds majorities in both chambers needed to override an expected veto from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. Kansas would join 24 other states in banning or restricting gender-affirming care for minors, the latest being Wyoming last week.

But the week before — when a ban already appeared likely — the Student Senate on the University of Kansas’ main campus overwhelmingly approved a proposal to add transgender rights policies to the school’s code of student rights. The proposal asks administrators to affirm the students’ right “to determine their own identities,” direct staff to use their preferred names and pronouns and commit to updating student records to reflect their gender identities. Administrators have not formally responded.

The university’s hometown of Lawrence, between Kansas City and the state capital of Topeka, already has a reputation for being more liberal than the rest of the Republican-leaning state. But students involved with the transgender rights proposal said it’s urgent now to show that the university will advocate for LGBTQ youth despite a Legislature they see as hostile.

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