Questions following multiple reports from parents who say Mission Trail Middle School officials in Olathe, Kansas, are allowing a biological girl to use the boys’ restroom and locker room have been met by silence from school officials.
If true, the inaction by USD 233 is an apparent violation of the Women’s Bill of Rights in SB 180 passed by the Kansas Legislature over Governor Laura Kelly’s veto in 2023.
The summary of SB 180, now codified in K.S.A. 66-5601 through 66-5605 and K.S.A. 77-207, states:
… despite any provision of state law to the contrary, distinctions between the sexes be considered substantially related to the important governmental objectives of protecting the health, safety, and privacy of individuals, with respect to the following areas:
- Athletics;
- Prisons or other detention facilities;
- Domestic violence centers;
- Rape crisis centers;
- Locker rooms;
- Restrooms; and
- Other areas where biology, safety, or privacy are implicated that result in separate accommodations.
