Will the real Gov. Laura Kelly please stand up? The incumbent Kansas Democrat seeking re-election is changing her position often enough to make a chameleon dizzy when it comes to transgender boys playing on girls' sports teams. Both sides of the political divide exposed her dishonesty over the issue of integrity in girls' sports.
Gov. Kelly twice vetoed bills aimed at keeping boys out of girls’ sports in Kansas. She made her position on the issue crystal clear, and it’s a major topic of debate in the governor’s race.
Vetoed in April, SB 160 was designed to prevent transgender students from membership on women’s sports teams, saying sports designated for females "shall not be open to students of the male sex." The bill would have required the state high school activities association and the Board of Regents to enforce the law.
Last week the chameleon changed her position, saying, “You may have seen my opponent’s attacks, so let me just say it: of course men should not play girls’ sports. OK, we all agree there.”
Wait just a cotton-pickin' minute here, said the Republicans, catching her in a big fat lie. That wasn’t her position before the election cycle. Republicans said she was trying to have it both ways, responding “no amount of backtracking and spin from the Kelly campaign can distract from the truth.” Democrats were furious with her betrayal of LGBT interests.
Derek Schmidt, the Republican candidate for governor, busted her in the chops, tweeting:
“FALSE! Liberal Laura Kelly, in a desperate new ad, says “of course” men should not play women’s sports. But she vetoed Fairness in Women’s Sports TWICE. She's been with Biden on this for years, now at reelection time she lies. Kansans know it, and will vote her out.”
The Kansas City Star editorial board questioned the governor on transgenders and sports, and she changed her colors again.
Breitbart’s Katherine Hamilton said the governor denied that her ad was specifically targeted at transgender student-athletes when given the example of a 16-year-old high school student. “Instead, she claimed her ad was talking about ‘a male over the age of 18’ who wanted to compete with girls — implying that her comments were about age rather than just gender identity.”
The governor also claimed she has been consistent on the issue, and the NCAA’s permissive policy is what Kansas should follow. Think Lia Thomas and the ridiculous farce of the former Penn University swimmer, a mess allowed by the woke NCAA leadership.
“The ad that I put out was to respond to the misleading attacks that my opponent has put out that I favor letting men play in girls' sports,” said Kelly, trying to squirm out of her predicament. “I have never said that.” She also called the bills she vetoed “discriminatory. They were also designed by politicians. If this had come from the Kansas High School Activities Association, which is the governing body for sports in our schools, I would have addressed it differently.”
Is that Gov. Kelly’s final position on the issue? Or will it continue to shift with the wind? Check back daily.
The Republican candidate, Schmidt, has taken a firm, unchanging position on the nonsense of allowing bigger, faster, stronger boys to wreck the level playing fields in girls’ sports. He vowed to sign the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act in his first 100 days as governor, if elected.
