On Wednesday, Republicans in both houses of the Kansas state legislature overrode a veto from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on a bill that bans transgender students from participating in girls’ sports in the state.
After the vote in the Kansas House, Democratic Rep. Susan Ruiz stood up on the House floor and told Republican colleagues they were “full of ****,” according to the Kansas Reflector.
According to the Reflector, Ruiz’s outburst was in response to seeing Republicans laughing and “gloating” after the vote when he entered the chamber.
Democrat, Rep. Heather Meyer, who has a transgender child and was reportedly wearing a shirt that read “protect trans youth,” was also present at the time.
This was the third consecutive year that Kelly has vetoed a ban on transgender students participating in girls’ sports.
“It sort of breaks my heart,” Kelly told reporters after the decision by the legislature. “It certainly is disappointing. I know that there’s some legislators for whom this was a very, very hard vote, and one that I think they will regret as they look back on their time in the Legislature.”
“This is sort of a moral values vote,” she added. “I think they voted against their own moral code and their own values. I think that’s going to be very tough for them long-term.”
