Kansas GOP lawmakers enact sweeping transgender bathroom law, override Democrat governor's veto

Republican legislators in Kansas have enacted a bill to prevent transgender people from using the restrooms associated with their gender identities, overriding a veto of the measure by the state's Democrat governor.

The measure is among the most the sweeping transgender bathroom laws in the U.S., according to the Associated Press.

An overrride vote by the House on Thursday followed one by the Senate on Wednesday.

The House vote was 84-40, exactly the two-thirds majority they needed to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s action.

The Senate vote was 28-12, and the new law will take effect July 1.

At least eight other states have enacted laws preventing transgender people from using restrooms associated with their gender identities, but most of them apply to schools, whereas the Kansas law applies also to locker rooms, prisons, domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers.