Melissa Campbell, Olathe, saw an injustice and, in a relentless pursuit of children's safety, wrote a bill that became Kansas law this week.
A young woman, participating in a school-related international trip, arrived in a foreign country and was told she would be sharing a room and a bed with a biological male who identifies as a female. After a discussion about her concerns she was informed no action would be taken. She slept on the floor of the hotel room in fear after adults who were there to protect her completely failed. Here is Melissa’s story about using legislation in righting a wrong and the power of persistence.
After hearing of an egregious situation in which a female student from Eudora HS was forced to share a bed (not just a room!) with a biological male on a week-long school sanctioned trip, it was something I knew I couldn’t ignore. Having earned and saved money for two years to pay for the trip, once a thousand miles out of the country, the young lady learned that she was assigned to share a bed with a biological male who identifies as female. The student expressed her discomfort with the assignment to one of the adult trip sponsors whose only response was a cold and dismissive, “Deal with it.”
We know activist adults are pervasively pushing acceptance of transgender ideologies to the detriment of all students. A local official familiar with this situation who had been unsuccessful in addressing it locally worked with me to compose a bill that would require school districts adopt a policy regarding the separation of each biological sex on overnight school travel. In a day and age where we see more young people struggling with body dysmorphia, our public schools need clear legal expectations to protect the safety and privacy of ALL children, not just a vocal minority.
Working with a Capitol legal revisor, we were able to craft a piece of legislation to do just that! The bill was introduced in the Federal and State Affairs committee in both the House and the Senate, then read on the floor of both chambers and assigned to the respective Education committees (originally HB 2427 and SB 255). Sadly, it sat untouched for weeks, but was ultimately granted hearings. I assembled a dream team of intelligent women to testify in both Chambers, laying out the story behind the bill’s intent and emphasizing the importance of passing such protections in Kansas. Not surprisingly, the KASB, KNEA, and Superintendent Association of Kansas all testified against this measure.
The last day for bills to be voted out of committee, and despite all challenges, the bill was passed out of both committees, put into a conference report, and ultimately voted into law on April 27, surviving liberal Governor Kelly’s veto with an impressive 85-39 and 30-9 voting record.
