Olivia Krauth is a Kentucky-based independent journalist who covers politics for Queer Kentucky. This week, she wrote about SB 351 and HB 867.
Interview transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Clay Wallace, WUKY
This week in state legislature, we saw a few new bills filed which target transgender people in Kentucky. One of those bills is Senate Bill 351, which would revoke teaching licenses from trans teachers. What does the bill claim to do?
Olivia Krauth, independent journalist writing for Queer Kentucky
This is a really interesting bill, because I've never seen anything like it. I've been covering education policy and politics for years. This would essentially use outdated psychological criteria [to deny teaching certificates to] anybody ever treated with or diagnosed with things that were excluded from the ADA, the federal protections for those with disabilities. So, if they were applying for a teaching license here, they would not be able to get one. If they're trying to renew it so they can keep teaching, they would have it revoked.
The way the bill is worded is very confusing because it doesn't outwardly say what these excluded disorders are. But, with a little bit of research, you see that some of the things that were excluded would directly impact transgender teachers.
Clay
It doesn't directly mention transgender people - it references the 1990 ADA. Is that a categorization that's used in other bills in 2026?
Olivia
Not that I know of. You know, I focus on a lot of bills that could impact the LGBTQ+ community, and this is the first time I've seen something worded like this. The language seems to work around outdated terms and outdated critera that psychology as a field has moved past.
Clay
There's also a provision in the bill that seems to allow people to target transgender people for their expression - to have them investigated. Am I understanding that correctly?
Olivia
Yes, essentially it would. There are two ways of enforcing this in the bill.
One, whenever teachers go and get their certificate or get it renewed, they would have to sign a statement swearing that they had never been treated for or diagnosed with one of the disorders in question.
Two, if someone thinks their child's teacher has "easily identifiable" symptoms or characteristics, they can report that teacher to EPSB, the teacher certification board here in Kentucky. Then, the EPSB would be required to investigate those complaints, including potentially making that teacher undergo a medical examination and provide medical records.
It's not that just anybody could get reported - it would be specifically teachers. But anybody could report a teacher.
Clay
There's also House Bill 867, which is a "bathroom bill" that would force transgender people to use bathrooms tied to their assigned sex at birth. It would apply to public buildings in Kentucky. What are some examples of places that people would be excluded from?
Olivia
House Bill 867 has a list. It essentially applies to state or local government buildings. So, if the Capitol building was open, that would count. The Capitol Annex, where committee meetings are held, that would count. It appears to focus on government buildings rather than any publicly owned property. It appears to be pretty specific to state government and local, city, county buildings. But, obviously, that would impact anybody trying to advocate for themselves in Frankfort or at local city government meetings.
Clay
Does anything else stand out to you as particularly significant about these two bills?
Olivia
I think it's important to note that they got filed pretty close to the deadline for filing new legislation. We have seen a few anti-LGBTQ+ bills filed so far this year, but they haven't really gone anywhere. They don't seem to have as much interest as these bills have had in the past. But these two, they waited until the last second to file them, so they're getting attention. It's hard to tell just what that means in terms of the legislative process, or if there's interest behind them. Both are filed and supported by liberty-leaning Republicans, who sometimes can get stuff through in Frankfort, but oftentimes don't have as much success as more of their moderate, establishment-type Republican colleagues.
I don't know what their chances are. I think that's confusing and maybe scary for a lot of people.
Clay
If people want to follow the progress of these bills, how can they stay in the loop?
Olivia
I am tracking all of these bills - anything that has to do with the LGBTQ+ community - with Queer Kentucky's bill tracker. It will be updated routinely through the rest of the session as these bills move or don't move.