As Kentucky’s legislative session rages on, Wednesday saw a scene frequently all too absent at the state Capitol: Unwavering queer joy, strength and solidarity led by Gov. Andy Beshear.

LGBTQ+ people and their allies, sitting lawmakers and political candidates, labor organizers and racial justice advocates, one drag queen and at least two tiny black bunnies all piled into a meeting space near the Capitol Wednesday afternoon for the annual Fairness Rally. 

This year’s event looked a little different. The rally’s normal location in the storied, marbled Capitol Rotunda is closed for renovations, forcing the event into the far smaller, far less majestic Capitol Education Center — a nondescript, unassuming government building on the edge of the Capitol grounds more frequently home to school field trip groups than hundreds rallying for LGBTQ+ rights. 

But the energy, enthusiasm, rousing speeches and thundering applause synonymous with the Fairness Rally and LGBTQ+ advocacy in Frankfort remained the same. 

For around an hour, a star-studded list of speakers including Gov. Andy Beshear and Kentucky’s first openly gay poet laureate Silas House encouraged the audience to remain resilient and don’t let Kentucky’s often hostile political environment discourage and drain you.

Gov. Andy Beshear speaks at the annual Fairness Rally in Frankfort, urging supporters to remain resilient as lawmakers consider Senate Bill 72 and House Bill 468 during the 2026 legislative session. Photo by Skylar Davis.

“Don’t back down — not to a Republican supermajority here, not to a president elsewhere,” Beshear said. “We know what’s right. We know we’re on the side of right, and I’ll keep standing up to him, or them, because I believe in you.”

Beshear became the first sitting governor to attend the Fairness Rally years ago, and he still shows up. And as the Democrat’s national profile grows amid a potential presidential run, his defense of the LGBTQ+ community has been a major talking point. 

Beshear has vetoed most anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have come across his desk from the GOP supermajority legislature (vetoes that were swiftly overridden). More bills may end up on his desk in a few weeks, as Kentucky’s legislative session heads into March. 

At least eight bills that could have a negative impact on the LGBTQ+ community have been filed so far this session, and lawmakers have until the first week of March to file new legislation. 

Two key bills brought up Wednesday were Senate Bill 72, which would allow health care providers to refuse to do any service they feel violates their beliefs, and House Bill 468, which would make it harder to enforce local fairness ordinances. 

SB 72 passed out of the Senate earlier this month and now awaits its fate in the House, while HB 468 passed out of committee Wednesday and could get a full House vote as early as Friday. 

Kentucky Poet Laureate Silas House speaks at the annual Fairness Rally in Frankfort, encouraging resilience as lawmakers consider bills impacting the LGBTQ community during the 2026 legislative session. Photo by Skylar Davis.

Other bills that have been filed but haven’t started moving in the legislative process seek to restrict drag performers and restrict access to gender-affirming medical care for those on taxpayer-funded health plans. 

There are still several weeks left in the legislative session, and the pace is picking up. Several reminded folks to stay vigilant and engaged. 

“When we refuse to back down, they will have no choice but to listen,” Senate Minority Floor Leader Gerald Neal, a Louisville Democrat, said. “Fairness is not up for debate. 

“We will not wait for permission to claim what is rightfully ours,” he continued. “We will keep pushing, we will keep fighting, and we will make sure that when history looks back on this moment, it will see not just the injustice we faced, but the strength of the people who refuse to accept it.”

How does a bill become a law in Kentucky? 

Kentucky’s legislative process — aka how a bill becomes a law — has several steps, and a fair amount of rules and caveats, and all of it can be tricky to figure out, learn, memorize and apply to what you’re seeing in Frankfort when it isn’t your full-time job. 

That’s where I come in. Hi, I’m Olivia — Queer Kentucky’s lead political writer. I’m an award-winning writer, and 2026 will be my ninth regular legislative session as a reporter. 

Consider this the first installment of a rolling, occasional series from Queer Kentucky on how to navigate and understand the basics of Kentucky politics and policy.

My goal is to catch anyone who needs it at the ground level, or to just provide an easy-to-understand reference guide, so everyone knows what they need to know in order to understand what’s going on. 

Let’s begin.

The bill gets filed

Basically, a lawmaker has an idea for a new law or a way to improve an existing law, so they work with a bill drafter to put it into legalese and file it as a bill. 

The bill gets assigned to a committee

Once filed, a bill goes to a place called the Committee on Committees, which, yes, is a real thing. 

The Committee on Committees is a group of leaders in either the House or Senate, depending on where the bill is, and they decide which committee should be the first round of vetting for this bill.

Committees are topic-based, so, a bill dealing with drivers’ licenses would go to the transportation committee, and a bill dealing with how students learn to read would go to the education committee. 

First committee meeting = first vote

Committee meetings are the first big hurdle for legislation. After being assigned to a committee, a bill needs to then end up on that committee’s agenda — a call typically made by the committee chair, all of whom are Republicans thanks to the GOP’s supermajority in Frankfort. 

Once on the agenda, a bill will get “heard” by the committee. A lawmaker supporting the bill will present the bill to committee members and answer any questions they have about the measure. Sometimes, they may bring supporters of the bill to explain why the bill is important. 

They can also offer up something called a committee sub — short for a committee substitute bill. It is exactly what it sounds like: A different version of the bill that is getting subbed in for the existing version of the bill. If the committee approves to accept the committee sub, then that is the version of the bill they’ll vote on. 

Opponents to the bill can — but not always — testify against the bill in the committee meeting. This is typically at the discretion of the chair. 

After all of that, the committee will then vote on the bill. If it passes, it advances in the legislative process. If it doesn’t, it can be reheard in committee, but that isn’t guaranteed. 

Three readings, three days

Each bill must get three “readings” on the chamber floor, each one on a separate day. (“Chamber” means the House or the Senate.) 

They don’t actually read the entire bill on the chamber floor (can you imagine?). It is just an acknowledgement that the bill exists and is moving through the legislative process. 

The readings can happen before and after the committee vote, and the third reading happens at the same time as the full floor vote on the bill. 

Floor vote

A floor vote is when a bill faces an entire chamber for a vote. Each chamber has slightly different rules on how floor debates and votes go, but typically, a bill comes up for a vote, and the bill sponsor or another lawmaker backing it speaks briefly on what it is and why it should pass. 

Then other lawmakers can ask to speak on the bill and/or ask questions about it. Anyone can also bring up floor amendments — proposals to change the bill in question that will be decided, you guessed it, on the floor. But floor amendments need to be filed beforehand, and if they haven’t been filed to the exact copy of the bill being voted on at least 24 hours ahead of time, they’re typically a nonstarter. (In many situations, the exact version of the bill hasn’t been the working version of the bill for 24 hours, but that is the way things are run.)

The chamber eventually votes on the bill. If it passes, it heads to the other chamber. 

Repeating the process

After passing its first chamber, the bill will then need to repeat much of the same process in the second chamber. (So, if it started in the House, it does the process over again in the Senate, and vice versa.)

It needs to get assigned to a committee, pass out of committee, get three readings on the chamber floor and then pass out of the entire chamber. 

There is one situation where this doesn’t happen, though. Sometimes, lawmakers will file mirror legislation: Copies of the same bills, with one in the House and one in the Senate. If they both pass the same bill out of their chambers, they can shrink how long the overall legislative process takes. 

Concurrence

Once the second chamber votes to pass the bill, things can get a little wonky. 

If the bill did not change between the two chambers, it is considered passed and goes to the governor’s desk.

But if it did change between chambers, it needs to go back to the first chamber and they need to approve of the changes. If they do, to the governor’s desk it goes.

But if they don’t, the second chamber is asked to get rid of their changes to the bill. If they say yes, to the governor. If they don’t, then the bill goes to a place called a conference committee — basically when a bunch of folks look at the existing bill and come to a compromise about what it should look like, within the confines of the bill’s existing language. 

And if that still doesn’t work, the bill goes to a free conference committee — basically a group of folks free to do whatever they want to the legislation to strike some sort of agreement that both chambers will approve and then send to the governor. 

Once both sides come to an agreement

The bill heads to Gov. Andy Beshear’s desk for approval. He has 10 days to either sign the measure into law, veto it, or let it become law without his signature. 

What if Beshear vetoes a bill? 

If he vetoes a bill before the veto period — a break in late March and early April for Beshear to go through all of the bills and veto/sign them — the bill will then go back to the GOP-dominated legislature, which can and almost always overrides his veto. Both the House and the Senate need to vote to override a veto, and they need a simple majority of members of the chamber to vote to override. 

At that point, the bill then goes to the Kentucky Secretary of State, who is required to put the new law on the books. 

But if a bill gets vetoed after the veto period, the legislature cannot override it because they’re no longer in session. This situation rarely happens, though, because the GOP legislature works to make sure all of their controversial legislation gets passed before the veto period.

How long does all of this take?

Each bill is required to receive three readings on three separate days in each chamber, so the whole process typically takes about six legislative days — but they can make it five days by giving a bill a final vote in one chamber and then its first reading in the second chamber on the same day.

There are loopholes, though, to get things through faster, like the mirror legislation tactic. They can also take an existing bill that’s already advanced through some votes, swap out its language, and clear it that way. 

Kentucky’s 2026 legislative session is gonna be a long one, and Queer Kentucky is here to help.

Meet Queer Kentucky’s #KYGA26 Bill Tracker. For the second year in a row, this will be your go-to spot for real-time updates on key bills impacting Kentucky’s LGBTQ+ community.

We’ll comb through all of the legislation as it gets filed, flag bills to watch, explain what they mean and why they’re important, and then monitor them as they move through Frankfort. We’ll also watch for any last-second bill changes y’all need to know about.

To better help cut through the chaos of Frankfort, this bill tracker has two parts. (Both parts are on this page, so go ahead and bookmark it and make plans to check it regularly.)

First, we’ll have a searchable database of a larger selection of bills folks are talking about, are big legislative priorities, or are just things y’all might find interesting.

Then, we’ll have written blurbs diving deeper — but still keeping things concise — into the absolute must-watch bills impacting LGBTQ+ rights and people.

The 2026 legislative session kicks off Jan. 6 and lasts until April 15. Lawmakers have until the first week of March to submit new bills (but they can change existing bills however they want until the end of session).

Got a certain bill or topic you want us to monitor? Email lead politics reporter Olivia Krauth at [email protected] or fill out this anonymous survey.

This story was last updated March 29 at 7:45 p.m.

Search through key legislation

Bills that are (technically) still alive

House Bill 759: Anti-trans teacher floor amendment

• Sponsor: Rep. J.T. Payne (R-Henderson)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: A floor amendment wants to add language to keep transgender teachers out of Kentucky classrooms. The floor amendment would need to be voted on by the full Senate, but it is expected to be withdrawn because it breaks a Senate rule around adding the contains of a bill to a different one.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Passed out of the House and a Senate committee, now waiting for a full Senate vote.

Bills that have been withdrawn

Senate Bill 351: Transgender teachers couldn’t teach

• Sponsor: Sen. Gex Williams (R-Verona)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: Anyone treated for or diagnosed with outdated criteria around gender identity disorders would no longer be allowed to be certified to teach in Kentucky classrooms.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Withdrawn March 26.

Bills that are dead

House Bill 468: Cripple ability to enforce fairness ordinances

• Sponsor: Rep. Daniel Elliott (R-Danville)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: In the initial version of the bill, local Human Rights Commissions would have a harder time enforcing local fairness ordinances or go after allegations of discrimination, among other things. Newer versions of the bill have weakened those concerns.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Passed out of the House, now waiting for a Senate committee assignment.

Senate Bill 72: Health care professionals’ conscience

• Sponsor: Sen. Donald Douglas (R-Nicholasville)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: Health care professionals could not be discriminated against for refusing certain treatments or procedures that violate their conscience.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Passed out of the Senate, now waiting for a House committee assignment.

House Bill 867: “Bathroom ban” in public buildings

• Sponsor: Rep. Bill Wesley (R-Ravenna)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: People using bathrooms in public buildings would be required to use the bathroom tied to their sex assigned at birth.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Assigned to the House State Government Committee.

House Bill 553: No funding for gender transition health care

• Sponsor: Rep. Josh Calloway (R-Irvington)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: HB 553 would block any sort of taxpayer-funded health plans — including those for state and local government employees — from covering gender transition-related health services. It would also require licensing boards for health care providers who violate the law to revoke those providers’ licenses.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Assigned to the House State Government Committee.

House Bill 360: Make drag a crime

• Sponsor: Rep. Scott Sharp (R-Ashland)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: HB 360 would make performing in drag in public or other places where minors could be present a crime. The first two offenses would be a misdemeanor, before the third and additional offenses become Class D felonies.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.

House Bill 475: Male and female only

• Sponsor: Rep. Ryan Dotson (R-Winchester)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: HB 475 would put it in Kentucky law that a person only has one gender: male or female.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Assigned to the House Health Services Committee.

Senate Bill 239: Undo most of 2023’s SB 150

• Sponsor: Sen. Karen Berg (D-Louisville)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: SB 239 would undo much of Kentucky’s 2023 sweeping anti-trans legislation, instead requiring schools to provide bathrooms tied to a student’s gender identity and use the student’s preferred pronouns if they provide a doctor’s note showing they have gender dysphoria. It would still outlaw gender-affirming surgeries for minors, but would allow those with gender dysphoria and a parent’s permission to receive nonsurgical medical treatments.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Waiting for a committee assignment.

Senate Bill 252: Allow lawsuits over sexual orientation, gender identity change attempts

• Sponsor: Sen. Karen Berg (D-Louisville)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: SB 252 would allow someone to sue if someone tries to change their sexual orientation or gender identity against their will, for example, with conversion therapy.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Waiting for a committee assignment.

House Bill 664: Allow lawsuits over sexual orientation, gender identity change attempts

• Sponsor: Rep. Lisa Willner (D-Louisville)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: Same thing as SB 252 — it would allow someone to sue if someone tries to change their sexual orientation or gender identity against their will, for example, with conversion therapy.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.

House Bill 170: Protecting “religious liberty”

• Sponsor: Rep. TJ Roberts (R-Burlington)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: HB 170 says the government could not “substantially burden” someone’s freedom of religion, including but not limited to forcing someone to serve LGBTQ+ people or having a local fairness ordinance. LGBTQ+ advocates often refer to measures like these as “jackpot justice” bills.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.

House Bill 334: Male and female only 

• Sponsor: Rep. Candy Massaroni (R-Bardstown)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: HB 334 would establish a “Kentucky Women’s Bill of Rights,” which would allow public entities to distinguish between male and female based on biological sex and require several such entities that keep vital statistics to only use male or female.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Assigned to the House State Government Committee.

Senate Bill 179: Male and female only 

• Sponsor: Sen. Lindsey Tichenor (R-Smithfield)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: SB 179 generally does the same things as HB 334.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Waiting for a committee assignment.

Senate Bill 115: Statewide fairness ordinance

• Sponsor: Sen. Gerald Neal (D-Louisville)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: SB 115 would create a statewide fairness ordinance, blocking discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Waiting to be assigned to a committee.

House Bill 653: Statewide fairness ordinance

• Sponsor: Rep. Mary Lou Marzian (D-Louisville)
• Quickly, what’s going on here?: SB 115 would create a statewide fairness ordinance, blocking discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Here’s a link to the full bill.
• Where is the bill: Assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.