LEXINGTON, Ky. — A controversial proposal to bar transgender people from teaching in Kentucky is unlikely to advance during the final days of the 2026 legislative session, according to reporting from Queer Kentucky, Kentucky's only LGBTQ+ newsroom.

The proposal originated as Senate Bill 351, filed earlier this month by Sen. Gex Williams, a Republican from Northern Kentucky. The bill would have prevented transgender individuals from obtaining or maintaining teaching licenses in the state. The measure never received a committee assignment and did not advance.

After withdrawing SB 351, Williams refiled the proposal as a floor amendment to House Bill 759, an otherwise uncontroversial measure. However, the maneuver faces significant procedural obstacles that make passage unlikely, according to legislative observers.

HB 759 was initially scheduled for the consent calendar, a batch of routine bills voted on together to save time. When a floor amendment is proposed to a consent calendar bill, it is automatically removed from the streamlined process and treated as a regular bill requiring individual debate and voting, said sources familiar with the legislative process.

Additionally, the proposed amendment appears to violate Kentucky Senate rules regarding "piggybacking," which prohibit adding the majority or entirety of a failed bill to a different measure as a floor amendment. Williams is expected to withdraw the amendment before a vote occurs, or it will be struck down for violating the rules.

Even if the amendment somehow survived in the Senate, the bill would need to return to the House for approval of the changes. With the legislature meeting only Tuesday and Wednesday before a two-week veto period begins, lawmakers face time constraints and competing priorities that make approval unlikely, observers said.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear will have two weeks to review any bills passed by the legislature before deciding whether to sign, veto or take no action on them.