The Senate chamber of the Kansas Statehouse is pictured July 23, 2014 in Topeka.

Topeka ? The Kansas Senate narrowly rejected a bill Thursday that was intended to protect the free speech rights of students on state college and university campuses after new concerns were raised that the bill would not adequately protect LGBT individuals from student-on-student harassment.

Senate Bill 340 was debated on the floor of the Senate Wednesday, with no one either for or against the bill mentioning the issue of LGBT protection.

But a provision of the bill that many had overlooked would have imposed a new, narrower definition of student-on-student harassment that many said would prohibit public institutions from enforcing policies that most currently have on the books.

That section defines such harassment as “unwelcome conduct directed toward a person that is discriminatory on a basis prohibited by federal, state or local law that is so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it effectively bars the victim’s access to educational opportunity or benefit.”

It would also prohibit colleges and universities from adopting policies any more expansive than that.

Several senators expressed concern that such a narrow definition of harassment could expose LGBT individuals to harassment, and university administrators would be powerless to do anything about it.

The bill failed on a 20-20 vote. Bills need at least 21 votes to pass in the Senate.