Trans Residents Sue Kansas Over New Law Outlawing Their Current Licenses

Two transgender residents of Kansas are suing the state over its newly enacted anti-trans law that has invalidated the driver’s licenses of hundreds of trans people.

The new law also authorizes any individual to sue anyone in Kansas who they suspect of using the “wrong” restroom, based on the state’s new definition of gender, which wrongly states that gender is equivalent to the sex a person was assigned at birth. Critics of the law have described this provision as a “bathroom bounty,” as those individuals can collect up to $1,000 in “damages.”

Trans residents began receiving letters from the state last week telling them to surrender their licenses to the Kansas Division of Vehicles (KDOV) if their gender markers were not in compliance with the state’s new definition of gender. The law also forbids transgender residents from updating gender markers on state-issued birth certificates and licenses in the future.

Two transgender men — only identified in the lawsuit as Daniel Doe and Matthew Moe — are suing to block the law, with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kansas representing them.

The new law “is a cruel and craven threat to public safety all in the name of fostering fear, division, and paranoia,” said Harper Seldin, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project.

The law “is a direct attack on the dignity and humanity of transgender Kansans,” said Monica Bennett, legal director of the ACLU of Kansas. “It undermines our state’s strong constitutional protections against government overreach and persecution.”

According to letters sent to residents, the law goes into effect right away, and there will be no grace period for those found in violation of the law.

“[Y]our current credentials will be invalid immediately, and you may be subject to additional penalties if you are operating a vehicle without a valid credential,” the letter states. Penalties include up to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.

The lawsuit, which refers to the law as Senate Bill (SB) 244, was filed on Friday, one day after the law went into effect.

“SB 244 is just the most recent law in a shameful litany of statutes enacted by the Kansas Legislature meant to discriminate against and dehumanize transgender people,” the lawsuit states, citing laws that exclude trans kids from school sports, bar trans children from receiving gender-affirming care, and enshrine unfair treatment of trans people in Kansas jails.

The lawsuit also states that:

Plaintiffs, like other Kansans, use their driver’s licenses to prove their identity and to travel freely. Plaintiffs, like other Kansans, also need to use restrooms when they are in public spaces. Plaintiffs, along with other transgender people around the state of Kansas, will immediately suffer harm under SB 244 because they will not be able to utilize a driver’s license with their correct gender marker or access public restrooms that accord with their gender identity.

The lawsuit also points out numerous ways in which the law violates the Kansas state constitution, including by:

• Targeting trans individuals in “discriminatory and dehumanizing” ways;
• Denying transgender people the constitutional “guarantee of equality under the law,” which, within the Kansas constitution, has been interpreted to prohibit “using sex and transgender status to deprive only certain Kansans from participating in public life”;
• Denying the “guarantees of due process” by acting to “prohibit immediate invalidation of driver’s licenses” and imposing “prospective penalties without a defined administrative process”; and
• Refusing to provide “protections for personal autonomy” that “prohibit the state from dictating how Kansans order their lives based on their gender.”

The lawsuit seeks to overturn the law in the longer term and to temporarily enjoin it from being enforced while the lawsuit is pending.

According to affidavits provided by the plaintiffs, there is also concern that the provision removing people’s correct gender markers from their licenses would “out” them in a way that could potentially endanger lives.

“I do not want to publicly reveal that I am transgender,” Daniel writes in his affidavit. “I want to protect my privacy, and to protect myself from harassment, violence, and discrimination, as well as retaliation for trying to protect my rights. I am also worried about backlash against my fiance, family, and employer if people learn I am transgender.”

Matthew notes in his affidavit that he has faced attacks in restrooms in the past, and that he fears they will happen again if the law is allowed to stay in place.

“I want to protect my privacy, and to protect myself from harassment, violence, and discrimination, as well as retaliation for trying to protect my rights,” Matthew states.

Critics say the law is an unnecessary intrusion into trans people’s lives for what are clearly bigoted reasons.

“This bill that the Republicans forced through the Legislature so quickly is doing nothing but causing a problem that doesn’t exist . . . It’s clearly something they’ve wanted to do for a long time, and it’s at the expense of members of marginalized communities,” said LGBTQ activist and Kansas resident Jae Moyer.

Other organizations lauded the ACLU for its lawsuit against the state.

“This harmful law stokes fear and puts trans people at serious risk. The ACLU’s legal challenge is a crucial step toward protecting the dignity, safety, and rights of trans people in Kansas and beyond,” a statement from PFLAG said.