A new Kansas law requires the driver’s licenses of transgender people to match their sex at birth and restricts them to using public bathrooms corresponding to their assigned gender.
Senate Bill 244 initially went into effect Feb. 26, shortly after the Republican-led Legislature overrode a veto by Gov. Laura Kelly. Transgender people across the state were immediately notified their licenses were invalid because the law did not include a grace period for applying for new identification.
But two transgender residents filed a lawsuit in state court the following day to challenge the legislation, the American Civil Liberties Union and its Kansas affiliate announced.
Monica Bennett
“This legislation is a direct attack on the dignity and humanity of transgender Kansans,” said Monica Bennett, legal director of ACLU of Kansas. “It undermines our state’s strong constitutional protections against government overreach and persecution.”
State Attorney General Kris Kobach subsequently agreed to pause enforcement of SB-244 until March 26 to give transgender people time to apply for new driver’s licenses, KWCH in Wichita reported. A judge is expected to decide on issuing a restraining order March 10.
Kobach argued against the restraining order in Daniel Doe and Matthew Doe v. State of Kansas because the plaintiffs “‘have not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of their invented and unusual constitutional claims.’” He added they “‘have failed to show irreparable injury or that the balancing of the equities weighs in their favor.’”
Kris Kobach
Passage of the law came as a surprise to many because it was quickly and quietly pushed through committees to a full vote, according to a report by The 19th News: “Republicans in the Legislature placed transgender Kansans in their crosshairs at the start of this year’s session. The House Judiciary Committee scheduled a hearing with less than 24 hours’ notice on the second day of the session for a bill that would invalidate their driver’s licenses.”
A week of hurried hearings and procedural maneuvers was followed by unannounced committee action, including the addition of the bathroom requirement.
The measure stemmed from a 2025 Kansas Court of Appeals ruling that there was no harm in allowing transgender people to be identified by the sex of their choice on official records.
Republicans then inserted the contents of the House bill into an unrelated Senate bill that passed the year before. That allowed the House and Senate to pass Senate Bill 244 the next day without ever holding a public hearing on the bathroom provision.
Jaelynn Abegg
Transgender rights activist Jaelynn Abegg organized a protest in a statehouse bathroom, according to the report.
“This is a hallmark of a Legislature and of a government that has a deep, deep sickness in it, and it really saddens me that we’re living to see days like this, where there’s that sort of situation going on, and there’s not a greater public outcry about it. This should be a concern to everyone who values democracy and who values Kansas as a free state.”
The national civil rights group Trans Liberty said it will launch “Operation Lifeboat,” a disaster relief-style campaign to provide transportation out of state, moving expenses and legal aid to transgender Kansans affected by the bill.
“An estimated 20,000 to 50,000 transgender Kansans face heightened legal exposure, harassment and barriers to daily life under the law,” the organization said. “Last week, Trans Liberty issued what it described as the first-ever statewide evacuation warning for transgender Americans, citing immediate and escalating risks to life safety.”
Trans Liberty Executive Director Samantha Boucher said the lawsuit may buy transgender people some time. “But a temporary court order doesn’t unsend the message Kansas’ legislature already sent — that trans people are their targets. The state turned thousands of Americans into undocumented people overnight. If it isn’t in this form, they’ll find another way.”