In a legal battle that intensifies the ongoing dispute over transgender rights, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has filed a lawsuit against Governor Laura Kelly and state agencies under her control. The lawsuit aims to prohibit transgender individuals from changing the sex listed on their driver’s licenses, citing a recently enacted anti-trans law. While the law extends to birth certificates as well, the lawsuit focuses solely on driver’s licenses. This legal move adds Kansas to the shortlist of states resisting changes to transgender individuals’ identification documents.
The lawsuit, filed in state district court in Shawnee County, home to Topeka, the state capital, seeks an order to compel Governor Kelly to enforce the new law. Although Kelly is not named as a defendant, her policy on driver’s licenses is at the heart of the lawsuit. The dispute centers on whether the law, which came into effect last Saturday, allows transgender individuals to modify their licenses and requires the state to reverse any previous changes in its records.
Governor Kelly’s administration stands firm in its commitment to upholding the rights of transgender individuals. However, the lawsuit claims that she cannot selectively enforce the law. The lawsuit names two officials overseeing driver’s licenses as defendants, asserting that the governor should enforce the law as it is written.
This legal confrontation sheds light on the political dynamics in Kansas, where Republicans have consistently won U.S. Senate races, but Democrats have secured half of the governor’s races with the support of moderate Republicans. While the state’s Legislature holds anti-abortion Republican supermajorities, a statewide vote in August 2022 strongly affirmed abortion rights. This ideological landscape adds complexity to the legal battle surrounding transgender rights.
Over the past four years, more than 900 people in Kansas have already changed the sex listing on their birth certificates, and approximately 400 have modified their driver’s licenses. The number of driver’s license changes spiked in May and June, coinciding with LGBTQ+ rights advocates’ call to action before the new law took effect. Advocates argue that the law erases transgender individuals’ identities and impedes their ability to live authentically.
The new law defines an individual’s sex as male or female, determined by their “biological reproductive system” at birth. It asserts that protecting privacy, health, and safety justifies the existence of single-sex spaces, such as bathrooms and locker rooms. Governor Kelly’s office maintains that the state health department and the motor vehicle division will continue allowing transgender individuals to modify their identification documents, stating that such changes do not violate the new law. However, LGBTQ+ rights advocates and Kobach himself confirm that the law’s intent is to prevent such modifications.
Kansas joins a growing list of states with legislation limiting transgender individuals’ access to facilities aligned with their gender identities. While the state’s law does not include an enforcement mechanism, it adds to the challenges faced by the transgender community. As the legal battle unfolds, the outcome could have implications not only for Kansas but also for the broader conversation on transgender rights nationwide.
