Kansas Invalidates Driver’s Licenses, Birth Certificates of Over 1,700 Transgender Residents
The Kansas state government has revoked transgender residents’ birth certificates and driver’s licenses in accordance with a new law. The new state law requires identity documents to reflect the person’s sex assigned at birth. Additionally, the law now prohibits Kansas residents from changing their gender on those documents in the future, and impacted residents must pay the fee for their new documents.
The Legislature failed to include a grace period, so the law voided all driver’s licenses held by transgender residents as soon as it was passed. Legislators overrode Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s veto, and the bill took effect as soon as it was published in the Kansas Register. Anybody driving a vehicle without a legitimate license may also “be subject to additional penalties.”
In addition to those changes, the measure (SB 244) also prohibits transgender individuals from using restrooms and locker rooms in public buildings that correspond to their gender identity. It also establishes a system akin to a bounty, whereby Kansas residents can sue transgender individuals they come across in these rooms for $1,000 in damages.
The new law ‘puts transgender people in danger’
The new law affects around 1,700 Kansas driver’s license holders. The legislation also impacts approximately 1,800 birth certificates.
According to Harper Seldin, a senior staff attorney with the LGBTQ and HIV Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, the new Kansas law “puts transgender people in danger any time they interact with law enforcement or apply for a job or for housing or public benefits.”
Seldin added, “The mismatch between how they present themselves in the world and their driver’s license puts them at risk of discrimination or violence, and so that’s why many trans people choose to change the sex markers on our licenses so that we can live as ourselves in society and keep ourselves safe.”
Using an expedited process known as “gut and go,” the Kansas State Legislature hurried the new state law through. The procedure allows lawmakers to remove a bill’s text and replace it with completely different wording or provisions, avoiding the usual committee review procedure and accelerating the voting process.
On Friday, two transgender Kansas residents asked a state judge to throw out the new law. The plaintiffs have asked for a temporary injunction and a temporary restraining order in their lawsuit, according to the New York Times.
The plaintiffs say the statute infringes on several state Constitutional rights, such as the right to personal autonomy and due process. They contend that the legislation violates their right to equal protection because other drivers in Kansas have the option to alter their name, indicate that they are a veteran, or disclose a disability on their license.
