Kansas Judge Declines To Block Law That Invalidates Driver’s Licenses for Transgender Individuals

Kansas officials will be able to revoke the driver’s licenses of transgender individuals after a judge refused to grant an injunction, finding that the plaintiffs in the case did not present evidence to show that it would cause irreparable harm.Since 2007, residents in Kansas have been allowed to change the gender markers on their driver’s licenses. However, in February, Kansas’s Republican-controlled legislature forced through Senate Bill 244 — overriding Governor Laura Kelly’s veto — which requires residents to list their biological sex on documents, and invalidates existing documents that reflect an individual’s gender identity. Kansas is one of several states that require residents to use their biological sex on IDs, but the first to retroactively invalidate documents for individuals who identified as a different gender. The ACLU sued to block S.B. 244, but on Tuesday, a Douglas County district judge, James McCabria, declined to grant an injunction, letting the law — which also requires individuals to use public restrooms or locker rooms that align with their biological sex — remain in effect as the case plays out.Judge McCabria said in his ruling, “This Court declines the invitation to assume that every employer who values and respects an employee would react in every instance by firing or harassing that employee. Or that every acquaintance would react with disfavor to having this information revealed to them. Or that every restroom visit is fraught with the potential for violence or embarrassment if this law is not immediately suspended.”“Or, especially, to assume the Legislature intended to promote such negative experiences when the law was passed,” he said. The judge also wrote that Kansans are “tolerant, understanding, accepting, and generally supportive of each other, and that the vast majority of transgender persons have experienced this as Kansans.”“With this conclusion of the Court, Plaintiffs have not demonstrated that enforcement of this Act will necessarily, in all instances, result in Constitutional violations,” Judge McCabria wrote.The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of two anonymous transgender individuals. A senior staff attorney for the ACLU, Harper Seldin, said in a statement, “This is a devastating, but hopefully temporary, setback for our clients and transgender people across the state of Kansas. The harm of this law has already had sweeping impacts on the lives of transgender people like our clients, threatening their ability to hold a job, go to school, or go about their daily lives.”Republicans in the state argue that the law protects privacy in restrooms and locker rooms. A state representative who supported the law, Carolyn Caiharr, said ahead of the vote that it also “protects girls and women.”Since the law took effect last month, roughly 1,700 Kansans have had their driver’s licenses invalidated. Under the law, schools, universities, libraries, and other establishments could be on the hook for hefty fines if they do not ensure the limitations on bathroom and locker room usage are followed. A first-time offense could lead to a $25,000 fine, and a $125,000 fine for subsequent offenses. Meanwhile, individuals who do not use facilities that correspond to their biological sex will receive a warning after their first violation, a $1,000 fine for their second violation, and will be charged with misdemeanors for subsequent violations. They could also face civil lawsuits from “aggrieved” individuals.

Kansas Judge Declines To Block Law That Invalidates Driver’s Licenses for Transgender Individuals

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