For many trans Kansans and allied activists, Friday’s “pee-in” wasn’t their first time in the state Capitol building in Topeka. Years of commitment to the cause led to the day’s event.
The GOP-led Kansas House and Senate on Wednesday suspended rules to approve a “bathroom bill” targeting transgender people after House Democrats delayed passage by six hours.
The anti-transgender “bathroom bill” made a comeback in Kansas politics Monday after a GOP-led legislative committee pushed out legislation to force anyone using a bathroom in government buildings to use the facility matching their biological sex at birth.
Kansas AG Kris Kobach will pay a symbolic $1 sanction in a case regarding gender marker changes on driver’s licenses because he “should have known” better than to file a motion in a court that did not have jurisdiction.
A bill that would ban gender changes on Kansas driver’s licenses and birth certificates drew hundreds of opponent comments despite appearing on a committee agenda just 24 hours before the Tuesday hearing.
In January, all access to hormone treatments and other gender-affirming care for transgender youth will end in Kansas. Some families have already moved to avoid the ban.
The families of two transgender teens are asking a Douglas County judge to temporarily block the ban on gender-affirming care. That would allow young Kansans to resume hormone therapies and other treatments.
The U.S. Department of Education threatened to withhold federal funding from 4 Kansas school districts last month over their policies for transgender students. The school districts are seeking support as they navigate a federal investigation.
Wednesday marked the first day in two years that transgender Kansans were able to change the gender markers on their drivers licenses after the Kansas Supreme Court denied Attorney General Kris Kobach’s appeal in a long legal battle.
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
Thanks to a Kansas Supreme Court decision this week, transgender Kansans will soon be able to change the gender markers on their driver’s licenses.
