The law, Senate Bill 244, invalidates the driver's licenses for so-called transgender people. AFN reported previously that this bill will invalidate around 1,700 driver licenses as it is now required to display a person’s biological sex. Individuals will have to pay a $26 fee in order to replace their license with one reflecting the correct information.
The bill also requires people use only the public restrooms for the gender they were assigned at birth. This applies to public schools, universities and state offices. Individuals could reach up to $1,000 in damages in civil lawsuits and face misdemeanor charges for repeat violations, and agencies who do not enforce the law will face penalties.
According to Associated Press, two individuals identifying as transgender filed a lawsuit arguing the law violates rights to privacy, personal autonomy and due legal process guaranteed by the Kansas Constitution. Their defense was that the Kansas Bill of Rights protects “a right to bodily autonomy.”
A 2023 state law, meanwhile, defined male and female according the “biological reproductive system” that a person was born with.
Gov. Laura Kelly (D-Kansas) vetoed the bill, but a supermajority of the legislature overrode the veto.
Brittany Jones, president of Kansas Family Voice, was glad to see the veto override. She spoke with AFNs, saying she’s optimistic of the state defeating the lawsuit.
"I've seen that lawsuit and read through some of the complaint,” says Jones. “It is all about these individuals wanting the state to recognize what's not true. Men can't be women, and women can't be men. There's biological reality."
In recent days, Jones told AFN that Kansas Family Voice expected lawsuits would be filed.
"We're hopeful that the court will hear the logic and the reality in this case and will side with the legislature and the majority of the people in Kansas," says Jones.
