Some 1,700 Kansans had their driver's licenses invalidated last month. It wasn't for racking up speeding tickets or a DUI charge, but because they are transgender.
Kansas is one of five states to prohibit trans people from changing the gender marker on their licenses, but it is the first to pass a law that retroactively cancels licenses that were already changed. The law also invalidated birth certificates for those who updated their gender markers.
Hundreds of trans drivers already received letters from the state informing them their documents were "invalid immediately" and they "may be subject to additional penalties" if they continue to drive, unless they surrender the license to the Kansas Division of Vehicles and receive a new one with their birth sex.
"I'm pretty heartbroken," said Jaelynn Abegg, a 41-year-old trans woman living in Wichita who received a letter. She said she will not turn in her license and plans to move this month to another state.
"It is a continuation of the message that the Legislature has been sending out for years now, and that is that transgender people are not welcome in Kansas," she said.
Two anonymous trans residentssuedKansas last month, arguing that the law violates state protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality, due process and freedom of speech. On Tuesday, Douglas County District Judge James McCabria declined to grant a temporary restraining order against the law while the case proceeds.
McCabria wrote in his decision that there isn't enough evidence to show that trans people will face harassment and discrimination if they have to use bathrooms or show IDs that conflict with their gender identities.
Kansas law was years in the making
Kansas had allowed trans people to update the gender markers on their IDs since 2007. Then in 2023, it changed its legal definition of sex to be male or female and assigned at birth.
Fifteen other states have made a similar change in the past few years — and President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring that there areonly two unchangeable sexes. The State Department nowprohibits trans people from changingthe gender markers on their passports.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sued the state, arguing that allowing people to update their gender markers violated the 2023 law. Last year, the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed an appeals court decision and allowed gender marker changes to resume.
In January, Kobach backed the new bill he said would "correct an error" by the courts. The state Senate added a provision prohibiting trans people from using bathrooms that align with their gender identities in government-owned buildings. It was passed without public comment. The penalties for violating the provision can be $1,000 for individuals and up to $125,000 for government entities with more than one infraction.
Last month, Democratic Gov. Laura Kellyvetoed the bill,saying the Legislature "should stay out of the business of telling Kansans how to go to the bathroom and instead stay focused on how to make life more affordable for Kansans." Days later, the Republican-held state Legislature overrode her veto.
Kansas House Speaker Daniel Hawkins, a Republican,said in a statementat the time that the law's purpose was to protect women. "This isn't about scoring political points, but doing what's right for women and girls across our communities," he said, according to the Kansas Reflector. Hawkins did not respond to NBC News' request for comment.
State Rep. Mark Schreiber, the only Republican to vote against the bill, told NBC News he agreed with the appeals court that Kobach could not show how allowing trans people to change the gender markers on their licenses caused harm to the state.
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"I don't have any trans folks in my family, but I know trans people," he said, adding that they aren't looking for special privileges and just want to live their lives. "And we seem to keep passing laws that keep getting in the way of that."
Harper Seldin, one of the ACLU attorneys involved in the lawsuit, said during court arguments Friday that the Kansas Legislature singled out trans Kansans "for unique social stigma."
"They were suddenly required, with no notice or opportunity to be heard, to present themselves to the DMV to obtain driver's licenses that announced to everyone — the teller at the bank, the clerk at the hotel, the poll worker on election day — that they are transgender," Seldin said.
Trans peoplehave longreportedfacing more harassment and discriminationwhileusing IDs that don't align with their genderidentity or expression, and many trans Kansans said they fear that their daily risk of facing such harassment would only increase as a result of the law.
'There was no plan whatsoever'
Over the last five years, dozens of states have considered bills targeting transgender people, but the majority of those have targeted people's ability to play on school sports teams that align with their gender identities and minors' access to transition-related care. In the last few years, state and federal policies have shifted to focus on changing legal definitions of sex and restricting access to updated identity documents.
Logan Casey, director of policy research at the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank that tracks legislation, described these broader laws as "gender regulation laws" that attack the fundamental rights and identity of trans people.
"The point all along for the people pushing these bills and these attacks has been to single out transgender people and create a license to discriminate against transgender people and remove them from public life," he said. "In effect, trying to get them to stop being transgender."
Kansas' law took effect immediately after it was published in the register Feb. 26. A spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Revenue told the Kansas Reflector that the lawinvalidated about 1,700 licenses. The department did not respond to a request for comment. During the court hearing Friday, Kobach said the department had so far sent letters to 275 Kansans and 138 had received new licenses.
Andrea Ellis, a 34-year-old trans woman living in Wellington, said she received a letter Wednesday even though she never changed the gender marker on her license — she only legally changed her name on it in December. She drove to the DMV the next day, where she said staff were confused about what to do and said her license had a "flag" on it.
They cut the corner off her license and gave her a temporary one. But later that day, they called her and said she had to return to the DMV because they made an error. When she went back, she said they gave her another temporary license that looked the same as the first.
"They claim that it was thought out, and everything else, but there was no grace period unlike any other kind of rollout program," Ellis said. "There was no plan whatsoever."
Some trans residents, like Matthew Neumann, said they still haven't received any notification regarding their licenses. Neumann, who is the executive director of the LGBTQ Foundation of Kansas, said he's been checking the validity of his license every day on the Kansas Department of Revenue website, and it's still valid as of Friday.
Neumann said his organization has raised funds to help trans Kansans pay to update their licenses. Getting a license with an updated gender marker costs $8.75, while receiving a new ID is $26.
Neumann has lived in Larned, Kansas, for 20 years and said he will never leave. He said he's been threatened over his restroom use, and he fears he could face more harassment under the new law.
"I'm just disappointed and frustrated," he said. "I'm just hoping that maybe this is the wake up call we need," he said.
