Topeka, Kan.– Two transgender men file lawsuit against Kansas New law Which revoked their driver’s licenses and that of about 1,700 others because they reflected people’s gender identities and not their sex assigned at birth, arguing that the measure “strips their humanity.”
The men filed their case on Thursday, the same day the law went into effect, and say it violates the rights to privacy, personal independence and due process guaranteed by the Kansas Constitution. The men are also challenging the law’s tough new law enforcement provisions State policy 3 years ago Preventing transgender people from using public restrooms or other individual facilities associated with their gender identities.
The men are asking Douglas County Judge Katherine Thiessen to block the law, which also invalidated nearly 1,800 birth certificates for transgender people. The county is home to the main campus of the University of Kansas and is a liberal stronghold in a red-leaning state.
“The Kansas Constitution prohibits the Kansas Legislature from targeting transgender individuals for such discriminatory and inhumane treatment,” the lawsuit says.
State Supreme Court Announced in 2019 That the Kansas Bill of Rights grants and protects the right to bodily autonomy – a resolution that protects abortion rights.
The new law was enacted last week when Republicans, who hold a supermajority in the Legislature, overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. She benches Theisen in 2022.
The 2023 state law, also enacted over Kelly’s veto, Male and female identifier Through a person’s “biological reproductive system” at birth. It has not yet been reviewed by the Kansas Supreme Court.
This year’s law calls for stiff fines for cities, counties, public schools and government agencies that do not restrict transgender people’s use of facilities, as well as fines and criminal prosecution for transgender people who violate them. People can also sue transgender individuals for alleged violations.
Republican lawmakers argued that the new law would protect girls and women and often labeled transgender women and girls as male.
“Kansans expect clarity, not confusion,” House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Republican from Wichita, said after the law passed. “They expect leadership, not submission to extremist activists.”
The law prohibits the listing of any “sex” on driver’s licenses and birth certificates other than those assigned at birth, and invalidates existing records that do not comply. The state has begun notifying transgender people by mail that their licenses are invalid and they must get new ones immediately.
At least eight other states do not allow transgender people to change one or both documents, but only Kansas has invalidated previously changed documents.
The two men suing over the new law are from Lawrence, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Kansas City, and are represented by ACLU attorneys. They have been identified as Danielle Do and Matthew Moe, saying they fear discrimination, harassment and violence if they do not remain anonymous.