A Kansas judge has ordered Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration to stop changing gender markers on driver’s licenses for transgender people.
Shawnee County District Court Judge Teresa Watson issued the temporary restraining order on Monday at the request of Attorney General Kris Kobach, who is suing two officials at the Kansas Department of Revenue over the practice.
The lawsuit is an attempt from Kobach, a Republican, to force the agency under Kelly, a Democrat, to follow new state law from Senate Bill 180.
The law went into effect July 1 with a strict biological definition of sex. The attorney general and governor have disputed whether or not the law bans the current practice of changing gender markers on both driver’s licenses and birth certificates.
“The Attorney General points out that driver’s licenses are issued for a period of six years and are difficult to take back or out of circulation once issued,” Watson wrote. “Licenses are used by law enforcement to identify criminal suspects, crime victims, wanted persons, missing persons, and others. Compliance with stated legal requirements for identifying license holders is a public safety concern.
Taryn Jones, vice chair and lobbyist for the LGBTQ+ rights group Equality Kansas, acknowledged the concern that allowing the state to keep making changes would make it more difficult for law enforcement, but asked, “How many criminals are you having that are trans?” She said trans people will still be able to change their names to align with their gender identities.
Jones also said potential problems for law enforcement should be weighed against the harm to the mental health and safety of transgender people who don’t have licenses that match their gender identities.
“You know, it’s hard enough being trans right now in America, especially in a conservative place like Kansas,” she said.
“Allowing Respondents to issue non-compliant driver’s licenses pending a court hearing is an immediate and irreparable injury that supports the grant of a temporary restraining order on the terms requested by the Attorney General.”
The order is in effect for 14 days, but may be modified, vacated or extended by the court.
Under Kansas law, a court is allowed to issue a temporary restraining order without providing prior notice to the other party if the facts “clearly show that immediate and irreparable injury, loss or damage will result to the movant before the adverse party can be heard in opposition.”
It’s significant because transgender people have been able to change their driver’s licenses in Kansas for at least four years, and almost 400 people have done it.
Even with a raft of measures targeting transgender people in statehouses across the U.S. this year, Kansas would be atypical for not allowing them to change sex or gender markers on birth certificates, driver’s licenses or either. Montana and Tennessee also have policies against changing either document, and Oklahoma has a policy against changing birth certificates.
More:Kobach sues Kelly administration to block Kansans from changing gender on driver’s licenses
Spokespeople for Kelly and Kobach did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Watson wrote that she was ordering the two named respondents, director of vehicles David Harper and Revenue Secretary Mark Burghart, “to comply with the provisions of SB 180.” That means:
- “Respondents and those under their direction shall immediately cease and desist from processing any requests by driver’s licensees or driver’s license applicants to change or display their sex in a manner that does not reflect their biological sex as defined by SB 180.
- “Respondents shall take all actions necessary to ensure that any newly issued or reissued driver’s licenses reflect the licensee’s biological sex as defined by SB 180.”
Jason Alatidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jtidd@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter@Jason_Alatidd.
Contributing: The Associated Press