KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Shawnee County judge granted a motion Friday morning allowing five transgender people to intervene in Kansas v. Harper, the lawsuit filed by Republican Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach on July 7 against the Kansas Department of Revenue (KDOR) for continuing to allow transgender Kansans to change their driver’s licenses to reflect their gender identities after a law took effect on July 1 that he says bans them from doing so.
Kobach says the law that went into effect on July 1 bans transgender Kansans from changing their driver’s licenses to reflect their gender identity and also orders entities to reverse the more than 1,200 changes already made over the last four years, but Gov. Laura Kelly disagrees and said on June 27 that transgender Kansans can continue to apply for changes.
Kobach responded to Kelly’s statement by saying he’d see her in court.
The ongoing lawsuit will settle whether or not the law that went into effect on July 1 requires a driver’s license to reflect the gender one was assigned to at birth.
The ACLU filed for a motion to intervene in the lawsuit on July 11 on behalf of five transgender Kansans who claim their constitutional rights would be infringed upon if their driver’s licenses can’t reflect their gender identities. Today, the judge ruled their voices will be heard.
“We are gratified that the court has seen that our clients have a vested interest in the outcome of this case, and should be entitled to make their arguments,” said Sharon Brett, Legal Director of the ACLU of Kansas, in a press release. “For our clients and the entire community they represent, this case is about the privacy, dignity, and autonomy that comes from having accurate gender markers on their license, and about their right to be safe from the harassment they would face if forced to present inaccurate IDs that would essentially out them against their will in daily life. This case is about trans Kansans’ well-being and their ability to live freely and without government-sanctioned persecution — we look forward to further demonstrating that before the court.”
On July 7, the same day Kobach filed the lawsuit, Watson granted Kobach’s request for a temporary restraining order against KDOR – who is responsible for issuing driver’s licenses – which has disallowed KDOR from issuing gender marker changes on driver’s licenses until the lawsuit is settled, or until at least Nov. 1.
"The primary legal question remains the same: Does a state agency have to follow the plain meaning of a law passed by our duly-elected legislators? With respect to the constitutional challenge raised by the ACLU, we look forward to rebutting their novel theories in court,” Kobach said in a statement.
The court battle took a turn with Watson’s ruling on Aug. 18, which now brings into question whether there is a constitutional infringement at stake.
“The Kansas Constitution guarantees Kansans who are transgender the same rights as Kansans who are not transgender,” the ACLU says on its website. “Those rights include those guaranteed by Section 1 of the Bill of Rights, such as rights of personal autonomy, privacy, and equality. AG Kobach's interpretation of the law and actions place the state at risk of infringing on those fundamental rights, and limiting freedom for trans people worsens conditions for all women by re-entrenching the very gender stereotypes that have underpinned centuries of women’s oppression.”
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