Overriding their governor's veto, Kansas Republicans passed a law abruptly voiding the drivers' licenses of any and all transgender citizens of the Sunflower State. The Kansas law further invalidates birth certificates in which the gender marker has been changed.
AIRWAY, Kan. (KCTV) - Kansans are now required to list their sex at birth on their driver’s license under a new state law that has already rendered hundreds of IDs invalid.
Letters were sent to impacted drivers this week notifying them their licenses are no longer valid. ...
The law also prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms on government property consistent with their gender identity. It allows someone suspected of being transgender and violating the law to be sued for up to $1,000.
Trans Kansans are required to surrender invalidated driver’s license to the state before they can receive a replacement that misidentifies their present gender (and I wouldn't be surprised if the new license were to deadname them as well).
There was no grace period, taking effect immediately upon passage. Transgender drivers had no time to comply with the law before losing their driving privileges.
"People who have changed the gender marker are worried about being pulled over on the way to getting their new driver's license. They're stressed. Matthew Neumann is a transgender man in central Kansas. He leads a statewide LGBTQ mutual aid organization. You know, he's got a long beard, a bald head, and now, whenever he applies for a job or gets pulled over by police, his ID is going to out him as transgender, whether he likes it or not."
The new law, besides imposing penalties for driving without one's birth genitalia, effectively disenfranchises transgender voters; state law requires that voters present a state-issued, unexpired, photo ID to cast a ballot.
Meanwhile, Texas has not gone so far as to revoke transgender citizens' driving licenses, but does prevent trans Texans from updating the gender marker on their driver's license or state ID; nor is there an "X" option for non-binary persons. Trans activists worried that the state's 2024 law would deter people from voting in Tuesday's primary.
“Trans voters are left vulnerable to being outed, questioned, or turned away, which creates very real barriers to casting a ballot,” [Caleb Armstrong, a transmasculine Texan and co-founder of Local Queer Foundation] wrote in an email. “It is difficult to find accurate information about voting as a trans person, and for many, the fear of navigating the process is enough to keep folks from voting at all. This fear and confusion has a purpose in trying to silence our voices and keep trans people from participating fully in our democracy.”
As it turned out, more voters may have been deterred from voting simply by a change of the rules on where Dallas voters were supposed to go. Polls had to be kept open for two hours past the usual closing time, just to accommodate voters who went to their usual polling place only to be told they had to go somewhere else.
Even then, Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s campaign is considering a lawsuit over the confusion.
All of which is an argument against constantly changing election rules.
Returning to the topic of this week's cartoon, two trans men from Lawrence, Kansas, have filed a lawsuit in Douglas County District Court to challenge the state's new law. The anonymous pair are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and a Philadelphia-based law firm. A hearing is scheduled tomorrow.
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