Loud Light and ACLU of Kansas brought the Lawrence community together on Monday night to give updates on anti-trans legislation and groups that have helped combat the anti-trans rhetoric.
Approximately 30 community members met at the Lawrence Public Library to discuss the current updates on legislation, resources for the community and action steps that they can take with their legislators.
“There’s been an increase of political attacks on queer and trans folks, especially the trans community at the state level and the federal level,” ACLU attorney D.C. Hiegert said. “We are not only going to talk about what occurred to attack queer and trans folks this year, but also the work that has been going on to stop the attacks.”
Loud Light is a non-partisan civic action group in Kansas. ACLU Kansas is a nonprofit that focuses on the civil liberties and constitutional rights of Kansans.
They discussed SB 63, a new law that prohibits minors from receiving gender affirming care. They also discussed SB 76, which would have prohibited school district employees from referring to students by their preferred name and pronouns, but was struck off the calendar during the legislative session.
Hiegert discussed transparency within the state government and the status of these anti-trans bills.
“The anti-trans bills are sort of a symptom of ongoing lack of transparency and issues of access to our Statehouse,” Hiegert said in an interview after the meeting. “These bills are coming from model bills that are being pushed by national entities that have an agenda specifically targeting the queer and trans community.”
During the meeting, representatives from the ACLU and Loud Light briefly went over some of the executive orders signed by President Trump since Jan. 20, such as an executive order to no longer assist with gender affirming care for those under age 19. This order echoes SB 63’s sentiments of removing the ability for minors to get access to gender affirming care.
The organizations also discussed different resources and action steps that community members can take against these bills. PFLAG and Lawrence Pride, both local LGBTQ+ alliance groups, were mentioned as resources. These groups promote and create safe spaces for queer and trans people.
“It's important for people to be aware of what's happening, but also to be aware and connected with their neighbors and their community because it's good to know the headlines and understand what's happening at the federal level and in your state,” Hiegert said. “But it's also so important to understand what community resources exist around you.”
Some community members sought advice on the bills’ impacts. One attendee, Joanna Herrmann, sought guidance after her child was affected by SB 63. She has not been able to get her child, who is trans, gender affirming care since the bill was passed in January. Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the bill, but a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate voted to override the veto.
“I'm having to change the insurance of my child, I'm having to take her out of state, which is expensive. I'm a single mom,” Herrmann said in an interview at the meeting. “All the time that this takes to research, to change insurance, to call these clinics. Which ones can I go to, which ones I can't. I could spend a full eight-hour day making phone calls trying to find out what my next move is.”
Attendees said they came to the meeting to learn how to organize and help others who are struggling because of the legislation.
“It's just nice to be around people who are knowledgeable and are like minded and aligned with myself,” Herrmann said. “Knowing that everybody here is in support of my child. It's easy to get into a silo thinking that that everybody's against my kid.”
Aminah Syed is a junior at the University of Kansas from Overland Park, studying journalism and political science.