In early 2026, the Kansas state legislature passed SB 244, a law which prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms on government property that align with their gender identity and establishes a private right of action that allows anyone who suspects someone is transgender and in violation of the law to sue that person for “damages” totaling $1,000. The law also invalidates state-issued driver’s licenses with updated gender markers that reflect the carrier’s gender identity. In February 2026, transgender people across the state received letters from the state Department of Revenue’s Division of Vehicles informing them that their driver’s licenses “will no longer be valid,” effective immediately. SB 244 also prohibits transgender Kansans – or those born in Kansas - from updating the gender marker on state-issued birth certificates and driver’s licenses in the future. The same day SB 244 went into effect, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP filed a lawsuit challenging SB 244 in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of two transgender men who had their driver’s licenses invalidated under the law. The lawsuit charges that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech. “The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police,” said Harper Seldin, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.” The Douglas County district court denied a motion for a temporary restraining order on March 10, 2026. An evidentiary hearing on Plaintiffs' motion for a temporary injunction is scheduled beginning on September 29, 2026. On April 6, 2026, Plaintiffs filed an amended petition with four additional plaintiffs. Click here to learn more about SB 244 and what it means for transgender people. If you or a loved one is impacted by Senate Bill 244 becoming a law, contact us by visiting aclu.org/KS_SB244. We want to hear from you.

Defining "gender" as biological sex at birth; imposing criminal and civil penalties for violating harmful and poorly defined bathroom bans; directing the division of vehicles to invalidate and reissue driver's licenses to match sex at birth; and directing the office of vital statistics to invalidate and reissue birth certificates.