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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kansas said on Friday that it “vehemently” condemns the request from the state’s attorney general on Friday.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and the LGBTQ+-rights legal group Lambda Legal, representing the four Kansas residents, condemned Kobach’s move. Lamda Legal’s Omar Gonzalez-Pagan called it “unnecessary and cruel.”

“We are also very reluctant to speculate on or state the specific consequences because of the significant lack of clarity inherent in SB 180, and there is potential for stoking more fear in the community than already warranted by attempting to make predictions about it,” Tseng said.

“We are deeply concerned about the potential harm SB 180 will cause,” said DC Hiegert, LGBTQ+ Fellow of the ACLU of Kansas.

Kansas lawmakers on Thursday passed what critics call one of the most sweeping anti-trans bathroom bills in the nation, overriding Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto as conservative state lawmakers are increasingly embracing culture war policies.

“The Kansas bill would certainly be among the most restrictive ones that we’ve seen in the country — one of the most expansive, one of the most extreme and really just one of the most mean spirited and hurtful,” ACLU of Kansas Executive Director Micah Kubic said before the House vote. “School districts are probably one of the very first places where this bill and all of the other ones like it will show up.”

“What it’s about is politicians getting in the way of parents, children and their medical providers,” said D.C. Hiegert, a legal fellow with the ACLU of Kansas, in an interview with Kansas Capitol Bureau.

“The lack of clarity is by design because it allows them to disclaim the worst possible interpretation while also allowing for the worst possible outcome to happen,” said Micah Kubic, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, which opposed the law.

“Companies have made it clear that they are not interested in doing business with states that discriminate against workers and their families," Kelly says.