I can leave Kansas, but Kansas will never leave me.

That is why I keep coming back. Sure, I describe myself as a lifelong Kansas resident, and I have lived elsewhere for short periods, but I keep coming back and always keep a Kansas address. I keep coming back despite each legislative session seeming more volatile than the last. I keep coming back, even though it is clear our elected officials don't see us as individuals with unique, nuanced experiences. I keep coming back because I love the people of Kansas and feel proud of our state's unique character. I keep coming back because I adore the diversity and vastness of the prairie. I keep coming back because I love the bison roaming on the horizon, the golden wheat fields, the farmers who love the land they toil for generations, the rich blue sky, and the ornateness of the dome inside the Kansas Capitol Building. I keep coming back because Kansas is a special place.

When I returned from my extended travels late last year, I was disgruntled. I saw prefilled bills already in the legislative queue, one of which, House Bill (HB) 2426, would directly target transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse residents of Kansas. This is nothing new to trans people in Kansas, as elected officials have spent the last number of legislative sessions targeting vulnerable yet strong populations. Throughout the years, I have seen groves of people show up in person, online, and through written testimony to oppose bills targeting trans Kansans. On the first day of the 2026 legislative session, when HB 2426 was introduced, the Judiciary Committee announced a hearing on HB 2426 with less than 24 hours' notice. Despite the Committee Chair’s deliberate attempt to avoid public comment, concerned Kansans submitted hundreds of testimonies.

Unfortunately, during the third week of the 2026 legislative session, regardless of documented opposition from hundreds of Kansans, Representative Humphries took a completely unrelated Senate Bill (SB) 244, which had already gone through the legislative process, removed the original bill text, and added the amended bill text from HB 2426 into it, known as "gut and go". A “gut and go” means the bill bypassed the entire committee process, providing no opportunity for the public to go on the record as opposing it. On the 28th of January, after over five hours of debate, the House declared emergency final action to pass SB 244, and the Senate immediately followed suit. Of course, I was upset, but I remembered Marsha P. Johnson, the American LGBTQ activist who famously said, “Pay it no mind.”

Above is an all-too-common example of Kansas elected officials closing their ears to avoid representing their constituents. When legislators silence the voices of the Kansans they represent, voting and activism become even more critical. 2026 is an election year, and with that, legislators have introduced many bills that fall under the category of voter suppression. These include eliminating independent voter registration, punishing and purging voters for inactivity, imposing barriers to ballot-return assistance, enshrining restrictive voting laws in the Kansas Constitution, requiring proof of citizenship on IDs, eliminating mail-in voting, imposing signature-verification requirements, and changing election deadlines.

In turn, I focused on two bills for which I submitted opposition testimony. First, House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 5021 seeks to amend Article 5 of the Constitution of the State of Kansas to require voters to present photographic identification at the time of voting. This pursuit is another attempt to reinstate the unconstitutional documentary proof-of-citizenship laws. It endeavors to change the constitution while ignoring other mechanisms for ensuring voter eligibility. From 2013 to 2016, nearly 1 in 7 voter registration applications were blocked, with almost half of those affected being people under the age of 30. Second, in HB 2448, which requires citizenship status to be listed on driver's licenses. This bill lacks an implementation plan and is an attempt to revive documentary proof-of-citizenship laws, which the ACLU successfully challenged and the courts rejected from 2016 to 2020. In practice, 35,000 eligible Kansans were blocked from registering to vote between 2013 and 2016.

While it may seem overwhelming to keep up with all the bills, committees, and other work in the Kansas State House during the legislative session, it is essential that we remain informed and use our voice. Even when it “Feels like you are talking to a brick wall,” as Representative Brooklynne Mosley put it to me after I testified in opposition to HB 2426 during the first week of the 2026 session. Like the rest of us, I don’t have time or energy to testify in person at the Kansas State Capitol all the time. Yet, it is just as important to submit written testimony to go on record, which is why I submitted written testimony in opposition to HCR 5021 and HB 2448.

Though some, most, or all these bills will be law by the time you are reading this, do not become discouraged when you feel silenced. Ruth Bader Ginsburg expressed, “If your voice held no power, they wouldn’t try to silence you.” So, use your voice, even when you feel it would do nothing, when you are tired, when you think you don't have the courage, when you are scared, when it is hard, when it is inconvenient, and most importantly, when it feels right in your heart. Remember, collective voices can move mountains. When we come together, our power grows, and change becomes possible, so cry out from your mountain top.

The Kansas Constitution,1859, declares, “All political power is inherent in the people.” We are the people of Kansas with voices to be heard.