Two transgender men sued Kansas after the state began invalidating their driver’s licenses under a new law that also affected thousands of other transgender residents, according to court filings and state descriptions of the measure. The men filed the case in Douglas County on Thursday, the same day the law took effect, seeking to stop the implementation.
The complaint names Daniel Doe and Matthew Moe and argues the Kansas Constitution prohibits the state legislature from targeting transgender individuals with what the lawsuit describes as “dehumanizing” treatment. The lawsuit says the law violates rights to privacy, personal autonomy and due legal process that are guaranteed under the Kansas Constitution.
As part of that challenge, Doe and Moe asked the court to block enforcement of the measure and to halt related disruptions to identification documents. The new law invalidated their driver’s licenses and it invalidated records for roughly 1,700 other transgender people, the lawsuit said, and it also invalidated roughly 1,800 transgender people’s birth certificates.
The suit also targets the law’s enforcement provisions that are linked to a separate Kansas policy dating to about three years ago. Kansas has barred transgender people from using public restrooms or other single-sex facilities consistent with their gender identities, and this new law adds what it describes as tougher penalties, according to the lawsuit summary in the filing.
Under the new Kansas law, the state called for stiff fines for cities, counties, public schools and state agencies that do not restrict transgender people’s use of those facilities. The law also provides for fines and criminal prosecutions for transgender people who violate the restrictions, and it allows people to sue transgender individuals over alleged violations.
Republicans in the Kansas Legislature enacted the measure last week after overriding a veto by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, according to the report. The filing traces the litigation to a Douglas County district court case before Judge James McCabria, who was appointed to the bench in 2014 by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, and residents in Douglas County have voted three times since to keep him on the bench.
The report also noted that the Kansas Supreme Court declared in 2019 that the Kansas Bill of Rights confers and protects a right to bodily autonomy, a decision that protected abortion rights. The lawsuit cites that precedent as part of its argument about bodily autonomy and legal process, including privacy concerns tied to identity documentation.
Republican legislators defended the law by saying it would protect girls and women, often describing transgender women and girls as male. After enactment, House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said, “Kansans expect clarity, not confusion,” and added that people “expect leadership, not surrender to radical activists.”
The new law bars any “sex” listing on driver’s licenses and birth certificates other than the one assigned at birth, according to the report, and it invalidates existing records that do not comply. The state has begun notifying transgender people by mail that their licenses are invalid and that they must obtain new ones, the report said.
Doe and Moe, who are both from Lawrence, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Kansas City, are represented by American Civil Liberties Union attorneys. They said they fear discrimination, harassment and violence if they do not remain anonymous.
As background, Kansas previously passed a 2023 law defining male and female by a person’s “biological reproductive system” at birth, the report said. The Kansas Supreme Court had not yet reviewed that 2023 measure at the time of the filing, and it has not yet reviewed the new law either.
MSI previously reported on Kansas invalidating transgender driver’s licenses and birth certificates; this lawsuit follows that implementation and seeks judicial relief. At least eight other states do not allow transgender people to change one or both documents, but Kansas is described as the only one that invalidated documents that had previously been changed.