In a landmark win for transgender rights in the Midwest, the Kansas Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court’s injunction that had temporarily barred transgender Kansans from changing the gender markers on their driver’s licenses. The ruling, issued unanimously by a three-judge panel, clears the way for individuals to once again align their state-issued identification with their gender identity.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach in July 2023. Kobach argued that S.B. 180, a state law he interprets as defining sex strictly based on biological assignment at birth, should prevent the Kansas Department of Revenue from updating gender markers on driver’s licenses. A lower court agreed at the time, granting a temporary injunction that effectively blocked any changes while the legal battle unfolded.
However, this ruling firmly rejects that view.
In the court’s decision, the panel stated there was no credible evidence “beyond mere speculation” to support the claim that allowing gender marker updates would impair law enforcement’s ability to identify criminal suspects. The court also determined that the Attorney General had not demonstrated a strong likelihood of success in proving that S.B. 180 mandates the use of sex assigned at birth on all licenses.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kansas, along with the national ACLU and law firm Stinson LLP, intervened in the case on behalf of five transgender Kansans who were directly harmed by the ban. Their advocacy played a critical role in pushing back against the restrictive legal interpretation advanced by Kobach.
“This decision recognizes that the Attorney General failed to show any harm at all in allowing transgender Kansans the same personal autonomy, privacy, and dignity that all Kansans have,” said D.C. Hiegert, Civil Liberties Legal Fellow for the ACLU of Kansas. “Being required to use a license with the wrong gender marker has already meant that transgender Kansans have been outed against their consent in their daily lives.”
For transgender individuals, mismatched IDs are more than a bureaucratic inconvenience; they are often a source of anxiety, discrimination, and even danger. Identity documents that accurately reflect a person’s gender can reduce the risk of being harassed, misgendered, or denied services.
“Today’s decision is a welcome victory for our clients and the rights of all people to safe, usable identity documents,” said Julie Murray, Co-Director of the ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative. “The Attorney General’s move to target transgender people in this way has always been baseless and discriminatory.”
The ruling does not end the broader legal conflict. The case now returns to the lower courts, and the Attorney General has 30 days to appeal. However, in the meantime, the Kansas Department of Revenue may resume processing gender marker changes on driver’s licenses.
For now, it is a moment of relief and of hope. Transgender Kansans can once again begin the process of updating their identification documents to reflect who they truly are, without fear of government interference.
TransVitae will continue to follow this case as it develops.
