Statement from the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club on Kansas House Substitute for Senate Bill 244

The Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club condemns Kansas’s House Substitute for Senate Bill 244, which requires state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards to list a person’s so-called “sex at birth.” This policy is harmful, discriminatory, and dangerous.

This law does not create safety or clarity. It creates fear. By immediately invalidating previously issued identification documents with no grace period, Kansas has placed transgender people at risk of fines, arrest, and incarceration simply for existing in public life or driving to work, school, or medical appointments.

From the perspective of our trans leadership, this policy undermines the basic purpose of identification documents: to allow people to move through society safely and accurately. When IDs do not reflect who a person is, routine interactions become moments of exposure and risk. That is not good governance, and it is not public safety.

This law also sets a dangerous precedent far beyond the transgender community. If a state can retroactively revoke valid identification from one group of people based on ideology, it erodes trust in government systems for everyone. Identification should be a tool of inclusion and civic participation, not a mechanism of exclusion and punishment.

The Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club stands in solidarity with trans Kansans and all those harmed by this law. We affirm that everyone deserves identification that reflects who they are and allows them to live, work, travel, and participate in public life without fear.