The Kansas State Legislature Has Passed Senate Bill 244
Note: This post was originally published on February 26th, 2026.
This law has broad and devastating impacts on Transgender and Gender Nonconforming residents of Kansas.
- defines “gender” for the purposes of statutory construction to mean biological sex at birth
- directs the Kansas Division of Vehicles to invalidate and reissue driver’s licenses to change the gender marker in accordance with the new definition
- directs the Kansas Office of Vital Statistics to invalidate and reissue birth certificates to change the sex identification in accordance with the new definition
- designates “multiple-occupancy spaces” in “public buildings” for use by only one sex
SB 244 allows individuals to file a complaints against government entities who or individuals who they believe have violated multiple-occupancy private space requirements.
- In SB 244, public buildings are “buildings owned or leased by a government entity” (think schools, libraries, some hospitals, some shelters and community centers, etc)
- multiple-occupancy privates spaces are “facilities designed or designated for simultaneous use by more than one individual and in which an individual may be in a state of undress in the presence of another individual, regardless of whether the facility provides curtains or partial walls for privacy” (think locker rooms, dressing rooms, bathrooms, certain hospital rooms, etc)
- individuals can file complaints against government entities who do not enforce these provisions with the State Attorney General and they can result in civil penalties up to and including $125,000 per day.
- individuals can file complaints against their fellow residents for percieved violation of these provisions with the relevant government body and they can result in civil penalties of $1,000 plus damages and recovery of any individual who commits a third or subsequent violation shall be guilty of a class B misdemeanor.
The implications are even more dire than you may think.
Forced Outing Kills Trans and Gender Nonconforming People
Drivers Licenses that do not match a person’s gender identity will amount to forced outing during everyday interactions in restaurants, bars, the grocery store, the bank, the pharmacy, and in everyday encounters with law enforcement.
During a time of increasing violence against trans and gender nonconforming people, especially black transgender women, trans people of color, and disabled trans people, SB 244 ensures that trans and gender nonconforming Kansas residents face a life of paranoia, isolation and danger every single day.
But that’s the point, isn’t it? If trans and gender nonconforming people are too scared to leave their homes, none of their legal documents reflect their true identity, and any school district, public school, state agency, department or office or political subdivision that “collects vital statistics for the purpose of of complying with anti-discrimination laws or for the purpose of gathering accurate public health, crime, economic or other data” is required (as they are in SB 244) to only identify those part of it’s data set as either male or female at birth, suddenly, trans and gender nonconforming people no longer exist.
The Federal Government Is Forcing Federal Prisoners to De-Transition
While class B misdemeanors in Kansas carry sentence of no more than six months in county jail and no time spent in federal prison, deprivation of gender-affirming care for trans and gender nonconforming people by the state is becoming more and more common. Trans and gender nonconforming people also face rampant discrimination, violence, and sexual assault in county jails around the country.
Increased Risk for Undocumented Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People
In April of 2022, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly passed House Bill 2717, which banned municipalities from limiting law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
This law opened the door for state and local law enforcement agencies to enter into 287(g) agreements with DHS and ICE, which deputize Kansas law enforcement officers to perform certain functions of federal immigration agents.
As a result, undocumented trans and gender nonconforming Kansas residents arrested for violations or suspected violations of SB 244 could also be subject to deportation proceedings.
In February of 2025, the Kansas Attorney General’s Office and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation entered into a 287(g) agreement with DHS. As of November 2025, there were twenty active 287(g) agreeements in Kansas between local law enforcement agencies and DHS.
Like ICE detention facilities across the country, the facilities in Kansas have a well-documented history of human rights abuses. Trans and gender nonconforming immigrants will face even deadlier conditions. Unsurprisingly, many of these facilities are run by for-profit companies. Trans and gender non-conforming people will die to make rich men richer.
What We Do Now, Together
DONATE
Project Open Arms is a grassroots resettlement project of TRACTION started in 2023 in response to the alarming increase in anti-trans legislation and rhetoric across the country.
The Trans Youth Emergency Project supports families of trans youth nationwide through the logistical and financial burdens of navigating bans on gender-affirming care.
The Trans Lawrence Coalition Mutual Aid Fund benefits trans and gender nonconforming Lawrence residents
The Trans Justice Funding Project is a community-led funding initiative founded in 2012 to support grassroots, trans justice groups run by and for trans people.
SPEAK
Every day, in every room, on every social media platform, to everyone you know, refuse to be silent about the trans genocide happening not only in Kansas, but in every corner of this country.
U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Representatives Sara Jacobs (CA-51) and Mark Takano (CA-41) are reintroducing the Transgender Bill of Rights.
If passed into law, this bill would Civil Rights Act of 1964 to explicitly include gender identity and sex characteristics as protected characteristics and amending federal education laws to explicitly clarify that they protect students from discrimination based on gender identity and sex characteristics. Federal law supersedes conflicting state law, which would make not only Kansas SB 244 illegal, but anti-trans legislation throughout the country.
Yep, I’m telling you to call up your congresspeople again.
MOVE
The ACLU plans to file suit against the state of Kansas to block SB 244 as early as Friday, February 27th. Organizers in Kansas and around the country will be planning demonstrations, protests, text and call campaigns, and tapping directly into the trans and gender nonconforming communities in Kansas to ask what they need. Find them. Follow them. Volunteer your time and your presence and your voice to their efforts.
