2 transgender Kansans suing state over law invalidating driver's licenses, enforcing restroom changehttps://www.kwch.com/2026/02/27/2-transgender-kansans-suing-state-over-law-invalidating-drivers-licenses-enforcing-restroom-change/?fbclid=IwY2xjawQOhntleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFyVVZzbGg5TGlvSFdZQ1Zmc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHvnLodP5c7imYRR8uh0tgkbgS2JcEpcv2b4mFNvqKE6ZNcyVXsbL-F4fJsCz_aem_kIbgIfqpwTQxXsGe8X0_EA 🔗Matt Heilman (27 Feb 2026)
TOPEKA, Kan. (KWCH) - Two transgender Kansans are suing the state, challenging a new law that immediately invalidates their driver's licenses and opens up the possibility of lawsuits against anyone suspected of being transgender for using the "wrong" public restroom.
Senate Bill 244, passed into law by the Kansas Legislature after an override of Governor Laura Kelly's veto prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms on government property that don't align with their biological sex at birth.
The legislation allows anyone who suspects that someone is in violation of the law, known as "the bathroom bill," to sue that person for damages totaling $1,000.
Senate Bill 244 also invalidates state-issued driver's licenses with gender markers that don't match the holder's biological sex at birth.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, representing the two people filing the suit, said that transgender people across the state received letters from the Kansas Department of Revenue Division of Vehicles, informing them that effective immediately, their driver's licenses "will no longer be valid."
Moving forward, the law bars transgender Kansas residents, or those who were born in Kansas, from updating the gender marker on state-issued driver's licenses and birth certificates.
In a news release, the ACLU of Kansas said that the lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 244 was filed in the District Court of Douglas County, "on behalf of anonymous plaintiffs, 'Daniel Doe and Matthew Moe.'"
The lawsuit argues that the legislation "violates the Kansas Constitution's protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech."
