Kansas State Court Denies Temporary Restraining Order Against State Law Invalidating IDs and Restricting Bathroom Access for Transgender Peoplehttps://www.aclu.org/press-releases/kansas-state-court-denies-temporary-restraining-order-against-state-law-invalidating-ids-and-restricting-bathroom-access-for-transgender-people 🔗Case: Doe v. State of Kansas
Affiliate: ACLU of Kansas
10 March 2026
Lawrence, K.S. - A judge for the District Court of Douglas County rejected a request for a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of SB 244, a Kansas state law that immediately invalidated the driver's licenses of transgender people across the state and which authorizes anyone to sue anybody they suspect of being transgender for using the "wrong" restroom in government buildings.
"This is a devastating, but hopefully temporary, setback for our clients and transgender people across the state of Kansas," said Harper Seldin, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU's LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. "The harm of this law has already had sweeping impacts on the lives of transgender people like our clients, threatening their ability to hold a job, go to school, or go about their daily lives. We all deserve the freedom to be ourselves without politicians interfering in our lives, and we will keep fighting SB 244 until it is erased from state law entirely..."
SB 244... prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms that align with their gender identity on government property. It also establishes a private right of action that allows anyone who suspects someone is transgender and in violation of the law to sue that person for "damages" totaling $1,000.
The law also invalidates Kansas-issued driver's licenses with updated gender markers that reflect the carrier's gender identity. Last week, transgender people across the state received letters from the state Department of Revenue's Division of Vehicles informing them that their driver's licenses "will no longer be valid," effective immediately. The law also prohibits transgender Kansans – or those born in Kansas - from updating the gender marker on state-issued birth certificates and driver's licenses in the future.
