Kansas Judge Says So Many Trans People Rushed To Change Their Gender On Licenses It Created A ‘Public Safety Concern’
On Wednesday, a Kansas judge said that so many transgender individuals rushed to change the gender of their driver’s licences it caused a “public security concern.”
Shawnee County district court judge Teresa Watson issued an interim restraining on Monday against a policy of Democratic state governor. Laura Kelly allowed transgender individuals in the state of Kansas to change their license gender. Kris Kobach, Republican Attorney General of the state, challenged the Governor’s policy claiming it violated key sections in Senate Bill (S.B.). 180 went into effect on July 1.
S.B. The Women’s Bill of Rights (also known as 180) defines an individual’s gender as “the sex of the individual at birth, whether male or female.”
The Associated Press (AP), reported that Kansas has not yet proven to Judge Watson she made a error in her ruling on Monday. The ban will expire on July 24. However, the judge indicated that she might hold an hearing to extend it. Watson said that the fact that the 172 licenses changed in a month — which is reportedly equaled to a quarter of all license changes in the past four years — was a major factor in her decision.
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Watson, in a written opinion for AP, wrote that “Licenses can be used by law-enforcement to identify criminal suspects and victims, wanted people, missing persons, etc.” Compliance with the legal requirements to identify license holders is of concern for public safety.
Transgender Kansans claim they face increased scrutiny when they hold licenses that don’t match their “gender identities.”
Adam Kellogg, a student at the University of Kansas, said that “the officer examined my driver’s license for a long time and seemed suspicious of me”, according to AP. I would not have disclosed my transgender identity during that traffic stop. This experience left me feeling uncomfortable and worried about future interactions with officials of the state, including police officers.
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