An LGBTQ group is encouraging transgender residents to leave Kansas “for their safety” as the state implements its first-in-the-nation law invalidating driver’s licenses with sex markers that indicate gender identity instead of biological sex.
The Trans Liberty PAC issued a “formal evacuation order” in response to the newly passed law, which kicked in Thursday after House and Senate Republicans overrode Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s Feb. 13 veto.
Known as the House Substitute for Senate Bill 244, the law voids driver’s licenses and birth certificates amended to align with the holder’s gender identity, directing the state to reissue the documents to reflect sex at birth.
Other states have passed laws requiring state-issued identification to be based on birth sex, but Kansas is believed to be the first state to apply the measure retroactively.
“No other state has retroactively voided legally issued identity documents. Kansas will be the first,” said Trans Liberty PAC founder Samantha Boucher in a statement. “Trans Kansans who have been living, working, and driving with valid IDs for years will wake up with them null and void, and driving with an invalid license is itself a criminal offense in Kansas.”
The 1-year-old committee said it has begun coordinating with local and national organizations “to provide legal resources, safety planning, and relocation support for transgender Kansans who need to leave the state to avoid persecution under the new law.”
SB 244 also prohibits opposite-sex use of single-sex facilities in public buildings, including locker rooms and restrooms, and creates a cause of action for individuals “aggrieved by the invasion of … personal privacy” to sue violators for up to $1,000 per incident
The Kansas Department of Revenue sent notices earlier this week advising drivers to bring in their old licenses and obtain new ones consistent with their “sex assigned at birth.”
“Pursuant to the new law, if the gender/sex indication on the face of your current credential does not match your sex assigned at birth, you are directed to surrender your current credential to the Kansas Division of Vehicles,” said the letter, according to the Kansas City Star.
The letter noted that the “the Legislature did not include a grace period for updating credentials,” leaving those caught driving with an invalid license starting Thursday subject to citations.
“Upon surrendering the credential, you will be issued a new credential reflecting the gender identification consistent with statutory requirements,” “If you have any questions regarding procedures for obtaining a legally compliant credential, please contact [KDOV] or visit your local driver licensing office.”
Democratic state Rep. Abi Boatman, the only transgender member of the state legislature, posted a copy of the letter on Facebook with the caption, “Hot Garbage Alert.”
“Be sure to thank your Republican representatives for not only cancelling the driver’s licenses of 1,700 transgender Kansans but also making them pay for a new one,” the Democrat said in a Wednesday post. “It’s a wild time when Kansas can erase human beings while simultaneously making $45,000 off of them.”
A driver’s license renewal for most drivers costs $26, while a replacement license runs $16 and a name change costs $12, according to the Kansas Credential Fee Chart.
Senate President Ty Masterson, a candidate for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in the November election, hailed the Feb. 18 veto override as a victory for “sanity.”
“Common sense has prevailed against Laura Kelly and the radical left, and now [women’s] and girl’s private spaces will be protected from biological men,” he said on Facebook.
Ms. Kelly, who was elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022, has waged a losing battle against Republican legislators when it comes to transgender-related bills.
The legislature also overrode her 2025 veto of a bill banning gender-transition drugs and surgeries for those under 18, and her 2023 veto of a measure barring biological males from participating in female scholastic sports.
