A judge ruled Monday that barring Kansas drivers from identifying as transgender on their licenses did not violate their constitutional rights.
Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a lawsuit against Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly in July 2023 after the governor’s office said that the state would continue to issue driver’s licenses reflecting a person’s gender identity despite the Kansas Legislature passing a bill requiring only biological sex on government IDs, according to the Kansas Reflector. Judge Teresa Watson upheld her previous ruling from last year barring the Kansas Department of Revenue from adding options other than a person’s biological sex to driver’s licenses and further stated that the law did not violate transgender individuals’ rights under the state constitution, according to court documents.
“Information recorded on a driver’s license does not interfere with transgender persons’ ability to control their own bodies or assert bodily integrity or self-determination,” Watson wrote in her opinion.
Watson dismissed the claims by government officials that the law was “ambiguous” and also disagreed with the argument that it violated a person’s right to “personal autonomy, informational privacy; and equal protection of the law,” according to the ruling. She wrote that the state does not “have a recognized right to informational privacy” in its state Bill of Rights and is not discriminating because all state residents are required to use their biological sex.
Pedro Irigonegaray, the attorney representing the Kelly administration, argued, however, that the ruling would allow for the harassment of Kansans who identify as transgender, according to The Associated Press.
“What possible reason can we articulate to deny our transgender population peace of mind?” Irigonegaray said. “Why this vindictive attitude towards this class of individuals?”
Kobach celebrated the decision Monday, calling it “a victory for the rule of law and common sense,” according to a press release.
“The Legislature wisely stated that state agencies should record biological sex at birth, and today the court held that the meaning of the law is clear,” Kobach said.
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