Maryland Voices of Equality

Topeka, KS – Two transgender residents of Kansas have filed a lawsuit in state court challenging a new state law that immediately invalidated their driver’s licenses, and which authorizes anyone to sue anybody they suspect of being transgender for using the “wrong” restroom in government buildings. SB 244, passed into law by the state legislature over Governor Laura Kelly’s veto, prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms on government property that align with their gender identity. 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 state-issued driver’s licenses with updated gender markers that reflect the carrier’s gender identity. This 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. Today’s lawsuit challenging SB 244 was filed in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of anonymous Plaintiffs Daniel Doe and Matthew Moe by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP. The lawsuit charges that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech. “This legislation is a direct attack on the dignity and humanity of transgender Kansans,” said Monica Bennett, Legal Director of the ACLU of Kansas. “It undermines our state’s strong constitutional protections against government overreach and persecution.” “SB 244 is a cruel and craven threat to public safety all in the name of fostering fear, division, and paranoia,” said Harper Seldin, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police. Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.” “SB 244 presents a state-sanctioned attack on transgender people aimed at silencing, dehumanizing, and alienating Kansans whose gender identity does not conform to the state legislature’s preferences,” said Heather St.Clair, a Ballard Spahr litigator working on the case. “Ballard Spahr is committed to standing with the ACLU and the plaintiffs in fighting on behalf of transgender Kansans for a remedy against the injustices presented by SB 244, and is dedicated to protecting the constitutional rights jeopardized by this new law.”

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WASHINGTON — Last night, the Trump administration arrested journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for reporting on federal agent activity and protests in Minneapolis. Their arrests and overnight detentions came after a federal magistrate judge declined to issue arrest warrants for them, and after Minnesota's chief federal district judge expressed strong skepticism about the charges’ validity. These arrests are the latest in a series of attacks by the Trump Administration on the First Amendment’s guarantee of a free press. In recent months, the Trump administration has retaliated against journalists and bystanders for recording immigration enforcement activity, conducted a search of a Washington Post journalist’s home after reporting confidential information, punished the Associated Press for refusing to use the Administration’s preferred term for the Gulf of Mexico, and tried to prevent journalists from reporting on non-official information from the Pentagon. Esha Bhandari, Director of the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, issued the following statement in response: “The federal government prosecuting journalists for their reporting is extremely concerning, made more so by its continued pursuit of these charges after a magistrate judge refused to sign-off on the arrest warrant and over the reported objections of career prosecutors. This will send a chilling message to other journalists reporting on the administration's actions, and should be understood in the context of the government’s broader crackdown on freedom of the press.” Deepinder Mayell, Executive Director of the ACLU of Minnesota, issued the following statement: “The Trump administration has abused the rights of Minnesotans for months. Arresting journalists should alarm everyone. These arrests are a bold escalation of the Trump administration’s quest to target a free press, avoid transparency and shape the truth. They are trying to send a message to journalists across the country that they could be next.”

In May 2025, two transgender adolescents and their parents filed a challenge in Kansas state court against SB 63, a state law prohibiting access to gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender people under 18. Access to gender-affirming medical care, such as hormone therapies and pubertal suppressants, for transgender adolescents is supported by the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.