**MEDIA ADVISORY**
MONDAY: Oral arguments on the ACLU of Kansas’s and the Kansas Department of Revenue’s appeals challenging the temporary injunction
The Kansas Court of Appeals will consider whether Kansans should be able to change their gender markers on their driver’s licenses for the duration of litigation in Kansas v. Harper
CONTACT: Esmie Tseng, ACLU of Kansas, [email protected]
WHAT:
The Kansas Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on the appeals filed by the ACLU of Kansas and the Kansas Department of Revenue challenging the temporary injunction in Kansas v. Harper.
The injunction, issued by Judge Teresa Watson March 11, 2024, ensured that for the duration of the case, Kansans will not be able to change their gender markers on their driver’s licenses.
WHEN:
Monday, January 27 at 10 a.m.
WHERE:
Court of Appeals - Kansas Judicial Center
301 SW 10th Ave, Topeka, KS 66612
Livestream available: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_zsFFoz-TtX7kJcgFIZMgw/live
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
- Attorney General Kobach filed a lawsuit, Kansas v. Harper, in state court in 2023 against the Kansas Department of Revenue, asking the court to prohibit transgender people from changing their gender markers on their driver’s licenses.
- AG Kobach cited a 2023 law passed by the Kansas state legislature over a veto by Governor Laura Kelly attempting to limit the rights of transgender people.
- On July 11, 2023, the ACLU of Kansas, the ACLU, and Stinson LLP filed a motion to intervene in the suit, on behalf of five transgender Kansans who would be irreparably harmed by an unconstitutional effort by Kobach to ban and reverse changes to the gender markers on their driver’s licenses.
- On August 18, 2023, Judge Watson granted the motion to intervene, thereby ensuring that the transgender community impacted by the very issues at the center of Kansas v. Harper would be entitled to make their arguments and have their voices heard in by the Court.
- The Kansas Constitution guarantees Kansans who are transgender the same rights as Kansans who are not transgender.
- Those rights include those guaranteed by Section 1 of the Bill of Rights, such as rights of personal autonomy, privacy, and equality.
- AG Kobach's interpretation of the law and actions place the state at risk of infringing on those fundamental rights, and limiting freedom for trans people worsens conditions for all women by re-entrenching the very gender stereotypes that have underpinned centuries of women’s oppression.
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About the ACLU of Kansas: The ACLU of Kansas is the statewide affiliate of the national American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU of Kansas is dedicated to preserving and advancing the civil rights and legal freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. For more information, visit our website at www.aclukansas.org.
