ACLU of Kansas Responds to AG Kris Kobach’s Attempt to Pressure Schools into Forcibly Outing Transgender Students
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 9, 2024
CONTACT: Esmie Tseng, Communications Director, ACLU of Kansas, [email protected]
OVERLAND PARK, KAN. – In response to news of Kansas Attorney General’s recent letters telling public schools they're required to tell parents their children are transgender or non-binary even if they're not out at home, ACLU of Kansas Executive Director Micah Kubic released the following statement:
“Notably absent from Attorney General Kobach's letter to school districts about their policies protecting transgender students is a meaningful legal analysis, so we are glad to provide one.
Students have a constitutional right to privacy with respect to information about their sexual orientation or gender identity. It is unlawful for school officials to disclose that information. Forced outing of transgender students likely violates federal privacy laws in addition to students' constitutional privacy rights. Denying students the right to use the name and pronouns that affirm their gender identity likely violates Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 and the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.
Quite aside from its brazen disregard for the law or the Constitution, the type of forced outing Attorney General Kobach seeks to impose on school districts and students is cruel, dangerous, and a repudiation of our shared values.
Kansans should remind the Attorney General that schools' primary obligation is to protect the well-being of their students—and the research shows forced outing policies lead to increased harm to LGBTQ+ students. We commend the schools who remain committed to protecting the children they serve.
Kansas students should all be able to live freely and in peace as their authentic selves without the intrusion of a state Attorney General inventing reasons to refashion the law into an instrument of his own extremist views.”
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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.
