Kansas Republicans Override Governor’s Veto, Pass First Ever Trans Bathroom Bounty, Trans ID Revocation Law

The extreme law, effective next Thursday, criminalizes trans people’s bathroom use, invalidates trans IDs, and separately allows cis people to sue any trans person that “invades their privacy."

The Kansas State Capitol in Topeka | Image: Wikimedia Commons

Moments ago, Kansas Republicans, who have a supermajority in the state legislature, voted to override Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of the virulently transphobic bill SB 244. The most extreme anti-trans law passed to date, SB 244, which is slated to take effect next Thursday, goes much further than the restrictions that have been adopted in other states, and makes Kansas the first state to implement a bathroom bounty and revoke trans people’s legally-issued IDs.

This comes amid a dramatic few weeks that saw Republicans rush the bill through the entire legislative process in just over 24 hours using a maneuver known as “gut and go.” Because of the speed at which it was passed, the bill contains a number of ambiguities and has been criticized by many legal experts—and the governor—for being ‘poorly drafted.’ Despite this, between the final House & Senate votes, only one Republican, Representative Mark Schreiber—who has consistently opposed his party’s efforts to restrict the rights of trans people—joined Democrats in voting against the bill.

First and foremost, there’s the bathroom provisions. Under the law, trans people would be legally prohibited from using the bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity in all public buildings. That said, unlike most bathroom laws in other states, SB 244 turns to criminalization as a means of enforcement.

Accordingly, a person’s first violation would result in a written notice and if they violate it for a second time, this escalates to a $1,000 fine. However, from the third violation onwards, the offense is elevated to a class B misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine. This makes Kansas the third state—after Florida and Utah—to pass a law allowing for trans people to be imprisoned over their bathroom use. Here’s a map of current restrictions:

For sources, tables, and more maps, head to Transitics’ CATPALM page.

But it gets worse: the next section of the law separately creates a private cause of action against any trans person that uses the ‘wrong’ bathroom. And, as first pointed out by Erin in the Morning, this part is extremely vague: nothing in it limits these lawsuits to the violations that occur in public buildings. Instead, it merely specifies that a person has grounds to sue after encountering a person of the ‘opposite sex’ in a ‘multiple-occupancy private space,’ and as such, it can be interpreted to apply anywhere—even private businesses. Here is the section in full:

SB 244’s bounty provision

Given that the next paragraph states a person can defend themselves against any lawsuits by saying they “did not know that the multiple-occupancy private space was designated for use only by individuals of the opposite sex,” it’s clear that the lawsuits encouraged by the law are not designed to be won if properly litigated.

However, not everyone has the resources to contest a lawsuit, and as a result, many who do not perfectly fit into a rigid standard of gender will be forced to choose between risking a lawsuit or avoiding multiple-occupancy restrooms altogether. In other words, this bathroom bounty provision—the first ever passed—gives transphobes the legal legitimacy to harass Kansas’ trans population and, unlike other states’ laws, provides a monetary incentive for them to use it.

Then there’s the provisions targeting trans people’s identity documents, which have been the subject of a 3-year political and legal struggle in the state. Back in 2023, after Republicans passed SB 180, Kansas stopped updating trans people’s birth certificates and began reverting trans people’s birth certificates whenever they requested a new copy. That said, all certificates that were issued prior to the law’s effective date remained valid. The state’s attorney general, Kris Kobach, also tried to claim that SB 180 applies to driver’s licenses, but that move was rebuffed following a protracted legal battle.

Now, because of that loss, Kansas Republicans are implementing even more restrictions. Under SB 244, all birth certificates and IDs that don’t display a person’s sex assigned at birth will be invalidated. And in both cases, those affected by these invalidations will be burdened with replacing their documents. It’s also worth pointing out that driving with an invalid license is a class B misdemeanor in the state.

It’s worth pointing out that in all other states that have targeted trans people’s birth certificates and/or IDs, the documents that were issued prior to the implementation of any restrictions have not been invalidated. As a result, SB 244 also makes Kansas the most restrictive state when it comes to trans people’s documents—extreme restrictions that were passed largely in order to punish the trans people that stood up to Kobach’s demands in 2023.

In her veto message, Gov. Kelly was sharply critical of the bill and its ambiguities, writing that “this poorly drafted bill will have numerous and significant consequences far beyond the intent to limit the right for trans people to use the appropriate bathroom.” Similar to her veto messages for other anti-trans bills, she urged the legislature to “stay out of the business of telling Kansans how to go to the bathroom and instead stay focused on how to make life more affordable for Kansans.”

Fortunately, there is some hope. SB 244 will almost certainly face legal challenges, and unlike in other states, these lawsuits will not fall on deaf ears. Currently, 5 of the 7 justices on the Kansas Supreme Court were appointed by Democratic governors, and as a result, the court has a history of ruling against many of Kansas Republicans’ conservative policies. In 2019 and 2024, the court struck down laws restricting abortion, and last year, the court declined Kobach’s appeal during his bid to ban gender marker changes on IDs. Should the law make it to the state’s supreme court, it’s entirely possible that it’ll be overturned.

But for the time being, SB 244 means that, virtually overnight, Kansas has gone from being one of the least hostile Republican-controlled states to being the single most dangerous to trans people. Even if it’s eventually struck down, SB 244 will still have devastating consequences for virtually every trans person that calls Kansas home. It strips them of their government IDs and takes away their freedom to use the restroom in virtually any setting.

And it comes at a moment when anti-trans figures are dramatically increasing their rhetoric surrounding trans Americans—declaring trans people the “root of evil,” advocating for an all-ages gender-affirming care ban, and calling trans people “dangerous and unstable.” Other GOP-led states will almost certainly be watching to see how the enforcement of SB 244 unfolds: if its provisions survive judicial scrutiny, by this time next year, it may not be just Kansas with a law this extreme.