Kansas sends letters to transgendered people -- surrender your driver's license

[AverageOldGuy]

Last edited Wed Feb 25, 2026, 11:01 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Erin In The Morning blog

Today, transgender people across Kansas are reporting receiving letters from the Kansas Division of Vehicles stating that they must surrender their driver's licenses and that their current credentials will be considered invalid upon the law's publication in the Kansas Register on Thursday. Should any transgender person be caught driving without a valid license, they could face a class B misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Kansas already requires county jails to house inmates according to sex assigned at birth. The letter, obtained by Erin in the Morning, marks one of the most significant erosions of transgender civil rights in the United States to date.

Read more: https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/kansas-sends-letters-to-trans-people

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The full letter is at the link, Erin In the Morning Blog.

I'm' speechless. But, then, this is Kansas.

[wcmagumba]

1. My home state's leadership disgusts me...

I am an old cis white guy but I fully support my LGBTQ friends and neighbors against this prejudice and hatred from the Republicans...

[Skittles]

8. all REAL men do

yes INDEED

[FoxNewsSucks]

2. I'm not surprised at all.

[The Wizard]

3. Kansas

Where the men are men and the sheep are nervous.

[JMCKUSICK]

4. Now wait just a gosh darn minute there, The Wizard

There's a whole lot of Montanans upset that you're swiping their motto.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

5. Yikes

[Gaugamela]

6. This law serves no purpose except to titillate right-wing bigotry.

[Skittles]

9. which makes it all the more sickening

shame on ANYONE taking part in this, it's UNAMERICAN and disgusting beyond belief

[NoMoreRepugs]

7. Unfuckingbelievable....

[mountain grammy]

10. That is chilling

My god, Kansas. What the hell?

[Figarosmom]

11. And since they got letters that means government

Knows where they live. I wouldn't put it past them to have cops or state police watching their houses to arrest them as soon as they get on the road.

[HeartsCanHope]

12. We should start a GoFundMe for the first person this law arrests.

That's money I willing to lay out! Sick to death of this bigotry and hate! Everyone has the right to be who they are.

[Bayard]

13. I didn't know transgender people were such bad drivers.....

More hard won rights being taken away every day. Kansas sounds like they'd like to go back to stoning.

[Initech]

14. Literal Nazi shit. The legacy that human rat shit Rush Limbaugh left behind.

[moniss]

15. That GQP is bound and determined to

look in everybody's pants.

[electric_blue68]

16. WTF?!!

[Solly Mack]

17. This should scare all decent people.

[Talitha]

18. OMG, it's not from The Onion.

If legitimate, this is horrifying.

[ShazzieB]

40. Oh, it's for real.

Kansas now has some of the harshest anti trans laws in the country: https://time.com/7381312/transgender-kansas-id-bathroom-bill/

[johnp3907]

19. Well, at least they appologized.

[hunter]

20. And then they'll wonder why their best and brightest, straight or not, are leaving.

There are only a few counties in Kansas where the population is increasing. Overall population growth in Kansas has been lower than the U.S.A. as a whole.

[MuirHero]

21. Doesn't Kansas have a Democratic governor?

[hunter]

23. She vetoed it. Veto was overridden.

Rural Republican U.S.A. has no idea how badly they are getting screwed or who is screwing them.

Kansas has 105 counties. Only six of those counties have increasing populations.

[Bengus81]

34. Yes and Laura Kelly wouldn't allow this shit for a second but her Veto's

can be easily overridden.

[turbinetree]

22. SO these electors passed a law to discriminate, but they have senators and congressional people at the state

and federal level...............let a fucking traitor presiding in the white house a 34 count fraudster and sexual abuser, and they will let him and his gang roam around the state...........I forgot the Koch's run the state.............the same organization that helped Stalin............

[wolfie001]

31. The 6 piles of shit on the SC think it's OK to be hateful bigots as long as you go to church

That's exactly where we are.

[Iggo]

24. That's some Nazi shit. We are there, kids.

[BidenRocks]

25. What holds someone to Kansas

unless you're a farmer or rancher?
Honest. I've never been there.

[Trueblue Texan]

37. People have familial roots that hold them down...

...and then there are financial realities. Starting over elsewhere is expensive and typically unattainable for working class folks. It's easy to say why don't they leave, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, etc. But what hope would we have of affecting change if we all left? Who would fight for the helpless?

[NBachers]

26. "Stay in your homes. We know where you live. Authorities are stationed outside. A gas van is on the way to pick you up."

[Historic NY]

27. And then when they do get stopped and don't exactly fit the visible description then what..

Kansas don't you some wheat to grow instead of engaging in stupid games with people.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

28. Can't people just go to ta neighboring state to get a new licence? Colorado might do. nt

But that might be giving up, and they would not be able to vote in Kansas.

Back to the old ways - Throw the bums out!!!

[riversedge]

29. ....." Kansas has seen its status deteriorate to a "Do Not Travel" warning in the EITM Trans Risk Map."

..........The Kansas letters arrive amid an accelerating nationwide campaign to strip transgender people of accurate identification documents. The Trump administration has barred transgender Americans from obtaining passports that reflect their gender identity, a policy the Supreme Court allowed to take effect in November. The Social Security Administration has similarly stopped permitting gender marker updates. At the state level, Florida, Texas, Indiana, and other states have moved to block gender marker changes on driver's licenses or birth certificates. But Kansas appears to be the first state to go further than simply blocking future changes—it is actively invalidating previously issued documents and demanding their surrender.

As a result of this extreme anti-transgender law, the state of Kansas has seen its status deteriorate to a "Do Not Travel" warning in the EITM Trans Risk Map. Transgender people should exercise extreme caution when traveling through the state, and those already living there should take immediate steps to legally protect themselves in the face of laws that could strip their driving privileges, expose them to criminal penalties, and subject them to thousand-dollar bounties simply for using a restroom. For most transgender people who do not already live in Kansas, the risk is now too great to travel there at all......................

[wolfie001]

30. JK Rowling's "Dream State"

This really pleases hateful bigots. I recommend using her books and movies in a wood stove to keep the house warm with the dramatic rise in energy prices.

[Lonestarblue]

32. And the next law will require every trans person to have red T stamped on their foreheads for easy ID.

That way, violent Republicans know who to attack and murder with impunity. The Republican Party is too disgusting for words.

[Vinca]

33. Why on earth would a person's gender make a difference in their driving abilities? The point is hate and nothing more.

[Bengus81]

35. It's how shit like this starts. First it was harassment and broken windows in NAZI Germany

Then..........

[ShazzieB]

41. It doesn't. That's not the point.

The point is to force trans people to out themselves. Kansas lawmakers have decided that trans women and trans men are committing fraud by identifying as the gender they have transitioned to rather than the one they were assigned at birth, and they're making sure that the "discrepancy" is called out every time a trans person has to show their ID for any purpose. It's an incredibly hateful and bigoted move, designed to make their lives unbearable, from what I can see. Kansas is now in the top 3 most anti trans states (the other 2 are Texas and Florida.

https://time.com/7381312/transgender-kansas-id-bathroom-bill/

More info on the EITM Anti-Trans National Legal Risk Assessment Map: https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/anti-trans-national-legal-risk-assessment-a5d

[Trueblue Texan]

36. These people are f*ing crazy.

What are they going to do to enforce this, inspect people's underwear? Just f*ing bonkers Nazo!

[ShazzieB]

42. It's based on birth certificate infornation.

The gender marker on every state issued ID/driver's license issued in Kansas has to match the person's sex assigned at birth, as shown on their birth certificate. I presume people will be required to produce their birth certificate in order to obtain an ID or drivers license, and the DMV will have to make sure the ID matches the birth certificate.

I'm not sure how this is supposed to work for those now living in Kansas who were born in a state that allows gender to be changed on a person's birth certificate. But this legislation is sloppily written in many respects.

The GOP is working overtime in red states to stir up hate and bigotry toward trans people in order to distract Americans from all the things we are legitimately worried about, including everything Trump wants us all to ignore. It's absolutely reprehensible.

[travelingthrulife]

38. These people are insane. They must be purged from our government.

[travelingthrulife]

39. If they invalidate your ID, trans people will immediately become ICE victims.