A Kansas state judge temporarily blocked residents from changing their gender on state driver’s licenses on Monday, pending a lawsuit from Kansas’ Republican attorney general.
District Judge Teresa Watson’s ruling blocks residents from making the change for at least two weeks, though she may extend the order until the litigation is complete. Attorney General Kris Kobach sued members of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration, pointing to a newly-enacted law requiring the state government use biological gender.
Kobach argues the new law, which went into effect on July 1, overturns the state’s existing policy allowing residents to change the gender listed on their licenses according to gender identity. To date, some 400 Kansas residents have done so.
“The Governor cannot pick and choose which laws she will enforce and which laws she will ignore,” Kobach’s lawsuit reads.
Watson’s order does not require those who have already changed their gender documentation to change it back – it only prevents further changes while the lawsuit is ongoing. If Kobach’s lawsuit succeeds, all licenses will revert to biological gender.
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“Licenses are used by law enforcement to identify criminal suspects, crime victims, wanted persons, missing persons and others,” Watson wrote in her ruling. “Compliance with state legal requirements for identifying license holders is a public safety concern.”
That new law defines a person’s sex as male or female, based on the biological reproductive system as observed at birth, applying that definition to any state law or regulation. It also says that “important governmental objectives” of protecting people’s privacy, health and safety justify single-sex areas such as bathrooms and locker rooms.
Kansas is among at least 10 states with a law against transgender people using facilities in line with their gender identities, though the new law includes no enforcement mechanism.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.