Earlier this year, the state of Kansas functionally revoked driver’s licenses from its trans residents by invalidating any license that did not match the resident’s birth gender — a move the state copied from Florida’s 2024 rule change. Now that law is fully in place, and it’s had a devastating impact on trans Kansans. Even trans residents who have changed their IDs for legally mandated information are being taken to court for their paperwork.
Chris Ritter, a trans woman unlucky enough to live under Kansas law, was pulled over on May 5 for driving with the headlights off in the rain. according to transitix. The officer who pulled her over didn’t believe her license was real, due to her male gender marker, but he seemed to have walked away without being issued a formal citation — that is, until Ritter received a letter saying she had missed a court appearance on a charge of driving without a valid driver’s license.
Kansas doesn’t want its trans residents
Driving without a valid license no longer carries a mandatory prison sentence in Kansas bill of 2023But it still comes with a threat of prison sentence: Up to 90 days for leaving your valid license at home, or up to six months for driving without a license. Forcing a trans woman to face the risk of prison and the risks associated with it Violent prisoners are being used as fodder for institutionally encouraged rape to placate them. – Driving with a legal-but-untrusted license that shows a gender that is no longer accurate is a form of hell that Kansas has decided to subject all of its trans residents to.
Thankfully, Ritter’s specific case has already been dismissed by the county. according to transitix. However, it is an example of the risks facing all trans people from driving a motor vehicle in the state of Kansas. Any nosy policeman could look at the driver’s license you obtain under state law, not believe its false information, and send you to court for it. As many have said regarding trans laws: cruelty is the point.
