A Shawnee County district judge has ordered state agencies to stop allowing transgender residents to change the gender status on their driver’s licenses. The ruling by District Judge Teresa Watson was issued Monday ahead of the first hearing in a lawsuit filed by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach.
The lawsuit was filed in defense of a state law that went into effect July 1st, requiring state residents to list their gender at birth on their driver’s licenses and birth certificates. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s office said the state’s motor vehicles division would continue to allow a change in gender identity, but Kobach argues that the new law prevents that from happening.
Judge Watson’s order will be in effect for two weeks, but it could be extended.
