A judge has denied a motion from The Kansas Department of Revenue to allow the department to continue changing driver’s licenses to reflect transgender people’s gender identities.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach recently sued Governor Laura Kelly and the head of the department of revenue over a directive that the governor issued before a new law went into effect this month.   The new law legally defines a male or female based on gender assigned at birth, and it says that gender identity has to be listed on driver’s licenses and birth certificates.   Before the law took effect, the governor issued a directive allowing transgender residents to continue changing their birth certificates and driver’s licenses.

Shawnee County district judge Teresa Watson granted a temporary restraining order that blocks changes in driver’s licenses while the case goes forward.  Judge Watson denied a motion Wednesday to continue allowing transgender residents to make the changes.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas has filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit, and the motion was filed on behalf of five transgender Kansans.  The ACLU said they would be irreparably harmed by Kobach’s lawsuit.   The organization’s legal director, Sharon Brett, said Kobach’s lawsuit is a “flagrant attempt to do an end-run around our state constitution.”