A lawsuit has been filed in Kansas federal court challenging a state policy prohibiting gender marker changes on birth certificates for transgender people. Along with Tennessee and Ohio, Kansas is one of only three states in the country with such a ban.
The lawsuit, which was filed by four transgender individuals born in Kansas and the Kansas Statewide Transgender Education Project, alleges that the policy violates constitutional rights including those related to equal protection, due process, privacy, and freedom of expression. The policy is also apparently inconsistent with the state’s own rules allowing for gender marker changes on drivers’ licenses and ID cards for transgender people. The lawsuit seeks an order requiring state officials to issue birth certificates that are consistent with a transgender person’s gender identity.
Additional Reading
Kansas birth certificate policy violates transgender individuals’ rights, lawsuit says, The Kansas City Star, October 15, 2018
Complaint, filed October 15, 2018 in Foster, et al. v. Andersen, et al.
