Trans people’s rush to alter their Kansas licenses created a ‘safety concern,’ a judge says

By JOHN HANNA
AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A state-court judge has declared that the nearly 200 transgender people in Kansas who rushed in recent weeks to change the sex listings on their driver’s licenses created an immediate “public safety concern.” District Judge Teresa Watson made that statement as she kept in place a ban on those changes. The state agency that issues Kansas driver’s licenses failed to persuade Watson that she’d made a mistake in imposing the ban on Monday. Watson’s latest order means Kansas remains one of only a few U.S. states that won’t change transgender people’s licenses to reflect their gender identities. Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach sued to block the changes, arguing they violated a new state law.