A Kansas judge has denied a request to temporarily suspend a new law returning to biological sex in government building restrooms and school restrooms, as well as in state documents.
Two anonymous biological women, identified only as Daniel Doe and Matthew Moe, filed a lawsuit two weeks ago, and asked for a court injunction to temporarily block SB 244, a bill meant to “protect women and girls and to reflect reality in state records,” alleging it’s unconstitutional. Attorney General Kris Kobach is named as a lead defendant.
Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly originally vetoed the bill, but her veto was overturned by a supermajority vote of the Legislature.
The injunction hearing Friday lasted three hours and involved over 100 pages of information.
Douglas County District Court Judge James R. McCabria wrote in his Tuesday ruling that the conclusion was “self-evident,” and denied the request for an injunction. A preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order would have paused the law, making it unenforceable while the court comes to a final verdict.
“This Court simply does not have the information the law requires to enter a Temporary Restraining Order at this stage of the proceedings,” McCabria explained.
Doe and Moe expressed concern for their jobs and safety if their sex was discovered by employers or acquaintances from the requirement to use biologically correct documents and bathrooms.
Doe claims she was often yelled at in “some earlier point in time in life” for using the girls’ restroom before she even started hormone therapy. Moe said she’s used the boys’ restroom exclusively since 2019 and feels “the worst about himself” when she uses the girls’ restroom.
Evidence shows most Kansans are actually “tolerant, understanding, accepting and generally supportive of each other and that the vast majority of transgender persons have experienced this as Kansans,” the judge writes.
“This Court declines the invitation to assume that every employer who values and respects an employee would react in every instance by firing or harassing that employee,” McCabria wrote. “Or that every restroom visit is fraught with the potential for violence or embarrassment if this law is not immediately suspended.”
Both parties are expected to appear at a case management conference next Wednesday to determine next steps.
