It’s a sad day for transgender Americans, those in Kansas in particular, as the Kansas State Legislature bill SB 244 prohibiting transgender Kansans from changing their assigned gender on a driving license comes in to force. The state has mailed Transgender Kansans a letter advising them that their driving licenses are now invalid, and the letter is circulating widely on social media. In a future time it will become as notorious a law as the Fugitive Slave Act or the Nazi regime’s October 5, 1938 order that all Jews must have a J stamped in their passports and change their name to a “Jewish Name”. It is a law that Kansas will one day regret having passed, but for now it encapsulates the present danger. Transgender Kansans need help and support, and fast.
Over here at Trans Rescue we have been spelling out the coming dangers for Trans Americans for several years now, and telling you all how to leave the USA. We continue to believe the best solution is to leave the USA, not to move to a blue state. As oppression spreads, you may find yourself without resources to get out of the US if you have just spent all your money moving to a blue state.
For Transgender Kansans who are considering leaving the USA we have produced and continue to produce as much information as we can to help. Every Saturday we hold an “Office Hours” online drop-in call at which you can receive practical face-to-face advice, and there are a series of articles with useful information. In particular our original post from way back in 2022 deals with getting ready to leave, we have a post with advice for those with little funds, and we set out clearly why claiming asylum in another country is a bad choice. In the works we have a much more comprehensive work featuring more in-depth advice and a directory of possible destinations, due over the next month or two.
If you are not an American, and are trying to understand what’s happened, you should know that the US has no state or national ID card. Instead, a state issued driver’s license takes it’s place. A driver’s license is so widely used as an ID that most states will issue a “driving license” that doesn’t convey any driving privileges, and it is impossible to rent a hotel room, an apartment, or a concrete mixer, to vote, enroll in school, or buy beer without one.
The Kansas driving license law may be a feature of Trump’s America, but we don’t think it represents the real America, a country of largely decent people. We have faith in the courage of ordinary Americans to help their trans compatriots in their hour of need, and we know that fairness will eventually prevail. The more trans Americans escape Trump’s tyranny, whether in Kansas or in the country as a whole, the more of us there will be surviving afterwards to bear witness. While the current regime remains in power we will not abandon our quest to help them.
Storm clouds over Kansas header image: NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, Public domain.
