Kobach seeks to block trans Kansans from changing birth certificates with new court filing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach is seeking to block transgender residents from changing the sex on their birth certificates by asking a judge to void portions of a years-old federal court order.

Kobach’s office filed a motion in federal court Friday night asking U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Crabtree to modify a 2019 consent judgment that ordered the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to allow the birth certificate changes. The court filing comes before a new state law is set to go into effect Saturday that Kobach, a Republican, contends directly contradicts the order.

SB 180, called the “Women’s Bill of Rights,” was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature over Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto this spring and requires Kansas to issue IDs and other state documents based on an individual’s sex at birth.

Since the bill was passed, LGBTQ advocates have warned it would likely prohibit trans residents from changing their birth certificate with the Office of Vital Statistics housed in KDHE.

The consent judgment was the result of an agreement between state officials and trans residents who sued in federal court seeking the ability to change their birth certificates. Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ-oriented legal firm that represented the plaintiffs in that suit, promised to fight Kobach’s motion.

“Today’s action represents yet another unnecessary and cruel move to target the transgender community with animus and discrimination for political gain. We will vigorously oppose this gimmick by Attorney General Kobach,” Lambda Legal counsel and health care strategist Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, who was the lead attorney in the lawsuit, said in a statement.

“Let us be clear, Lambda Legal will not allow the Attorney General to nullify a binding, years-old federal judgment. In the meantime, lest there be any doubt, the state’s Office of Vital Statistics cannot refuse applications to correct gender markers.”

Kobach’s office didn’t publicly announce the court filing, but has called a news conference for Monday where he is expected to discuss a currently unreleased legal opinion on SB 180.

SB 180, the first law of its kind in the nation, is a sweeping measure that requires trans individuals to use public accommodations, including restrooms, consistent with their sex at birth. Though the bill doesn’t include an enforcement mechanism, it has caused widespread anxiety among trans residents and calls in Lawrence and elsewhere to establish sanctuary cities protective of trans rights.

Advocates for trans Kansans have been urging them to change their birth certificate and other documents before July 1. Documents obtained by The Star through an open records request show that in May, KDHE completed 112 transgender amendment requests.

Daniel Burrows, Kobach’s chief deputy attorney general, contends in a court document filed Friday that the legal basis for the consent judgment has eroded over time and that it is impossible to comply with both the judgment and SB 180.

“Defendants may have been free to enter into a stipulated judgment allowing them to issue non-conforming birth certificates four years ago, in the absence of any definitive legislative statement on the matter,” Burrows writes. “But now that the legislature has spoken, the agency is bound to execute the law as written.”

Kelly’s administration has previously declined to say whether it intends to follow the consent judgment come July 1, saying it was reviewing the matter.