At hearing about anti-trans law, frustration simmers over enduring discrimination against Kansans

Harper Seldin, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, talks to reporters after a March 6, 2026, hearing in Douglas County District Court. Seldin asked the judge to place a temporary restraining order on the state to stop implementation of a new law that forces Kansans to use bathrooms and have documentation in their biological sex at birth. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

I stood in the back of the small courtroom with about 20 other people, watching ACLU attorney Harper Seldin argue before Douglas County District Judge James McCabria.

The whole scene, with about 30 people packed into three rows of chairs and the rest of us shuffling in the back, shifting from one foot to the other, felt undeniably tense. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, broad shouldered and stone-faced, sat at a table. Seldin and his fellow attorneys had a table of their own, to the left.

McCabria, at pains to exude a plainspoken folksiness and “I’m just a county judge” vibe, presided with keen attention, taking notes on a yellow legal pad and interrupting each side as they argued whether Senate Bill 244 — a law that officially designates transgender Kansans as second-class citizens — should be temporarily enjoined.

At the end of nearly three-and-half hours of arguments on Friday afternoon, the judge said he would rule by Tuesday, leaving trans Kansans and their allies in the lurch for a few days more.

In the meantime, Kobach acknowledged that perhaps these Kansans deserved a bit more grace in updating their driver’s licenses. That small concession no doubt comes as a tremendous relief to those who were only alerted by a letter to a change in state law making them criminals.

I left the hearing in between arguments from Seldin and Kobach, as temperatures rose and my feet protested. I kept track of later exchanges through a Zoom video, all the better to mutter under my breath and toss wadded-up balls of paper in the air.

Watching the calm, measured application of justice felt right — in some respects. The judge respected both sides and calmly drew out arguments opposing and supporting the legislation.

Yet I also found myself frustrated and grieving.

None of these legal maneuverings will change the fact that transgender Kansans, both men and women, live and work in our state. None of this procedural debate will stop them from going out in public and living as their authentic selves. They will face persecution because of SB 244, but they will persist.

So what did the Legislature accomplish by passing this bogus piece of twaddle? Does forcing a persecuted minority to defend itself in court bring a warm feeling to the hearts of Kobach and his compatriots at the Kansas Attorney General’s Office?

I’ve spent much of the past week sorting through the Facebook comments underneath Kansas Reflector stories and columns about SB 244. At this point I have blocked and deleted dozens if not hundreds of noxious, vile, violent and inflammatory statements. Do they use slurs? Sure. But they also threaten violence and call for imprisoning trans people.

This language doesn’t come from those interested in thoughtful debates or crafting public policy. It emanates from the deepest pits of animus. It comes from people who hate and loathe those who are different.

It comes from the same kind of people I faced as a teen and young adult coming to terms with being gay. It comes from the same kind of people who vociferously opposed same-sex unions and opposed the right of my husband and I to marry. It comes from the same kind of people who would rather see our son without a family than raised by two fathers.

Kobach and those who brought this law to fruition — Senate President Ty Masterson, House Speaker Dan Hawkins, Rep. Bob Lewis and others — have aligned themselves with these people. They have joined forces with fundamentally anti-human bigots.

As I asked my friends and co-workers more than 20 years ago, when state constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage slimed across the nation, do they seriously believe such measures will make gay people go away?

Banning same-sex marriage doesn’t stop gay people from forming lifelong partnerships. It simply makes their lives worse.

Likewise, invalidating transgender Kansans’ driver’s licenses and forcing them into the wrong restrooms won’t make trans people vanish. Sure, some might move away from Kansas (as tragic as that would be). But more will be born, and more will continue to live their lives honestly in Kansas.

At times throughout the hearing Friday, I felt proud and frustrated. Proud to hear the voices of trans Kansans relayed to a hopefully impartial judge. Frustrated because the entire exercise gave a candy-colored coating to the hostilty of our loathsome Legislature.

The restraining order might be granted, come Tuesday. It might not. But transgender Kansans will still be here, and they will still demand our respect.

Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.