Tree Crane, 17, poses after a rally where hundreds gathered in support of transgender youth at the Utah state Capitol, Jan. 24, 2023, in Salt Lake City. (Rick Bowmer/AP Images)
"This decision is a victory for the rule of law and common sense," Kobach said in a statement. "The Legislature wisely stated that state agencies should record biological sex at birth, and today the court held that the meaning of the law is clear."
Watson permitted the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to represent transgender individuals in the case. They argued the law would violate the state's constitution, which the Supreme Court ruled in 2019 grants a right to bodily autonomy. At the time, the SCOTUS ruling pertained to abortion access.
This image from the Kansas Department of Revenue shows a sample driver's license issued by the state's Division of Vehicles.
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"It did not say Kansans have a fundamental state constitutional right to control what information is displayed on a state-issued driver’s license," Watson continued. "And the Intervenors’ testimony at the hearing was that producing a driver’s license indicating a sex different than their expressed gender did not result in physical violence, verbal harassment, loss of employment, loss of benefits, refusal of service, or negative interaction with law enforcement. Rather, Intervenors testified about feeling embarrassed, humiliated, or unsafe if someone gave them a puzzled look, hesitated, or questioned their identity when looking at their driver’s license."
Kansas and Florida are the only two states that currently prevent sex changes on state-issued ID cards.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, ACLU's LGBTQ+ legal fellow D.C. Hiegert said they were "disappointed" about Monday's ruling and the decision would lead to transgender "people experiencing harassment, denial of services, or worse."
"We remain unconvinced that the imaginary injury to the state could ever outweigh the enormous harm our clients and other transgender Kansans have and will continue to experience by being forced to carry," the statement read.
Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.
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