- Kansas invalidates licenses that list gender differing from birth.
- New law does not concern driving skills or safety standards.
- Affected drivers must surrender existing licenses immediately.
Kansas has begun invalidating thousands of US driver’s licenses held by transgender residents under a new state law that requires identification documents to reflect sex assigned at birth. The measure has nothing to do with the drivers being unsafe on the road and instead focuses solely on how gender is recorded on official credentials.
The law took effect immediately upon publication in the Kansas Register after lawmakers overrode a veto from Democrat Governor Laura Kelly. Because the Legislature didn’t include a grace period, any affected license held by transgender drivers became invalid the moment the statute was enacted. That must have been handy for any affected residents in the middle of a cross-state trip.
What Did The Letter Say?
Residents received a letter confirming the change and warning that once the law was enacted, operating a vehicle without a valid credential could expose them to additional penalties. The letter was shared by Erin In The Morning, a site that covers issues affecting transgender people.
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“If you have received this notice, our records indicate that, upon publication of this law in the Kansas Register on Thursday, February 26, 2026, your current Kansas credential will no longer be valid,” the letter reads. “Additionally, please note that the Legislature did not include a grace period for updating credentials. This means that once the law is officially enacted, your current credential will be invalid immediately, and you may be subject to additional penalties if you are operating a vehicle without a valid credential.”
State officials expect at least 1,700 driver’s licenses to be reissued, along with up to 1,800 birth certificates, The Washington Post reports. Letters have been sent instructing affected residents to surrender their current credentials and obtain replacements.
And just to rub their noses in it, lawmakers are making transgender drivers pay for the changes. The standard fee for a new license is $26, and the state hasn’t allocated funds to cover the cost. The correspondence also states that drivers will be issued new licenses once they hand in their existing ones.
Financial Burden
Wherever you stand on trans rights, and it’s certainly a divisive issue, it seems harsh to make drivers cough up when the state allowed them to change or choose their gender in the first place. The affected drivers haven’t failed tests, accumulated excessive points, or violated insurance rules.
And the lack of a grace period is also unnecessarily mean – if men were ordered to hand in their license immediately because Kansas suddenly demanded a profile picture be added to the ID card, and they weren’t allowed to drive until the new license was issued, there would be pandemonium.
Six Months In Lock-Up
Under Kansas law, driving without a valid license is a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. A conviction can also trigger an automatic suspension. That means anyone unaware that their credential has been invalidated risks legal trouble simply by commuting to work.
Other states, including Florida, Tennessee, and Texas, also restrict gender marker changes on driver’s licenses. But Kansas appears to be the first to require reversal of previously issued credentials rather than simply blocking future updates. The broader bill also includes provisions related to restroom access in government buildings and enforcement mechanisms.
