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On February 18, SB 244 passed in Kansas. This new law discriminates against transgender people by invalidating their driver’s licenses and birth certificates if those documents list a gender different from a person’s sex at birth. Additionally, it restricts transgender people’s access to restrooms as well as other sex-separated facilities in government buildings, and it also creates new criminal and civil penalties to enforce those new rules.

This is just the latest of many bills intent on discriminating against transgender people in the United States. In fact, in 2026 alone, there have been 474 anti-LGBTQ bills proposed. What makes this case in Kansas unique, though, is that it’s the only state that invalidates documents that have been previously changed. This new law sets a dangerous precedent and is causing fear and confusion amongst approximately 1,800 people in Kansas whose IDs are suddenly invalid.

The same day the bill passed, two transgender people in Kansas filed a lawsuit asking Douglas County District Judge Catherine Theisen to block the law. The suit says, “The Kansas Constitution prohibits the Kansas Legislature’s targeting of transgender individuals for this discriminatory and dehumanizing treatment.”

This new law certainly isn’t the first time that legislation has been weaponized against the LGBTQ+ community. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which passed in 1996, is a great example of this. The federal law, which was signed by President Bill Clinton, banned the federal recognition of same-sex marriage. The law allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages that were conducted in other states. Additionally, it barred same-sex couples from federal benefits.

Just like today, where anti-LGBTQ legislation is met with lawsuits and protests, the same was true after DOMA passed. There were numerous repeal efforts, and in 2013, the U.S. The Supreme Court declared Section 3 (the section that barred same-sex couples from federal benefits) unconstitutional.

DOMA is just one of many examples of the government seeking to invalidate LGBTQ+ people’s identities. Another example is the Lavender Scare, which took place in the mid-20th century. There was a moral panic about homosexuals, which led to their mass dismissal from government jobs.

What always amazes me, whether many decades ago or this week, is the fact that in the face of injustice, the LGBTQ+ community continues to fight and support one another. The truth is that it’s a hard time, a scary time, and a confusing time, but looking to the past and seeing LGBTQ+ leaders who bravely faced DOMA, the Lavender Scare, and more can give us the hope and courage we need today.