A trans activist is now reportedly under investigation after putting Kansas’ new trans bathroom ban to the test on the Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV). Samantha Boucher, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Trans Liberty, informed the state Capitol Police before using the women’s restroom in defiance of a recently passed state law.

“I’m more than happy to, you know, put myself at that risk if it means that somebody else doesn’t have to, because eventually someone would try this,” Boucher told The Topeka Capital-Journal.

Related

GOP overrides gov’s veto to enact bill that could ban “husbands from wives’ shared hospital rooms”

The bathroom ban affects restrooms in government buildings and is part of Kansas’ Senate Bill 244, which also invalidated the driver’s licenses of trans people who had updated their gender marker to match their gender identity. While Gov. Laura Kelly (D) vetoed the bill on February 13, the state legislature voted to override the veto only a few days later.

On March 10, a Kansas court denied a request to block the bill. The ACLU is now seeking a preliminary injunction to block enforcement as part of its broader lawsuit challenging SB244, but that is pending a hearing on September 29.

Never Miss a Beat

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

Boucher told the Kansas Reflector that she chose TDOV for her protest because “no single bill in American history has ever been as aggressive toward the trans community as SB 244.” But her act of civil disobedience was also intended to highlight the lack of clarity around how the bill will be enforced.

“The way it is worded is quite difficult for enforcement, but we’re about to put that to the test,” Boucher told Kelly when she ran into the governor in the Capitol rotunda before heading to the restroom. The law lays out that a first offense would receive a warning, a second offense would receive a $1000 fine, and a third offense would be considered a Class B misdemeanor. However, those violations require a complaint or an investigation.

If a complaint comes from a private individual who feels “aggrieved” by a trans person being in the restroom, they can sue them for $1000. That effectively places a bounty on trans people using restrooms that align with their gender identity and allows private citizens to turn on their community members if they suspect that someone might be trans, whether or not they are.

To ensure that her defiance of the law was witnessed, Boucher informed Lieutenant Grady Walker of the Capitol Police and had him escort her to the bathroom. She then entered and used the restroom three times. Walker then interviewed Boucher for an investigation, saying afterward, “We will not be able to discuss or disclose any information about this investigation until it’s concluded, but she is free to leave at this time.”

Gov. Kelly has remained opposed to the bill since the veto override, telling Boucher, after hearing of her plans, “I am very sorry that you and others have been put in this situation.”

“I think her heart is in the right place,” Boucher told the Capital Journal of Kelly, “and I think that she knows just as well as anyone that the attacks targeting our community are a political stunt to make a particular group of people happy at our expense. I think that anyone with the level of empathy that she has and others have, I’m sure there are many in the state Legislature that voted for that bill who privately don’t agree with it.”

Boucher’s non-profit, Trans Liberty, tracks anti-trans legislation, aids pro-trans political candidates, and works to support the trans community in the face of anti-trans hate. They also run Operation Lifeboat, which provides emergency support for trans Kansans. Since the passage of SB 244, Trans Liberty has issued a statewide evacuation warning for trans people.

Speaking of the impact and intent of the bill, Harper Seldin, a Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project, said, “The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police. Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.