Across the metro, people continue to express anger over Friday's
Supreme Court ruling on discrimination.
The court ruled in favor of Laurie Smith,
a Christian web designer from Colorado who refused to create
wedding websites for same sex couples,
citing religious objections. More than a dozen people protested in
Mill Creek Park in Kansas City last night.
A day after the protest,
a new law went into effect targeting trans people in
Kansas.
My home is in Kansas and I'd rather fight for
my right to be who I am in Kansas,
even if it means of a difficult next few years.
Senate Bill 180 legally defines a person sex as male
or female based on their biological reproductive system at birth.
Governor Laura Kelly vetoed the bill,
but lawmakers overturned it tonight.
Reporter John Kim talked to people in the LGBTQ community
about their concerns.
Do not tolerate discriminatory legislative bills like Senate Bill 18016
protests happening across the state of Kansas on Saturday.
Here at Thompson Park in Johnson County,
dozens were gathered to send the state a unified message.
My direct message to the attorney general is that I
would hope he finds it in his heart to be
more compassionate in what he does with his position.
Democratic Governor Laura Kelly announced on Thursday that the state
will keep allowing transgender residents to change their gender marker.
Attorney General Chris Kobach responded,
saying he'll sue her administration.
He said that this is simply a database issue.
What do you think about that?
I don't think a life is a database issue.
I sat down with a transgender woman named Windsor earlier
this week.
She says the state hasn't been clear and transparent about
the bill from the beginning.
They are, you know, obfuscating information.
They're making it very hard to access,
you know, updated policies. The policies are changing every couple
of months.
With the July 1st deadline,
Windsor traveled to Topeka to churn in her application.
The person but the clerk there told her she had
to mail it in instead,
leading her to spend $28.00 on expedited next day shipping.
Does it feel intentional? It absolutely feels intentional.
Even if her application is approved,
Attorney General Chris Kobach says the law will be retroactive,
meaning it would revert all gender marker changes that have
already been approved over the last six years.
Winzer says this is much more than a database issue.
It's about people's lives, you know they're asking me.
To be dead, named in,
misgendered. Every single time I go to the doctor's office,
every single time I interact with law enforcement,
every single time I interact with the legal system in
general.
It's incredibly taxing on my mental health,
and it's really destructive. Jean Kim Kiss,
HB 41 News.