On Kansas, Transphobia, and Domestic Terrorism

TW: Transphobia.

A letter from the Kansas Division of Vehicles dated February 23, 2026, is being sent to the homes of transgender Kansans informing them that they must surrender their driver's licenses and that their current credentials will be considered invalid upon the House Substitute for Senate Bill 244’s publication in the Kansas Register on February 26.

House Substitute for Senate Bill 244 was passed on February 17, 2026, after the Kansas House overrode Governor Laura Kelly’s veto. Because of this, Kansas-issued driver's licenses and identification cards must now reflect the credential holder's “sex at birth.”

There is no grace period for updating credentials, and anyone operating a vehicle without a valid credential "may be subject to additional penalties." Those whose gender marker does not match their sex assigned at birth are directed to surrender their current credential to the Division of Vehicles for reissuance.

The consequences for noncompliance could escalate quickly. 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 triggers an automatic 90-day license suspension. If a person drives during that suspension, they face a charge of driving on a suspended license, which carries a mandatory minimum of five days in jail. Kansas requires county jails to house inmates by sex assigned at birth.

This "bill" is also essentially a "Bathroom Bill", meaning that it mandates that multi-occupancy, private spaces in public buildings (such as restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms) are restricted to use based on biological sex. This "law" also allows individuals "aggrieved" by a violation of these privacy rules to bring a civil action, with potential for damages up to $1,000.00.

And again, there was no grace period given. This "law" is effective immediately. Schools, public buildings, businesses, even Government facilities are now all expected to scramble to help the State of Kansas employ transphobic discriminatory practices to the citizenry.

Let's keep it 100. This "law" is not about "protecting children and families" like these raggedy conservatives in Kansas want to keep stating. This law is meant to target, antagonize, profile, and terrorize anyone who is trans, non-binary, or expressing themselves in ways that do not fit the nonsensical gender binary that white supremacist culture insists we all bend the knee to.

This "bill" will protect no one. People are going to be followed into restrooms, harassed, profiled by law enforcement, and harassed by "good citizens." Kansas courts will be inundated with frivolous lawsuits from weak-willed, fragile, transphobic people insisting trans folx have done them harm by just existing in a space with them and expecting some kind of financial restitution.

This is domestic terrorism, pure and simple. And if you see it as anything other than that?

I'll let you connect the dots and label yourself.

On Dr. Davis, Domestic Terrorism, Misogynoir, and Wondering Where The Energy Went

TW: Mentions of murder, domestic terrorism, anti-Blackness, misogynoir, racism, xenophobia.

Dr. Linda Davis, a special education teacher in her first year at Herman W. Hesse K-8 School in Chatham County in Savannah, Georgia, was killed Monday morning on her commute to school by a person fleeing ICE agents in a high-speed chase. The Chatham County Police Department wasn’t part of—or aware of—the federal “immigration operation” happening in their county until after the crash.

Shocker.

This man, who crashed into and murdered Dr. Davis in an act obviously driven by fear and desperation, will bear the responsibility and burden of taking her life for the rest of his days. But this is not his burden and responsibility to carry alone. He shares that burden and responsibility equally with the ICE agents who initiated this high-speed chase and who have fomented over a year of violent domestic terrorism in this country disguised as immigration enforcement. But another group also bears some responsibility for this horrific incident: people who benefit from systems of pallor.

A whole bunch of y’all stormed the streets when ICE murdered Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Y’all marched and flooded your social media channels with every image and update you could muster.

But y’all are quiet as hell about Dr. Davis.

Where’s the outrage? Where’s the defiance, the marching in the streets? Where’s that “F--- ICE” energy now? Let me guess: most of y’all view Dr. Davis’ murder as something that was “ICE adjacent,” meaning that ICE didn’t directly kill her, so it “doesn’t count,” or you haven’t heard about Dr. Davis’ murder because your newscycle is somehow still centered on mainstream media outlets who have been practically silent about this incident.

Let’s say you didn’t know about Dr. Davis’ murder. Well, you know now. Where’s that anger you had when ICE murdered people of pallor? Does it not carry over to this? Is this not “directly ICE” enough for you to demand accountability like y’all did for Renee and Alex? Or is that your misogynoir and anti-Blackness talking?

Things that make you go hmm.

Rest well, Dr. Davis. I hope your family and community get the closure and justice they and you deserve.

[Image description: An image of Dr. Linda Davis, smiling while resting her face in her palms. A whimsical holiday wreath surrounds her.]

Image description: An image of Dr. Linda Davis, smiling while resting her face in her palms. A whimsical holiday wreath surrounds her.

This Week's Opening Thought: July 15, 2024

This week’s opening thought: All that violent shuckin’ and jivin’ this past weekend, and there still won’t be one piece of realistic and tangible gun legislation drafted to try and ensure this kind of thing is mitigated or outright eliminated.

If they weren’t going to draft and pass bipartisan sensible legislation to protect children, they sure as hell aren’t to protect people like you-know-who.

Meanwhile, this high-profile event was one of four mass shootings in the United States this weekend, bringing us to 37 mass shootings in July alone. As a whole, 430 people have been killed, and 1,405 people have been wounded in 341 shootings in 2024.

But you know, the right to bear arms and whatnot.

And the beat goes on.

This Week's Opening Thought: March 6, 2023

This week's opening thought: If you live in the United States, you live in a country that is more scared of gender expression in the arts and entertainment and drag shows "harming children" than they are of domestic white terrorism and a lack of gun control, which at this point are the number one killers and traumatizers of U.S. children.

I don't care what anyone says; I have never felt endangered by any person's gender expression being shared with me, personally or through entertainment. I have not seen gender expression harm or murder children in the United States, and I likely never will.

But I sure as fuck am scared of disgruntled fragile white men with automatic weapons.

And I'm equally as scared of the danger U.S. children face when they go to school daily or live in communities impacted by poverty, systemic oppression, and violence.

But you know Drag Queen Story Time at the local library is the scourge of our nation.

Glad to see lawmakers across the United States have their priorities in check.