Flint Hills Human Rights Project

Kansas universities can’t offer LGBTQ+ scholarships right now—not because the need disappeared, but because state lawmakers changed the rules.

Last year, the Kansas state budget proviso eliminated funding for DEI programs and positions at public universities. In practice, that means schools are no longer allowed to offer identity-based scholarships—including those that specifically support LGBTQ+ students.

The impact is real.

At a time when many LGBTQ+ students are:
🏳️‍🌈Being pushed out of their homes for who they are
🏳️‍⚧️Navigating harassment or hate—and the trauma that follows
🎓Balancing school while managing trauma, isolation, financial instability, and hostile learning climates.

Public institutions have been stripped of tools they once used to support them.

But while universities can’t—we can.

💜 Apply for an LGBTQ+ scholarship ($500–$700) by May 23:
https://www.fhhrp.org/scholarship

💚 Help us fill the gap left by this policy:
Donate directly: https://www.fhhrp.org/memberships
Shop our fundraising shirts: https://www.fhhrp.org/tshirt-fundraising

This is what community care looks like. This isn’t accidental—this policy removes support from LGBTQ+ students and students of color at a moment they need it most.

📢 Share this post. Tag someone who should apply. Help us reach students who need support right now.

K-State Drag Show this Friday, April 17th

Kansas has enacted one of the harshest anti-trans policies in the country.

SB 244 is now forcing transgender Kansans to give up their current driver’s licenses — even though they were legally issued. People are receiving official letters ordering them to surrender their IDs immediately. On top of that, the law opens the door for lawsuits against trans people simply for using the restroom that matches who they are.

Other states have blocked gender marker updates or targeted bathroom access. But Kansas has gone even further — retroactively canceling valid state IDs and exposing trans residents to legal and financial risk just for existing in public life.

This puts people in an impossible position:

Drive with a license the state has invalidated and risk a misdemeanor.

Or miss work, secure transportation to the motor vehicle office, pay new fees, and accept an ID that effectively outs them as transgender.

For many, neither option is financially possible.

If you’re affected, you are not alone. We have donor-funded assistance available to help cover the cost of updated IDs and licenses for those who need it. Email us at [email protected] to get connected.

We will stand with each other. We will support each other. And we will get through this — together.

Folks are watching what is happening here!

We’re holding space and sending love and solidarity to trans and gender-expansive people in Kansas. 💔🏳️‍⚧️

What’s happening there right now is painful, alarming, and deeply unjust.

The Kansas Legislature has just rushed through a bill that restricts restroom access and further erases basic legal recognition for transgender people — using undemocratic procedural tactics to move it quickly and limit meaningful public input. The governor is expected to veto the bill, but Republican lawmakers appear to have enough votes to override that veto and force it into law anyway.

The bill doesn’t just regulate bathrooms, it actively encourages the policing of people’s bodies and identities, and opens the door for individuals and institutions to sue trans people simply for existing in public spaces.

This is what it looks like when political power is used to target a small, vulnerable community instead of protecting it.

To every trans person in Kansas: you are not alone. You are seen, you are valued, and you deserve safety, dignity, and the freedom to exist without fear.

We stand with you today and always. 💛

Read more at Erin In The Morning - Link in the comments ↓

Kansas lawmakers have passed SB 244, a bill that bars transgender people from using restrooms that align with their gender in government buildings and invalidates their driving licenses and birth certificates if they do not match their s*x assigned at birth.

The Senate concurred with the bill on Wednesday (28 January), voting 30 to 9 along party lines. The bill will go to Gov. Laura Kelly, who is expected to veto the legislation. However, it passed both chambers with the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.

Under SB 244, any trans person who enters a restroom that doesn't align with their s*x assigned at birth would be deemed in violation. There is also a section that creates a “private right of action,” allowing individuals to sue transgender people they encounter in bathrooms for damages. There is no literature in the provision that limits its application to publicly-owned buildings.

Originally focused on limiting changes to identity documents, the bill was amended late in the process to add the restroom ban and was advanced without further public testimony, despite significant opposition earlier in hearings. The measure was championed by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. Advocacy groups including GLAAD and the ACLU of Kansas argue the law raises serious concerns about privacy, government overreach, and the safety and rights of transgender Kansans.

📷 SunCatcherStudio
📷 Wikimedia Commons