A group of transgender men are highlighting the confusion caused by a new Kansas law that requires them to use the women’s restroom in publicly owned facilities.
The transgender men have gathered at locations across Kansas to do a sort of protest by complying with the law. They use the women's bathroom — the restroom of their assigned biological sex at birth.
The SB244 Compliance Crew — named after the bathroom ban bill that became law earlier this year — went to a library in Emporia, a swimming pool in Garden City and water parks in Dodge City and Great Bend.
The group followed the law and sometimes it got awkward.
“There was just a lot of confusion going on,” Compliance Crew member Ray Vieux said about the Dodge City protest. “The manager stated she didn’t know this was a law.”
In that situation, police were called, but it became an even more uncomfortable experience for the protest and officers in Dodge City.
The protesters said they had to describe their genitalia to officers — an exchange that lasted roughly 20 minutes. After the description officers told the crew members they were free to go.
The Dodge City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Not every situation went like this. Emporia library staff were aware of the law so there was no police interaction, but there was a moment where a woman hastily exited the restroom to complain.
Members of the group said this was a common theme. There is a lack of knowledge that the law exists. There’s a lack of understanding when it comes to enforcing it when a trans man uses the women’s bathroom as the law requires.
“It’s confusing for everybody,” Vieux said about the law. “And it doesn’t make anybody feel safer.”
The confusion is not only at the local enforcement level.
Earlier this year, Attorney General Kris Kobach had to make exemptions for certain state facilities like skilled nursing rooms and Kansas Department of Wildlife cabins because there was some confusion about which state facilities should be exempt.
Kobach did not respond to requests for comment about this story.
The crew began right after the law passed in February and they have no plans of stopping with more bathroom protests coming up.
“I’ve got some ideas rattling around in my head,” Charles Osman, the creator of SB244 Compliance Crew, said about future protests.
The focus will continue to be on communities outside of the major metro areas in Kansas. There are two reasons for that.
“They almost exclusively vote Republican,” Osman said. “And almost nobody knows about this law out in rural areas.”
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