LGBTQ+

A student at the University of Kansas argues he was wrongfully terminated from his position as a resident assistant because he spoke to the media against KU’s new housing policies removing gender neutral spaces.

In the 1970s, a Kansas City woman helped create Naiad Press, the largest lesbian publishing company in the world. Her goal was to tell more positive stories about queer love. Plus: Hundreds of people attend the weekly bingo night at the American Legion in Olathe, and they come to win.

As the gay rights movement began picking up steam in the 1970s, Barbara Grier co-founded the largest lesbian publishing company in the world — right from her Kansas City home. Grier was bold, controversial, and unstoppable in her mission to make books reflect the people and love stories in her life.

With just days remaining in the 2025 legislative session, unfinished Republican priorities include overturning voter-approved initiatives on abortion rights and paid sick leave.

A memo from President Trump earlier this year revealed plans to remove transgender service members from the military — a plan the Supreme Court has allowed to be enforced while the legal battle plays out. Thousands of transgender service members now face the possible end of their careers.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been seeking medical records on gender-affirming health care for minors from providers across Missouri. An appeals court said Planned Parenthood must produce "de-identified" medical records or otherwise cite exemptions.

After a federal judge halted President Trump's executive order banning transgender service members from the military, bases in Missouri and around the country are backpedaling.

The demonstration celebrated Trans Day of Visibility, but many people were also there to send a message to lawmakers. President Trump has signed multiple executive orders restricting the rights of transgender people to get health care, passports and participate in school sports.

A judge’s order allows a mother of two children in the Gardner Edgerton district to once again go to school property and events, after the district barred her for sharing photos of a classroom with a social media account known for posting inflammatory messages.

In Kansas and nationally, debates over transgender rights and inclusion are playing out in faith communities. For Pastor Charles McKinzie, in Winfield, the duty to welcome gender-diverse congregants has a theological and personal basis.

Republican state Sen. Mike Cierpiot of Lee’s Summit, said birth certificates reflect “facts on the day you were born." His bill is inspired by a case where a transgender student sued the Blue Springs School District after being barred from locker rooms and bathrooms.

Kansas City’s transgender community is sandwiched between two states where Republican-controlled legislatures have made limiting transgender health care and other rights a top priority. Families say the restrictions put their safety at risk.