transgender

Missouri has banned medical gender-affirming health care for youth and some adults since 2023. But there are plenty of other forms of gender-affirming care happening in the state, and advocates say it’s saving lives. Plus: Missouri’s Medicaid program is about to go through a major change with the advent of federally imposed work requirements.

Missouri has banned medical gender-affirming care for youth and some adults since 2023. But other forms of gender-affirming care is happening in the state — including haircuts, facial waxing and photography — and advocates say it's saving lives.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases in the fall that test state laws banning transgender women and girls from participating in sports at publicly funded institutions. Both Missouri and Kansas have passed simii restrictions.

The case centers on a student in the Blue Springs School District. A 5-2 ruling from the state's highest court recently found that the Missouri Human Rights Act “does not cover claims based on gender identity," but it used a definition of "sex" that's more than two decades old.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach alleged that the Olathe, Shawnee Mission, and Kansas City, Kansas, school districts are violating federal law by not properly notifying parents of their students’ gender identity.

Next year, transgender teens in Kansas will no longer be able to access puberty blockers and hormone treatments for gender-affirming care. One family in Wichita is worried about navigating the changes. Plus, aircraft manufacturing is a big part of the Kansas economy, but new tariffs by the Trump administration have some companies scrambling.

Kansas' ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapies for transgender minors takes effect next year. This family is trying to navigate the changes — and give their daughter a normal teen life.

Both Missouri and Kansas have banned hormone therapy and other gender-affirming care for transgender youth under age 18. A conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a similar law on Wednesday, which local advocates say is "devastating."

Republican lawmakers put a measure on the 2026 ballot that would not just cement an abortion ban in the Missouri Constitution, but would also prevent transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming health care.

Attorney General Kris Kobach instructed the Kansas Department of Revenue, which houses the division of motor vehicles, not to make gender marker changes while the issue is in litigation.

The Kansas Court of Appeals decision reverses a district court order that prohibited transgender people from changing driver's licenses to reflect their gender identity.

Ruling in favor of the Blue Springs School District, Missouri's highest court said the former student failed to prove the district discriminated against him for denying him access to male locker rooms and bathrooms.