(Photo by Victoria Pickering/Flickr)

Editor’s Note: All Opinion articles reflect the opinion of the writer only, not The Messenger or Johnson County Community College. JCCC students interested in writing for The Messenger’s Opinion page can contact us at themessengerjccc@gmail.com.

Kansas recently joined a long line of states passing anti-trans legislation this past February, following a troubling trend in recent politics. For decades, members of the LGBTQ community have had to fight to maintain equal rights to that of non-queer members, however it seems despite some progress over all this time, that there is still a deficit in equality. A deficit all the more noticeable to the trans members of the community. 

From banning and removing books that promote kindness or understanding towards transgender individuals, to banning changing gender on official documents (something Kansas did in 2023), banning bathroom use, and banning participation in sports,  a long list of bills against transgender individuals have been passed. In fact, the Trans Legislator Tracker recorded that just in 2025, 20 anti-trans bills have been passed across the country, with 707 different bills still up for consideration. 

As a part of this large scale attack, the White House has begun a purge of even mentioning trans American with executive orders like “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” which an excerpt of reads:

“Agencies shall remove all statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications, or other internal and external messages that promote or otherwise inculcate gender ideology, and shall cease issuing such statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications or other messages. Agency forms that require an individual’s sex shall list male or female, and shall not request gender identity. Agencies shall take all necessary steps, as permitted by law, to end the Federal funding of gender ideology.”

This order meant that on a federal level, transgender individuals were functionally erased. Even the National Park Service has been forced to remove mention of trans Americans from the historic site of Stonewall Inn. For those unaware- this site was the start of the Stonewall Riots after the New York City Police raided the gay bar in 1969. It was one of the first major pushes for LGBTQ rights in this country, with a number of trans activists playing major roles including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. 

The updated NPS site for Stonewall now reads, “Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal, but the events at the Stonewall Inn sparked fresh momentum for the LGB civil rights movement!”

This has all been a part of a growing “LGB” movement. One aimed at erasing a key member of the community. We should not stand as history is being changed, as our fellow Americans are being actively and violently discriminated against. Decency and respect should be given to any person- I can not possibly imagine holding hatred in my heart for a group who want nothing more than to live their life.

Here in Johnson County, the Gardner Edgerton school board voted to remove the book “Lily and Dunkin” due to its featuring of a trans protagonist; the school district also currently bans trans students from preferred bathroom and sports teams. Many similar attempts have been made in other local school districts like Shawnee Mission and Olathe, however they did not pass through their school boards. 

Don’t be a bystander, this fight is happening at every level of government. Go to school board meetings, go to city council meetings, write your senators and congressmen, protest and boycott when you can. This is a battle for civil rights, for equal rights. Don’t be the person who did nothing in the face of injustice, take a stand.