{"id":3748,"date":"2026-09-29T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T14:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/?p=3748"},"modified":"2026-09-28T20:07:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T01:07:56","slug":"kansas-bathroom-bill-affects-students-seven-months-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/2026\/09\/29\/kansas-bathroom-bill-affects-students-seven-months-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Kansas “Bathroom Bill” Affects Students Seven Months On"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo By: Bianca Little\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>The <\/span>\u201cbathroom bill\u201d<\/span><\/a> restricting transgender individuals from entering the restrooms of their preferred gender in public building<\/span>s <\/span>continues to affect JCCC students through these seven months of it being in effect.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill, which was passed on Feb. 26, 2026, requires Kansas residents to access restrooms, including in government buildings and schools, that align with their sex assigned at birth. Upon its passing, the bill also voided driver’s licenses that listed a preferred gender that did not align with biological sex. Failure to comply with the ruling can <\/span>result in civil penalties and fines up to $1,000 .<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Under Republican leadership, the ruling was passed in a single day through a \u201cgut-and-go\u201d maneuver, a strategy that quickly passes a bill without public notice or hearings. <\/span>In an interview with a trans man and first year JCCC student, Alexander Skinner shared his thoughts about the bill\u2019s suddenness. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBased on our current [presidential] administration, it makes sense. The only thing that I guess was surprising was that it got passed so quickly and that it’s not getting enough pushback from other people in government,\u201d said Alexander Skinner, a trans man and first-year student.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Skinner said using public restrooms has always been something to consider. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cEvery time you’re going to the restroom, there’s a thought like, \u2018which one do I go into?\u2019\u201d Skinner said. \u201c[The bill] doesn’t actually change what I do. It just makes it scarier based on what I think. Because people are gonna react the same either way, it just now adds repercussions.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>About <\/span>1% of the U.S. population identifies as transgender<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Kansas is around 0.5%<\/span><\/a>. Many believe that a heightened attention on putting restrictions on trans individuals detracts from a \u201cfor the people\u201d mindset.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In a conversation with the Gender and Sexuality Alliance, members and advisor Amanda Glass gave their insights.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIt was passed deliberately in a way that undermines democracy. I don’t think you can really argue that that was for anybody but the minority of people who wanted to pass it and knew that they couldn’t pass it otherwise without being underhanded,\u201d said member Penelope Zung.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIt is for the people that they see are people,\u201d said member Patrick Seagraves. \u201cI believe that it was probably passed in the way that it was so underhandedly because they knew it would not have passed had they been upfront with it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSomebody who really wants to hurt women, they’re not going to stop because of a bathroom. They\u2019re going to keep doing that. You’re just now also hurting trans people,\u201d said member Verity Alexander.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many want to see more attention on issues that are less highlighted.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t feel that there should be any need for legislation specifically targeting bodily functions when there are other things that are more pressing, like lack of healthcare, lack of SNAP benefits, lack of funding for WIC,\u201d said member Abi Williams.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill has affected many members’ autonomy and attitudes toward the state.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIn my high school, I was told I was not allowed to use the restroom that I aligned with, and it led to medical problems because you have to be able to have these fundamental places to relieve yourself throughout the day,\u201d said member Bugsy Feather.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Feather believes this bill disregards human needs.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIt’s frustrating, and it leads to resentment towards the system, resentment towards the state, wishing to be somewhere else or go somewhere else, and instead of having to fight constantly for my needs to be met, for fundamental basic needs to be met,\u201d said Feather.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The need to avoid public restrooms to avoid inflammatory remarks and opposition from others is heavily felt.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIt is like an ever-present \u2018don’t go to the bathroom in public that often. Just wait till you get home because you don’t know who’s in there.\u2019 You don\u2019t know if they\u2019re chill, you don\u2019t know if they are fine, you don\u2019t know if they\u2019ve had a bad day,\u201d said Beatrice Luevano, president of the GSA. \u201cAll it takes is one bad day for anyone ever, and suddenly now I will be on the news, and that’s just a fact of life.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Noted by the <\/span>volume of anti-trans bills<\/span><\/a>, Kansas has been becoming more and more unsafe for trans and gender nonconforming individuals. GSA serves to connect people to resources. The club provides scholarship opportunities and shares news and information, including <\/span>gender-neutral bathroom areas on campus<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI describe it as coming up for air in a system that is pushing you down,\u201d said Feather. \u201cTo have a space like this is so important because of that.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEven if only one student is in the room, I hope for that one student that this can be a safe place or a safer place. We might be the only place where somebody can wear a skirt, or paint their nails, or can use a pronoun that actually allows them to breathe,\u201d said advisor and professor Amanda Glass. \u201cI cannot underscore enough the importance of the room being available for people to come in and feel safe.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>As the local general election approaches, change is possible by speaking out and voting.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it falls a lot more on us as a public to protest and bring it up,\u201d said Skinner. “The most important thing for like everyone in general, with how awfully we are getting politically, is that at all times, have hope. That may be getting someone elected who is like maybe a little bit better than someone who was awful.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“If you want policies to change, you can. If you can register to vote, that is a way that you can make sure your voice is heard,\u201d said Glass.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To learn more about <\/span>GSA<\/span><\/a> and how to get involved, visit its website.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u201cSomebody who really wants to hurt women, they’re not going to stop because of a bathroom. They\u2019re going to keep doing that. You’re just now also hurting trans people,\u201d said member Verity Alexander.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":3751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[78,26],"ppma_author":[364],"class_list":["post-3748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-cavs","tag-jccc"],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Saul Epstein","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/author\/sepstein\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/files\/2026\/09\/CLEAR-GSA-BL-300x200.png","coauthors":[{"link":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/author\/aneesah-jameel\/","display_name":"Aneesah Jameel"}],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["News<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Cavs<\/a>","JCCC<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Cavs<\/span>","JCCC<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 13 hours ago","modified":"Updated 1 day ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on September 29, 2026","modified":"Updated on September 28, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on September 29, 2026 9:00 am","modified":"Updated on September 28, 2026 8:07 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":364,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"aneesah-jameel","display_name":"Aneesah Jameel","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"","last_name":"","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/files\/2026\/09\/CLEAR-GSA-BL.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3748"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3753,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3748\/revisions\/3753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3748"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=3748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}