Kris Ripper said she changed her Kansas license because the state required it. Then a traffic stop over headlights turned into questions abo
Jacob Ogles at The Advocate:
Kansas has dropped charges against a transgender woman who faced jail time for driving with a license that she had been forced by state law to use. Kris Ripper, a trans woman, told Transitics that she was pulled over on May 5 while driving home from work in the rain after her carâs headlights automatically turned off. The officer, she said, questioned whether her license was real because it identified her as male. Ripper had changed the gender marker on her license March 25 to comply with Senate Bill 244, a draconian anti-trans law enacted in Kansas.
But she later received a notice for failure to appear for an arraignment on a charge of operating a motor vehicle without a valid license, a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and six months in jail. County prosecutors ultimately dismissed the charge, but only after the story garnered international attention in LGBTQ+ media and after Ripper described the emotional impact of being threatened with jail time over a charge she said she did not know existed. âIâm just a little scared and freaking out,â Ripper had told Transitics after receiving the notice. The case illustrates the consequences of Kansasâ law even for transgender residents who try to comply with it. Ripper previously had a driverâs license with a gender marker that matched her identity. But the state-required change meant her license no longer aligned with her gender presentation, creating confusion during the traffic stop and later in the court system. âAfter seeing my license, he spent like 10 minutes questioning me on if my license was real before I explained to him that I am a transgender woman,â Ripper said. âIt has to say âMâ legally.â Ripper said the officer returned her license and let her go with a verbal warning. She said she was not issued a citation. The notice she later received said that if she did not appear within 30 days, her license would be revoked, according to Transitics, which reviewed the document.
Kris Ripperâs charges have been rightly dropped. AMEN!
