Is the Kansas Legislature driving out “undesirables”? It would appear so.

In a recent series on KCUR’s “Kansas City Today,” reporters documented numerous personal stories of transgender Kansans and Missourians who no longer feel safe in either state. Some are simply packing up the car and leaving for other states. These include the parents of trans kids who no longer feel this is a safe environment for their children. Some said they appreciated their own local community and did not want to leave, but felt they must evacuate before things get even more unsafe at the state level.

Of course, the interviewees were concerned about state laws themselves. For example, transgender Kansas girls are no longer allowed to play girls’ sports. Trans Kansans will soon be prohibited from changing their sex on driver’s licenses or other state documents, nor may they use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. The Legislature nearly banned gender-affirming health care for trans youth but failed to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto.

More thoughtful, carefully crafted policies had already been in place. For example, the Kansas State High School Activities Association regulations included the requirement that, “Gender identity of the student must be bona fide and not for the purpose of ‘gaining an unfair competitive advantage.'” They also recommended that gender identity on school registration records, medical documentation and possible unfair advantages of changing gender be reviewed before any decision is made about sports participation. Legislators decided they knew better and replaced these with an inflexible ban.

KCUR’s interviewees expressed just as much concern over the overall climate being created by these bills and debates, as by the laws themselves. Consider the story of one Kansas couple who both identify as gender nonbinary. Instead of relocating, they have each purchased guns and learned how to use them. They no longer have faith in the state to provide even reasonable protections against hate crimes.

Legislators promoting these bills deny this. For example, Rep. Steve Howe of Salina rejected the claim that these bills hurt trans kids, arguing instead that he was protecting kids from situations in which they change their minds after beginning gender-affirming care, some of which is irreversible. In fact, such occurrences are rare, but they do happen. Sensible guidelines modeled on the KSHSAA ones for athletes would be welcome. Yet Howe and his colleagues chose outright bans instead, stopped only by a veto pen — for now.

These legislators often speak of “parents’ rights.” They seek to ban or create parental exemptions from school curricula acknowledging the existence of LGBTQ persons or promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. What about the rights of parents who support their trans kids? Like any medical procedure, gender-affirming care requires the consent of a parent or guardian for anyone under 18 unless they have been emancipated, which is rare. Apparently, these parents do not have rights. Some politicians have called them child abusers. In other states, it has been suggested that they lose custody or even face criminal prosecution. Increasingly, parents’ rights are only for the chosen — and politicians do the choosing.

In these changing times, carefully crafted policies are needed, such as the now-invalidated KSHSAA guidelines. Yet instead, things have reached the point where some Kansans feel they must either move away or arm themselves. In order to change this, we must first acknowledge the painful truth that things really have gotten to this point.

— Michael A. Smith is a professor of political science at Emporia State University.