Head of Trans Liberty uses Kansas Capital bathroom in defiance of new law
As an out-of-state trans person, Samantha was willing to take the risk that every trans person in Kansas is now forced to take every time they exist in public.Â
The executive director of Trans Liberty PAC put her body on the line to make a statement against Kansas’ new anti-trans public criminalization law.
On Trans Day of Visibility, Samantha Boucher traveled to Kansas with one purpose: to piss in a public bathroom.
It wasn’t just any bathroom. This was at the state capital, where only a few weeks ago, the legislature voted to ban trans people like her from using the correct bathrooms.
This was not just any piss– it was planned well in advance with Trans Liberty (which she is the head of), as well as a number of local organizations fighting this ban.
Samantha informed the Watch Commander of her plan to use the correct bathroom, despite it being against the law.
She was able to find the bathroom with the help of the Watch Commander, who according to those on the scene, was told exactly why this was being done.
The commander then briefly detained her, before releasing her the same day. She is set to be arraigned at some future date.
Prior to entering the bathroom, Samantha had a chance encounter with the Kansas Governor, who vetoed the bill and has repeatedly opposed its implementation. The governor apologized to her, saying that “I am very sorry that you and others have been put in this situation”.
According to CJOnline’s reporting, Samatha challenged the state’s attorney general to enforce this law. “Now we will see if the attorney general chooses to enforce the law that he's passed as I violate it, as a trans woman, just over here."
Samantha has made clear that her action was meant to show how unsafe Kansas had become for trans people since the implementation of the bathroom law.
As an out-of-state trans person, Samantha was willing to take the risk that every trans person in Kansas is now forced to take every time they exist in public.
She told the Topeka Capitol-Journal, "I think this would be extremely dangerous for a Kansan to do, but ... I'm more than happy to put myself at that risk if it means that somebody else doesn't have to, because eventually someone would try this.”
Her organization, Trans Liberty, put out an evacuation order for trans people in the state last month, telling them to leave as soon as possible. The reason is that SB 244 effectively rendered trans Kansans undocumented, with no means to prove their identity.
To that end, they are putting their money where their mouth is. To assist in this, the organization has started Operation Lifeboat, a program to evacuate trans people from Kansas. They do not want ordinary people to face the same risk that Samantha put herself in.
Disclaimer: Jane and Artemis are also involved with Operation Lifeboat in a public information capacity. See more on the partnership HERE.
Operation Lifeboat is an initiative by trans people and our cis allies to get trans people to safe havens, on our own terms. They help with the logistics, organization, and money. Trans people are in charge of the course of the operation and their own destinations.
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