University of Kansas sends trans employee legal notice for using women’s bathroom
University of Kansas mascot the Jayhawk (Getty Images)
The University of Kansas has sent a trans employee a legal notice for using the women’s restrooms on campus.
Siobhán Kirchstein, who works as a janitor for the Kansas Geological Survey at the university, told the Lawrence Times on 13 July that she received an email from Katie Verner, the institution’s director of employee relations.
The message informed her that she had been reported for using the women’s bathroom in the campus’ Parker Hall.
“My immediate reaction was complete shock that anyone in the Kansas Geological Survey would do that to me in the first place, and then I was furious about it,” Kirchstein said.
She went on to explain that she had been using the women’s bathroom on campus for years with no problems. However, Kansas legislators passed a new bill, Senate Bill 244, in February, which has put a target on her back.
The bill bans trans people from using government-owned bathrooms and changing facilities that align with their gender identity. It also restricts them from changing their gender markers on state-issued documents like ID and driving licenses, and reverts any past changes back to their sex assigned at birth.
The email that Kirchstein received from Varner on 10 July reportedly began: “I am reaching out to you from Human Resources in response to a report received that I have an obligation to follow up on.
“I wish to preface this email by acknowledging this is a sensitive matter and my intention in reaching out is to provide awareness of the report and the law, extend to you an opportunity to be heard, and if helpful, share resources.”
As per SB244, if a government-owned institution receives a complaint about a trans person breaking the law through their bathroom usage, then the institution is required to send that person a notice about the details of the usage and any fines that may be incurred in the event of repeated complaints.
According to the new law, public institutions can face fines of up to $25,000 for a first violation and up to $125,000 for additional violations if they are reported to the Kansas Attorney General because someone used a multi-occupancy bathroom that does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Varner did not specify in her email whether or not the University of Kansas was facing a fine.
In her reply, Kirchstein noted to Varner that the area of campus in which she works does not have a single-stall restroom that can be used by people of all genders.
Varner then reportedly suggested that Kirchstein could request “a different work area where there are all-gender, single-use restrooms”.
Kirchstein replied: “Why should I move myself to a building just so I can use a bathroom that would make other people more comfortable? I’m just going to keep using the bathrooms that make me comfortable because I’m a human being. I have dignity, and telling me that I can’t use a particular bathroom because it makes other people uncomfortable, that takes away from that.”
Speaking to the Lawrence Times, she said: “I’ll stay until they basically fire me. If that’s what they want to do, that’s what I’ll do. But I have no intention of complying. No intention at all.”
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