‘God made trans people’ billboards hit Kansas highways after state revokes transgender people’s IDs

A new billboard campaign declaring “God Made Trans People” is rolling out across Kansas highways just weeks after the state took the extraordinary step of invalidating transgender residents’ driver’s licenses. That development has left many navigating daily life without a valid ID or with an identification that no longer reflects who they are.

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The four-week campaign, launched by Mayday Health, spans major corridors in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita. Organizers say seven billboards are expected to reach more than 1.2 million drivers over the next month.

For Liv Raisner, the organization’s executive director, the placement is intentional.

“We wanted to put these billboards up on the roads because a lot of trans Kansans right now are driving with identification that doesn’t reflect who they are, and that can be really painful,” Raisner told The Advocate. “We want trans Kansans to know while they’re driving to work, to the grocery store, throughout their own state, we want them to see themselves reflected back.”

Related: Kansas immediately revokes transgender residents’ driver’s licenses

The campaign arrives amid a comprehensive rollback of transgender rights in Kansas.

In February, the state enacted a law requiring all state-issued identification to reflect sex assigned at birth, retroactively invalidating driver’s licenses and birth certificates that had been updated by transgender residents. The policy reversed years of legal recognition and forced affected individuals to obtain new documents that do not match their gender identity.

The law builds on a 2023 statute redefining sex in state law and is part of a broader slate of measures targeting transgender people’s access to public life, including restrictions on bathroom use in government buildings. The measure creates a bounty system for people who suspect they may encounter a transgender person in a restroom that doesn't correspond to their sex assigned at birth.

Related: Kansas lawmakers override governor's veto of anti-trans 'bathroom bounty' bill

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Kansas, Raisner noted, is among the most religious states in the country, and many of the lawmakers advancing these policies cite faith in their arguments.

“We’re not arguing with them about politics. We are meeting them on their own terrain,” Raisner said. “If you think God doesn’t make mistakes, that includes trans people.”

Each billboard directs drivers to Mayday Health’s website, which provides information about accessing gender-affirming medical, mental health, and financial support, resources organizers say remain available even in states where care is increasingly restricted.

The campaign is already resonating with some of the people it was designed to reach. Raisner said a transgender woman running for state office told them she saw one of the billboards during her morning commute and “it made her smile.”

That response, Raisner said, highlights the campaign’s core purpose: visibility at a time when state policy is moving in the opposite direction.

“I hope people are reminded that trans people exist,” Raisner said. “Legislators can pass laws that erase trans people from their documents, but they cannot erase trans people from Kansas.”

The campaign also reflects Mayday Health’s broader strategy. Founded after the U.S. Supreme Court’sDobbs ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the organization focuses on distributing information about health care that is restricted or banned in certain states, including abortion access and gender-affirming care.

“When state governments target folks and violate their fundamental rights, we respond,” Raisner said.