As Director of the LGBTQ Foundation of Kansas, I would like to congratulate the primary election winners across the state of Kansas, but more importantly, I would like to remind them that they represent ALL constituents in their respective district/area. Even the queer ones.

LGBTQ Kansans share the same concerns as all Kansans. We struggle to buy groceries and gas, pay rent, and have huge medical bills. But instead of tackling these issues, we’re seeing Kansas politicians waste time by creating unenforceable, confusing and harmful anti-trans bathroom laws.

Consider these statistics:

Purchasing a home is beyond challenging:

- According to the official Kansas Association of Realtors May 2026 Housing Report, homes were only on the market around eight days before being sold, meaning big-time bidding wars.1

- Properties sold for an average of 100% of their original list prices, leaving no room to negotiate due to the intense inventory shortages.1

Children are going hungry:

- Out of the roughly 25,000 Kansans kicked off the SNAP program, data reveals that nearly 11,000 to 12,000 are children 2 -

- Local food banks report a massive uptick in people seeking emergency pantry supplies to fill the gap left by lost SNAP funding 3

Medical debt is enough to make you sick:

- Roughly 74% of Kansas adults report facing at least one major health-care affordability burden – such as delaying care, skipping doses, or carrying heavy medical debt – within a given year. 4

Let’s get real here. Anti-trans policies aren’t helping you purchase your first home, feed your kids, and they don’t help keep your small-town clinic open. I live in Larned, and I’m from Jetmore. I understand, and I live, the challenges of rural Kansas. I get it. I also happen to be a trans man. So when I see the Kansas Legislature come after my ability to use the restroom, it really makes me question their priorities, and whether or not they understand what Kansans are facing at all.

Not Just About Democrats

I understand why it’s tempting for Democrat politicians to “tiptoe” around queer rights to appeal to the “moderate” voter, but it’s important to recognize voting trends around the nation.

The people we’re seeing getting elected at the local level, mayoral races, etc., are those who are actually focused on getting results for the people. Americans have grown weary of the anti-trans rhetoric, not necessarily because they want to protect trans people, but they’re waking up to the fact that they’re not benefiting in any way from these kinds of policies. They want real results for their bank account, health and family.

And you know what? “Queer rights” aren’t just a Democrat issue. There are gay and trans Republicans. I know because they seek help and resources from the foundation as well. It may seem counter-intuitive, but they are who they are, and we’re here to help them too.

Discrepancy of Protection

Kansas made national headlines when the Legislature called an emergency session to pass SB 244, or what’s known as the “Bathroom Bill.” This bill prohibits those who were assigned one sex at birth from using the other gender’s bathroom. During the same legislative session, lawmakers refused to pass “Erin’s Law,” which would have mandated educational sessions about preventing child sex abuse in school settings.

That really got to me. How is it that the Legislature could move mountains to pass this bathroom bill, then override the governor’s veto, while not passing a law to protect children? It makes no sense to me. They claimed to be protecting “women and children,” but both are statistically far more likely to be harmed by someone close to them, not by a trans person in a bathroom. Erin’s law would have actually protected children, yet why didn’t it pass?

The passage of SB 244 while denying Erin’s Law is just another example of how the focus on anti-trans legislation harms all Kansans. The LGBTQ Foundation of Kansas encourages all elected officials, whether Democrat, Republican or Independent, to focus on policies that bring health and prosperity to everyone across the state, and not harm a small percentage of Kansans for no other reason than to score political points.

I’m proud of being a Kansan, a state that was founded on freedom. I like to say my heroes are Jesus and John Brown. While I’ve helped many trans Kansans leave to find safety in other states, I’m not going anywhere, and neither is the foundation. We’re here to help.

Matthew Neumann is a Larned resident and is executive director of the LGBTQ Foundation of Kansas (lgbtqks.org). The mission of LGBTQ Foundation of Kansas is to educate about LGBTQIA+ issues, work with organizations and individuals to help bring resources to Kansas communities, and assist community members in using their skills to help each other.”