UoKansas trans employee gets legal notice for using women’s bathroom

The University of Kansas has sent a transgender employee a legal notice against using women’s restrooms on campus.

said Siobhan Kirchstein, who works as a janitor at the university’s Kansas Geological Survey. lawrence times On July 13, she said she received an email from Katie Varner, the facility’s director of employee relations.

The message informed her that she had been reported for using the women’s restroom in Parker Hall on campus.

“I was immediately and completely shocked that someone at the Kansas Geological Survey would do that to me in the first place. Afterwards, I was furious about it,” Kirchstein said.

She went on to explain that she had been using the women’s restroom on campus for years without any problems. But the Kansas Legislature passed a new bill, Senate Bill 244, in February, putting her in the crosshairs.

The bill would prohibit transgender people from using government-owned restrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity. It will also restrict people from changing their gender on state-issued documents such as ID cards and driver’s licenses, with past changes reverting to the gender assigned at birth.

The email Kirchstein received from Varner on July 10 reportedly began as follows:

“I would like to preface this email by acknowledging that this is a confidential matter. My purpose in contacting you is to provide awareness of the report and the law, provide an opportunity to be heard, and share resources where this may be helpful.”

According to SB244, if a government-owned facility receives a complaint about a transgender person violating the law by using the restroom, the facility would be required to send the person a notice detailing the use and potential fines if the complaint is repeated.

According to the new law, public entities can be fined 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 for using a multi-occupancy restroom that does not match their assigned gender at birth.

In his email, Varner did not say whether the University of Kansas would be fined.

In her response to Varner, Kirchstein pointed out that the campus where she works does not have private restrooms available to people of all genders.

Mr. Varner then reportedly suggested to Mr. Kirchstein that he could request “a separate work area with disposable toilets for all genders.”

Kirchstein responded, “Why should I move to a building just to use a bathroom that other people are more comfortable with? I’m a human being and I’m just going to continue using the bathroom that makes me comfortable. I have dignity, and telling me I can’t use a certain bathroom because it makes other people uncomfortable undermines that.”

In an interview with the Lawrence Times, she said, “I’m going to stay until they basically fire me. If they want to do that, I’ll do that. But I’m not going to follow through. I have no intention of doing that.”

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