A grassroots group made its city a sanctuary for trans residents. It’s just getting started.

“When the City Commissioners all voted ‘aye,’ I remember saying something like, ‘Did we just win?’ out loud.”

Isaac Johnson couldn’t believe it. Only two months after its formation, the “No SB 180” initiative had succeeded at making the city of Lawrence, Kansas a sanctuary city for LGBTQ+ people. Last week, in a unanimous vote, Lawrence became the first city in the state to declare itself as such.

Related:

Kansas GOP leader says he’s “just giddy” after his party passes draconian anti-trans bill

The bill bans trans people from using the right bathroom and updating their driver’s licenses. He called it “the icing on the cake.”

Ordinance 9999 bans the city and all of its employees from collecting or releasing information on a person’s “biological sex, either male or female, at birth” and from helping with any investigation, detention, arrest, or surveillance “conducted by a jurisdiction with the authority to enforce Senate Bill 180, as enacted.” 

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The Kansas state legislature passed Senate Bill 180 in April, overriding the governor’s veto and ignoring the strong opposition of civil rights groups like the ACLU of Kansas.

The law defines a person’s gender based on their assigned sex at birth and bans transgender, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, and intersex people from using bathrooms, locker rooms, and even domestic violence shelters that align with their gender identity. The city of Lawrence’s agenda item report, states that the bill “threatens the health, safety, and welfare, as well as the rights and privileges” of its residents.

“I just wanna say that it just, it makes me really sad that we have to do this. Because people just wanna live their lives and be left alone. And we got a state government that seems to think otherwise,” said Mayor Lisa Larson just before the vote. “I support [Ordinance 9999] obviously 100%, and I’ll continue to support, going forward, what needs to be done to make sure our community members are protected. Whether there’s one of you, or 100,000 of you.”

Organizers behind the “No SB 180 Lawrence” campaign were instrumental in passing Ord. 9999, according to Kansas City Commissioner Justice Horn, who worked with the City of Lawrence commissioners as they considered the ordinance. “[The group] held community meetings, pushed out surveys, and lobbied Lawrence to become the first city in Kansas to become a sanctuary city for LGBTQ+ folks,” Horn told LGBTQ Nation.

“I was just available for questions and advice, as well as sent [the Lawrence City Commissioners] legislative language similar to the one passed in Kansas City,” continued Horn, who chairs the Kansas City LGBTQ Commission. He also authored the ordinance that made Kansas City, Missouri a sanctuary city for LGBTQ+ persons in May.

Isaac Johnson, who worked on the “No SB 180” initiative, told LGBTQ Nation the campaign was started in mid-May by Monty Protest, a trans man who lives in Lawrence. “The passing of SB 180 in April left a lot of trans people in the state feeling hopeless, and Monty wanted to make sure that trans people in Lawrence would be safe from any harassment or criminalization that would occur as a result of legislation like this,” Johnson said.

“After we made our demands at both the June 6th and June 20th City Commission meetings, Bart Littlejohn, the Vice Mayor, requested that we reach out to the city legal team,” Johnson continued. “No SB 180 Lawrence” presented a draft ordinance written by Jamie Miller at the June 20 meeting. Miller, along with Monroe Hanson and two others from “No SB 180 Lawrence,” worked with the city’s attorneys to get the draft to a point the Commission could pass it.

“Within three weeks, we were able to go from our initial draft to the Commissioners voting on Ordinance 9999,” says Johnson. “We are very pleased and appreciative that City legal staff and Dr. Muhammad were willing to work with us on crafting an ordinance that protects the rights of trans Lawrencians and get it placed on the City Commission’s agenda so quickly.”

Johnson spoke at the city commissioner meeting last week, so he was present when the vote came in. “I was in disbelief initially,” he said. 

“All of us were very proud that we managed to accomplish all of our original three demands within two months’ time,” Johnson added. According to Horn, both the Kansas City and the Lawrence sanctuary statutes were passed “in an urgent manner” in order to get protections in place before state legislation targeting trans people could go into effect.

Public comments overwhelmingly supported Ord. 9999, including a statement made by Jeff Southard on behalf of First Presbyterian Church of Lawrence.

“First Presbyterian has been a part of Lawrence since 1858,” he began, before highlighting the church’s role in the local civil rights movement of the 1960’s and Presbyterian Church USA’s support for same-sex marriage. The denomination amended their rules to allow same-sex marriage 3 months before Obergefell v. Hodges legalized same-sex marriage everywhere in the United States. 

“It is therefore only natural that our church supports the proposed ordinance, which places Lawrence squarely in opposition to the recently enacted Senate Bill 180,” Southard told the commissioners.

Rev. Dr. Helen Hutchison of First Presbyterian told LGBTQ Nation that for the past year her church has been concerned about “Kansas state legislative actions that have singled out the LGBTQ+ community and stripped them of basic human rights.” She recalled a moment back in May, when a church board member spoke about friends who were afraid of how state actions would impact their trans child. 

Hutchison said she learned of Ord. 9999 after a member attended a commissioner meeting to express First Presbyterian’s support for a different measure. At that meeting, he heard testimony on behalf of the ordinance and told Hutchison he was “touched” by people talking about the need for Lawrence to be safe for LGBTQ+ persons. 

“The church board voted unanimously to stand with these individuals, and to state to the city that, as a church entity and faith community, we completely support Lawrence being a safe place for LGBTQ people,” Hutchison said. “Ord 9999 makes me proud to be part of the Lawrence community.”

When asked what comes next, Johnson said “No SB 180 Lawrence” has “plenty of ideas about where to go from here.” 

First on the list is working with the city’s legal team to update Chapter X, Lawrence’s anti-discrimination code. “No SB 180” is also conducting a community survey to learn what policies are important to trans and cisgender Lawrencians. He also said organizers in Salina, Kansas reached out to “No SB 180,” where residents are also considering launching an LGBTQ+ sanctuary campaign.

“Keep an eye out for us,” says Johnson. “I have hope that this is not the last you’ll hear of something like this happening.”

*Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify that Justice Horn did not help write the Lawrence Ordinance. It has also been updated to credit Jamie Miller and Monroe Hanson with drafting the ordinance.