Trans Action of Southwest Kansas (TASK) is a group of transgender people and allies coordinating LGBTQIA+ educational programs, promoting acceptance, and developing resources for transgender and gender diverse people in southwest Kansas. As an independent project of the LGBTQ Foundation of Kansas, TASK gives special attention to this underserved, rural area of the state while collaborating with the Foundation to expand essential statewide networks.
Covering Garden City, Dodge City, Liberal, and surrounding rural communities!
Transgender people in southwest Kansas face significant barriers in accessing healthcare, employment, housing, education, and other essential resources. Additionally, transgender people in rural Kansas experience higher risk of isolation and harassment. Small, rural communities frequently lack social supports for LGBTQIA+ individuals; being one of only a few queer people in a given area can make someone a target for discrimination. Restrictions placed by state and federal governments have an amplified effect. For example, Kansas’s SB244 that went into effect in February of 2026 barred transgender Kansans from having accurate IDs (such as drivers licenses) that reflect their gender. Due to the sprawl of western Kansas, rural residents are more likely to need to drive a car to access basic necessities like employment and groceries, which places them at disproportionate risk of being targeted for enforcement. Specialized healthcare like gender affirming care may be located hundreds of miles away. In 2024, Kansas passed a bill that prevented minors from accessing all forms of gender affirming healthcare. Rural Kansas families who wished to continue care out of the state may have had to travel even further distances than before — a 6-7 hour drive instead of 2-3.
SB244 also disallows transgender people from using public restrooms that they feel safe in, compelling them instead to use facilities that align with their sex at birth. Rural transgender people (who are often already singled out in their communities and schools) are at risk for additional harassment because of this law. Many smaller, rural schools lack policies for supporting transgender students and may even be hostile towards them. Students who are barred from playing sports on a gendered team may lack opportunities to join coed teams or pursue other activities.
Join us as we seek to connect the smattering of trans people in southwest Kansas to resources and to each other!
