How Should Catholics Respond to Trans Bathroom Ban Bills?

John Crowley-Buck

Today’s post is from guest contributor John Crowley-Buck (he/him), the Director of the Arrupe Social Justice Scholars Program at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Ph.D. in Christian Ethics from Loyola University Chicago, and is the co-editor of Democracy, Culture, and Catholicism: Voices from Four Continents (Fordham University Press, 2016). He researches, teaches, and writes on social justice and normative ethics, and has a deep passion for Ignatian spirituality and pedagogy.

In February 2026, the Republican supermajority in the Kansas State Legislature voted to override the Democratic governor’s veto of State Senate Bill (SB) 244—a bill that, among other things, bans the trans community from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity. It also requires that all state-issued documentation must record the individual’s sex assigned at birth. The bill also contains a ‘bounty hunter’ provision allowing private citizens to sue any individual they suspect of violating this legislation.

By enacting SB 244, Kansas has taken its place among the 21 states–and 1 territory–in the U.S. that have adopted and enacted so-called ‘bathroom bans’ targeting members of the trans community. And Kansas joined only 3 other states — Florida, Idaho, and Utah – in making trans individuals criminally liable for non-compliance. As we might expect, the justifications for this bill follow a familiar pattern: combating ‘woke gender ideology’ and protecting women and children.

Efforts are already under way to challenge this type of legislation in court–both in Kansas and across the country. The ACLU of Kansas, for example, has filed a lawsuit on behalf of two trans individuals arguing that SB 244 violates their rights under the constitution of the State of Kansas. Those cases are still being litigated.

But beyond the legal issues lie a host of other issues confronting the trans community. While bills like SB 244 are a clear affront to the legal status of trans persons and trans identity, there are still social, cultural, interpersonal, and religious challenges that must be addressed.

So, as Catholics, we must ask ourselves: How ought we to respond in these situations? How can we support our trans siblings? What are the resources we can draw upon to change the narrative and embrace all members of the trans community as the revelations of divine love that they are?

In writing about the broader impacts of this bill for the Kansas Reflector, Morgan Chilson highlights that “[r]efusing to allow transgender Kansans the ability to use the bathroom of their choice or hold documents that match their gender affects their mental health and may open them to acts of violence.” Drawing from the expert testimony submitted to the District Court of Douglas County in a case seeking to halt this legislation, Chilson highlights the negative emotional and psychological impacts trans individuals experience in the wake of these legislative efforts.

When faced with these ‘bathroom bans’ and the increased likelihood of being ‘outed’ by sex assigned at birth documentation, trans individuals suffer from “elevated rates of anxiety, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation.” These bills have a direct impact on the safety, health, and well-being of trans individuals – individuals who are made in the image and likeness of God.

In his 2025 Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te, Pope Leo XIV invites us to ponder, once again, the reflection–and challenge–presented by Pope Francis in the encyclical  Fratelli Tutti’s second chapter: “A Stranger on the Road.” This is, of course, Francis’s meditation on the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37)–a story that reveals the moral and ethical logic of the Catholic imagination. It is the plea–the cry, the claim of the one who is marginalized and victimized, who is left on the side of the road–that demands moral responsibility, that requires ethical action.

Both Leo and Francis point to the actions of the Samaritan in this parable as the model for moral and ethical engagement. The Samaritan is not a lawyer, not a politician, not a judge; they are not a priest, not a rabbi, not a religious leader; they are just one person who sees a neighbor in need, who is moved by the plea for compassion, for care, for recognition. The Samaritan does not ask for identification–nor cross-check it with sex assigned at birth documents–nor does the Samaritan police and patrol the embodiment of their neighbor. The Samaritan simply responds to a plea to recognize the humanity of the neighbor.

I believe that this plea is precisely why Leo and Francis locate this parable at the moral and ethical heart of the Catholic imagination. The framing of this story is a question put to Jesus by a lawyer: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus’ response is to follow the example of the Samaritan: “Go, and do likewise,” Jesus tells him.

When we consider enacting legislation like the Kansas law, the issues we face are about more than just legal or individual rights. The issues we face are about the health, safety, and well-being of our neighbors–especially our neighbors who find themselves marginalized by dominant–and dominating–ideologies.

These ‘bathroom bills’ and ID laws do more than just deny civic and public services equitably among citizens of a secular nation-state. These efforts cause harm–sometimes irreparable harm–to already marginalized members of our community.

We must also note that support for such legislation is often cloaked in the language of religion. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us as religious voices to resist this narrative of marginalization and exclusion. We cannot always do so by invalidating unjust legislation, but we can be present to and for those who find themselves less and less safe in our communities.

Kansas is but one example  of larger issues making life unsafe for our trans siblings, impairing individuals’ mental health, diminishing their sense of belonging and well-being. Such actions run counter to the requirements of Catholic social justice.

We, too, have a religious voice, and can take a stand. More importantly, we also have the guidance of Pope Leo, Pope Francis, and Jesus himself: Go, and do likewise.

—John Crowley-Buck, August 3, 2026