A former band and orchestra teacher at Wichita North High School is planning a historic bid for the Kansas House, seeking to become the state’s first transgender lawmaker.
Stephanie Byers, who retired from teaching after 32 years last spring, is lining up to run for the House District 86 seat now held by Democratic state Rep. Jim Ward.
The seat will come open with Ward running for the state Senate next year. Byers, a Democrat, has already appointed a treasurer and has launched a campaign website.
She could become the fifth transgender candidate elected to a state legislature.
Three transgender candidates — Lisa Bunker and Gerri Cannon in New Hampshire as well as Brianna Titone in Colorado — were elected in 2018.
Danica Roem was the first openly transgender candidate to get elected to a state legislature when she won a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in 2017.
Four years ago, the late Stephanie Mott sought a seat in the House that was left open when then-state Rep. Harold Lane retired. Mott would have been the first transgender member of the Kansas Legislature, but she lost out in a precinct election.
In an interview this week, Byers confirmed she was running for the District 86 seat, which leans heavily Democratic.
The district went for Hillary Clinton in 2016 (48%); Democrat Paul Davis in the 2014 governor’s race (57%); and President Barack Obama in 2012 (53%).
Byers said she is running, in part, to preserve the increased funding the Legislature put into education last year to comply with the state Supreme Court ruling that found the state was inadequately funding schools.
“Without good funding for education, we don’t produce good Kansas students,” Byers said. “The kids are our future. They are truly the greatest resource that we have. I want to make sure they are taken care of.”
Last year, Byers was named National Educator of the Year by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.
Byers also supports Medicaid expansion and backs passage of a law that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s anti-discrimination statute.
“I have seen first-hand the struggle to obtain healthcare for young families who could benefit from Medicaid expansion, and will make it my priority to enact a responsible, fair plan for Kansas,” she posted on her website.
Since coming out publicly as a transgender woman in 2014, Byers has advocated for issues in support of the LGBTQ community, including speaking at rallies at the Capitol and giving presentations to community organizations.
Byers acknowledged that winning election to the state Legislature would be historic, but she pointed out that she made history at Wichita North when she came out.
It wasn’t until Byers won the national teaching award four years later that she made headlines in the local media.
“It would be good to break that ground in Kansas,” she said of a transgender candidate winning a seat in the Legislature.
“Being transgender is just one facet of who I am. I am also part Chickasaw,” she said. “My life is not defined by being transgender. It’s defined by what I want to do with my life.”
Winning an election to the statehouse, she said, could open the door for other transgender candidates in the future.
“I am laying down a path for somebody else to follow,” she said. “I realize that if I were elected that for a lot of people who are in the trans community, especially trans kids, it says, ‘Look, there’s somebody here who did this; I can do this it, too.'”
Byers has served as the communications director for Wichita Pride, the local group that holds Wichita’s LGBTQ pride events.
Byers has a bachelor’s in music education from Oklahoma Christian University and a master’s in music from Kansas State University.
Given the makeup of the district, Byers has a distinct chance of getting elected, said Tom Witt, executive director of Equality Kansas.
“Stephanie Byers is going to be a fantastic candidate,” Witt said. “This is a district where she has a real shot at becoming a state representative. There’s no long shot or lost cause involved here.”
