(New York, NY - March 5, 2019) -- After the passing of LGBTQ leader and trailblazer Stephanie Mott, former chair of Equality Kansas and founder of Kansas Statewide Transgender Education Project (K-STEP), Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Omar Gonzalez-Pagan released the following statement:

“Stephanie Mott was a giant among Kansans. Her tireless efforts to make Kansas feel like a welcoming home for transgender and queer people are without parallel. Stephanie stepped up to the plate time and time again to ensure that the lives of LGBTQ Kansans were understood and respected. Stephanie founded the Kansas Statewide Transgender Education Project (K-STEP) to promote awareness and education about transgender and gender nonconforming people; she served as chair and vice chair of Equality Kansas; and just last year, Stephanie was instrumental in bringing our federal lawsuit challenging Kansas’s discriminatory birth certificate policy, in which K-STEP is a plaintiff.

LGBTQ people in Kansas and across the country owe a debt of gratitude to Stephanie Mott. We must honor her memory by continuing to strive for the society free of discrimination for which she so ardently fought. Our community has lost a mighty hero. We mourn Stephanie’s passing and celebrate her legacy.”