LGBT Rights Kansas, Uned Stat: homosexualy, gay marriage, gay adoptn, servg the ary, sexual orientatn discrimatn protectn, changg legal genr, donatg blood, age of nsent, and more.
Contents:
- LAWS AGAST GAY SEX WERE LED UNNSTUTNAL LONG AGO, BUT KANSAS WON'T DROP S BAN
- KANSAS’ ANTI-GAY SEGREGATN BILL IS AN ABOMATN
LAWS AGAST GAY SEX WERE LED UNNSTUTNAL LONG AGO, BUT KANSAS WON'T DROP S BAN
The state's anti-gay discrimatn bill is doomed, but this is jt the first we've seen of stand-alone "relig liberty" bills. * kansas anti gay law *
Horn, who is gay, said that hurts the muny by hrg enomic velopment while privg of diversy.
“I talk to everyday Kansans every day who are exced about this bill's abily to protect women's opportuni, ” she rporate Ameri recent years has shown signs of disfort wh stat wh polici perceived to be unpopular wh nsumers — over everythg om gay marriage to voter supprsn. “I actually me out as gay when I end my marriage five years ago, and that end up not beg who I am. Last week, lawmakers the state's Republin-ntrolled Hoe of Reprentativ set off outrage across the untry by passg a law that would not only make legal for private bs to discrimate agast gays, lbians, and transgenr people; would also perm state employe-long obliged by our legal tradn to serve all ctomers on equal terms-to ny LGBT people basic servic as long as they are motivated by "scerely held relig beliefs.
" Narrow exemptns for relig and religly-affiliated stutns have creasgly bee a standard part of gay-marriage bills as more and more stat beg to enact equal marriage legislatively stead of rponse to a urt lg. But the Kansas law go far beyond such targeted exemptns by sanctng anti-gay discrimatn nearly every arena of public life. What mak Kansas Hoe Bill 2453 pecially vic is that 's already legal to discrimate agast gay people Kansas, where gay marriage has been banned by nstutnal amendment sce 2006.
KANSAS’ ANTI-GAY SEGREGATN BILL IS AN ABOMATN
GOP lawmakers proposed ordated anti-gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr laws the stat’ legislatur. That isn’t our future. * kansas anti gay law *
Unlike stat like New York or California, which outlaw discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn employment and "public acmodatns, " gays and lbians Kansas have no siar laws makg illegal to kick someone who is gay or lbian out of a rtrant on Valente's Day, refe to rent them an apartment, or fire them om a job on acunt of their sexual orientatn. "This is new that the Kansas law aims to create exemptns to protectns that don't even exist yet, " says Jenny Pizer, law and policy director at Lambda Legal, a gay civil-rights group, and a member of the legal team that succsfully challenged California's gay-marriage ban.
Rpondg to the avalanche of news stori soundg the alarm among gay-rights supporters, the print of the Republin-ntrolled state Senate assured the bill would not pass the chamber s current form. Kansas's anti-gay discrimatn bill was a clear se of nservative overreach.
On Tuday, the Kansas Hoe of Reprentativ overwhelmgly approved a measure signed to brg anti-gay segregatn—unr the guise of “relig... * kansas anti gay law *
Kansas's anti-gay discrimatn bill was a clear se of nservative overreach, says Douglas Layck, a law profsor at the Universy of Virgia who has advised state legislatur on craftg relig exemptns to gay-rights legislatn-one that uld make harr for relig nservativ to secure more narrow exemptns the future. "It plays to stereotype om [gay-marriage supporters] that there's no difference between relig fah and pla old-fashned bigotry. " Kansas's anti-gay discrimatn law is jt the begng.
As I argued back November, seeg feat on the horizon the gay-marriage wars, social nservativ have shifted gears. " Typilly, social nservativ have phed for exemptns blue stat like New York or Vermont only once the legislature has begun nsirg gay-rights legislatn.
But startg wh Kansas, followers of the gay-marriage saga should expect to see more and more red stat nsirg such preemptive measur as stand-alone bills. " Wh public opn shiftg quickly on gay rights, the wdow of opportuny for such exemptns is closg you look at how quickly the ground has shifted sce last summer's Supreme Court cisn on DOMA, 's no surprise why legislators red stat are shg to you look at how quickly the ground has shifted sce last summer's Supreme Court lg strikg down Sectn 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which preclud the feral ernment om regnizg same-sex marriag performed the stat, 's no surprise why legislators red stat are shg to act. Sce then, 's been open season on state gay-marriage bans.
In a move that shocked progrsive advot Kansas, the state's Republin ernor on Tuday issued an executive orr to remove discrimatn protectns for gay, lbian and transgenr state employe. * kansas anti gay law *
Sce 2014 kicked off, gay-rights legal advot have sued the state of Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Louisiana, Alabama, and Wisns. It's all part of the "roadmap to victory" outled by gay-rights group Freedom to Marry, which seeks to get gay marriage a cril mass of stat before gog back to the Supreme Court-a benchmark the movement seems to be approachg more quickly than expected.
Freedom to Marry founr and Print Evan Wolfson says he expects gay-marriage to be back at the high urt by ia that the advance of gay rights pos a threat to relig liberty isn't entirely new-or limed to the gay marriage bate. In the public bate over same-sex marriage, some opponents of marriage equaly have warned that if gay marriage pass, relig officials will be forced to perform same-sex marriag or hire a gay, lbian, or transgenr employee; the First Amendment clearly preclus such a scenar. The real area of bate, those on both sis of the issue say, is whether religly affiliated stutns like schools or church and for-prof, non-religly affiliated bs should be able to turn away gay and lbian ctomers.
Th far, efforts to sert what are known as "weddg vendor exceptns" gay-rights legislatn have been unsuccsful. Wh each passg day-and whether or not 's accurate to say all exemptns to gay-rights laws are driven by prejudice-public opn shifts more and more to seeg "relig liberty" exceptns as a guise for discrimatn. "Gay-marriage opponents are tryg e up wh ways to stall whatever the new norm might be, " says Douglas NeJaime, a law profsor at the Universy of California, Irve who studi sexual orientatn law.