Kansas kow tows to hatred

[Prospero]

Kansas just passed legislation allowing discrimination against gays, lesbians and the transgendered. Truly shocking.

http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/02/14/what-the-hell-just-happened-in-kansas/

[broncofan]

Not to downplay its significance but what's interesting is that it is a law that makes explicit what is already allowed in Kansas. When there is no anti-discrimination protection, there are no requirements that one hire any individual or allow that individual in a private establishment. I don't know how it changes the status quo except to make absolutely clear how they feel about homosexuals in Kansas.

Now having said that.....what a crazy fucking law. I wonder if it gets challenged and whether it would stand up to equal protection scrutiny. Laws are not supposed to arbitrarily single out classes of people and impose special standards on them, at least not without a review of the compelling need for that law.

[broncofan]

Actually, on second thought, the way the bill was written it would have provided an extra layer of protection for discriminating against homosexuals. For instance, the law could be used to allow government employees to refuse services that are really owed to all citizens. It appears that the Kansas state senate is not going through with this bill so there's that good news. Unbelievable that it could pass vote in one house of a state legislature.

From Slate
"Any government employee is given explicit permission to discriminate against gay couples — not just county clerks and DMV employees, but literally anyone who works for the state of Kansas. If a gay couple calls the police, an officer may refuse to help them if interacting with a gay couple violates his religious principles. State hospitals can turn away gay couples at the door and deny them treatment with impunity. Gay couples can be banned from public parks, public pools, anything that operates under the aegis of the Kansas state government. ... As long as an individual believes that his service is somehow linked to a gay union of any form, he can legally refuse his services. And since anyone who denies gays service is completely shielded from any charges, no one will ever have to prove that their particular form of discrimination fell within the four corners of the law"

[buttslinger]

TOPEKA — A Kansas lawmaker is proposing a bill that would allow teachers, caregivers and parents to spank children hard enough to leave marks.

Current Kansas law allows spanking that doesn't leave marks.

Rep. Gail Finney, a Democrat from Wichita, says she wants to allow up to 10 strikes of the hand and that could leave redness and bruising. The bill also would allow parents to give permission to others to spank their children.

It would continue to ban hitting a child with fists, in the head or body, or with a belt or switch.

Finney says she wants to restore parental rights, and improve discipline.

KCTV reports Rep. John Rubin, chairman of the House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee, says he isn't sure the committee will even consider the bill.


Memo to Gays and Brats:
Get the hell outta Kansas!!!

[trish]

Memo to Gays and Brats:
DO NOT
I REPEAT
DO NOT CLICK THESE SHOES TOGETHER.

[robertlouis]

"I guess we're not in Kansas any more, Toto. Thank God."

Kansas - twinned with Putin's Russia. Shame on you.

[Prospero]

all the friends of dorothy will be boarding their wagons to keep on heading west i guess - if it did pass. But indeed, since reading and posting that item last night, I see that it is unlikely to be finally passed into state law.