Earlier this month we reported that Kansas GOP state Representatives Randy Garber, Owen Donohoe, David French, Cheryl Helmer, Ron Highland, Steve Huebert and Bill Rhiley introduced a set of vile and hateful legislation.
The legislation seeks to ban same-sex marriage, legally deny the existence of transgender people, allow harmful and debunked gay conversion therapy, and much more. One of the bills describes sexual orientation as a “mythology” but that's just where the hate begins.
Highland this week withdrew his support from the bill after his daughter publicly shamed him in an open letter on Facebook.
Wrote Christel Highland on Facebook: “This has been a strange and difficult week indeed. My name is Christel Highland, and my Father, Representative Ron Highland of Wamego, KS was a co-sponsor of the legislation, bill HB2320, that will likely never make it to Governor Laura Kelly's desk for veto. As a proud member of Kansas City's LGBTQ+ community, a Mother, a Partner to the love of my life, an Artist active in my creative community, and a hard-working Businessperson, I am personally offended by the egregious nature of Kansas Representatives' proposed legislation, most notably, my father's. This is the letter I sent to him.”
Wrote Christel in the letter: “Your God did not elect you, living, breathing humans did. Further isolating the marginalized among the population you serve is far from your duty. Hate has no place in public policy. I respectfully request an apology on behalf of my family and beloved friends that this cruel attempt at legislation impacts…”
NBC News reported: ‘Following his daughter's public Facebook post about the controversial marriage bill, Ron Highland told local news outlets that he made a “mistake.” “The bill that I should not have signed on to co-sponsor contained some hateful language, which I do not condone,” he said in a statement shared with The Wamego Times. “I have asked for my name to be removed from the bill. The process for doing so is in motion.”'
EARLIER:
The legislation:
Bans Kansas from recognizing same-sex marriage.
Defines same-sex marriage as “parody” marriage” and create an elevated “marriage” option for straight couples with “higher standards of commitment.
Says same-sex marriages “erode community standards of decency”
Quote: ‘Parody marriages have never been a part of American
tradition and heritage and have nothing to do with the substantive due
process clause of the 14th amendment of the constitution of the United
States; The history of parody marriages is that most forms were
illegal until recently or they remain illegal today, and they continue to
erode community standards of decency.'
Bars the state from recognizing transgender people.
Allows harmful, sham, and debunked gay conversion therapy.
Says that LGBTQ people are aligned with the secular humanism movement, calling it a religion and saying the rainbow flag is the symbol of a “faith-based worldview.
Quote: “The sworn testimonies of ex-gays, medical experts, persecuted Christians and licensed ministers demonstrate that there is no real proof that a gay gene exists, that the idea that sexual orientation is predicated on immutability is not proven and that sexual orientation is a mythology, dogma, doctrine or orthodoxy that is inseparably linked to the religion of secular humanism.”
Quote: “The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning
(LGBTQ) community is organized, full and has a daily code by which
members may guide their daily lives, which makes it a denominational
sect that is inseparably part of the religion of secular humanism.”
Quote: “Instead of having a cross, the ten commandments icon, or
star and crescent, the LGBTQ secular humanist community has the gay
pride rainbow colored flag to symbolize its faith-based worldview.”
Quote: ‘The ideas that “a person is born homosexual,” or that “a
person can be born in the wrong body,” or that “a person can come out of
an invisible closet and be baptized gay,” or that “to disagree with
homosexual orthodoxy premises makes you a bigot” are a series of
unproven faith-based assumptions and naked assertions that are implicitly
religious and inseparably linked to the religion of secular humanism.'
Says “The government's endorsement of LGBTQ ideology has amounted to the greatest sham since the inception of American jurisprudence”
Quote: ‘In the wake of the government's endorsement of LGBTQ
ideology, when a secular humanist says that “love is love,” what they
really mean is that they are amenable to government assets being used to
oppress and marginalize anyone who disagrees with their beliefs, which is
a position that is categorically “unloving”‘
Bars public libraries and public schools from participating in programs like “drag queen storytime.”
Quote: ‘In the wake of the government's endorsement of LGBTQ
secular humanism, there has not been a land rush on gay marriage but
there has been a land rush by many secular humanists to infiltrate public
schools and public libraries with the intent to indoctrinate and proselytize
minors to their religious worldview on faith, morality, sex and marriage
with the government's stamp of approval.'
Says LGBTQ advocacy is different from civil rights advocacy for reasons such as: “There are no ex-blacks but there are thousands of ex-gays”
Quote: ‘Skin-tone is genetic and sexual orientation is faith-based.'
Says that in no way can the LGBTQ rights movement be compared to the African-American civil rights movement.
Quote: ‘For any person to suggest that the homosexual civil rights
movement, which is not based on immutability or genetics, is equal to the
race-based civil rights movement, which was actually based on
immutability and genetics, has engaged in an act of fraud and racial
animus in-kind that is intellectually, emotionally, sexually and racially
exploitative.'
Quote: ‘People of color at one point in this country had to ride on the back of the bus, walk to school and drink from colored water fountains,
and for anyone to equate the race-based civil rights plight to the goal of
many secular humanists to entangle the government with their religion is a
per se act of racial animus that is deeply offensive to many people in the
state of Kansas.'
