Kansas Gay-Straight Segregation Bill Passes

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Well, in theory, I'd take the same stance on this as I do on Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States, but as my view there is in the (small) minority and the case has been law for just under 50 years now, there's not much of a point arguing to change it (and even if the legal analysis was incorrect in my opinion, the policy benefits far outweighed the legal harms, at least in that specific case--whether you can make that argument for the precedential power it gave the federal government is a discussion for another day), so we should be consistent and strike this down.

Also of note, this is not  a gay-straight segregation bill.  The bill simply specifies "sex or gender", not orientation (although it does mention marriage), so the effects of the bill are much more wide-reaching than sexual orientation.  Under the law, discrimination against women (or conceivably men if that's what one's religion reaches), is allowed, which is clearly already contrary to existing federal law.

So even if this law were somehow arguably legal for homosexual discrimination, the legislators wrote it far too broad so that it easily conflicts with current established law about gender discrimination.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I think the sentiment is really changing among younger Republicans. I haven't ran into a single problem telling other members of College Republicans that I'm gay, and this is Kansas.

I don't mean to detract from the substantive debate here, but when did you come out to the forum?

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

How would this apply to county and local level governments? Can they deny services as well?

Scary stuff. Hopefully it is indeed done away with immediately by the courts.

County and local governments could not, because the law only applies to religious entities and individuals, but by the plain language of the statute, it's conceivable that an individual government official could refuse something that goes against his/her religious beliefs relating to sex/gender, so if everyone in the county/local government office held the same beliefs, conceivably this could lead to effective application to county/local governments.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Is there something that describes this bill?

Here's the bill itself; it's short - it'll take you 5 minutes to read: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2453_01_0000.pdf

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I think the sentiment is really changing among younger Republicans. I haven't ran into a single problem telling other members of College Republicans that I'm gay, and this is Kansas.

I don't mean to detract from the substantive debate here, but when did you come out to the forum?

Never. I wasn't going to be an attention-whore and create an entire thread about it.

Well, kudos for having the courage to come out to the forum.  It's good to hear that your CR group has been very accepting of that and an encouragement for, hopefully, the future of the party.  But I'm sure you'd unfortunately run into resistance from a lot of the "adults" in the party (who half the time make such vile, immature jokes and jabs that they often do not fit the typical definition of "adult").

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Is there something that describes this bill?

The Kansas City Star

http://www.kansascity.com/2014/02/12/4817862/kansas-house-approves-response.html#storylink=cpy

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Okay, the way I read it is, it's essentially protecting freedom of religion on the part of the business owner. I see nothing wrong with it. How exactly is it anything like segregation?

What exactly does the word "segregation" mean to you?  Even if you argue that it's protecting religious freedom, it still quite clearly allows segregation.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

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This sounds like a Huffington Post-style argument, but I'm willing to explain it to you.

A person who supports the free market does not want government mandating that a business goes against their religious beliefs. Take Obamacare for instance.  How do you feel about religious folks being forced to pay for contraception?

We've seen so much H8 directed at religious businesses. Let the market sort it out.  There are a lot of businesses here in San Francisco that have pictures of Che Guevarra on their store. If I'm offended by the message they preach, I don't go there.

OK, but that didn't answer my question and doesn't address segregation at all.  You seem to be  arguing that the government shouldn't stop private entities from segregating homosexuals.  That's not the same thing as arguing that what's going on wouldn't be segregation.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

When do liberals not run to the courts immediately after a law passes that they don't agree with the principles of?

People of all political ideologies go to the courts to contest legislation.  I see no evidence that liberals challenge legislation more frequently than conservatives.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

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Difference is they packed the courts, so basically 99% of laws that doesn't conform to a lib worldview gets tossed now.

The UN observers were shocked to learn the US doesn't have a voter ID law.

99% of laws that don't conform to liberal worldviews?  So 99% of voter ID laws have been tossed, partial birth abortion bans, etc. have been tossed?  No.

As for your Court packing claim, the Courts are fairly balanced.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

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Difference is they packed the courts, so basically 99% of laws that doesn't conform to a lib worldview gets tossed now.

The UN observers were shocked to learn the US doesn't have a voter ID law.

99% of laws that don't conform to liberal worldviews?  So 99% of voter ID laws have been tossed, partial birth abortion bans, etc. have been tossed?  No.

As for your Court packing claim, the Courts are fairly balanced.

You've drunk the lib kool aid

Ok Inks, can you check this guy's IP? I have a hunch that he is a sock by a Democrat to make Republicans look bad.

Minimal searches seem to indicate he's a Republican.