There's no other way to put this, other than Kansas Republican bigots are trying to enshrine the right to discriminate against LGBTQ, taxpaying Kansans using the excuse that "it's offending my religious freedoms."
Denying services to same-sex couples may soon become legal in Kansas.
House Bill 2453 explicitly protects religious individuals, groups and businesses that refuse services to same-sex couples, particularly those looking to tie the knot.
It passed the state's Republican-dominated House on Wednesdaywith a vote of 72-49, and has gone to the Senate for a vote.
Such a law may seem unnecessary in a state where same-sex marriage is banned, but some Kansas lawmakers think different.
They want to prevent religious individuals and organizations from getting sued, or otherwise punished, for not providing goods or services to gay couples -- or for not recognizing their marriages or committed relationship as valid.
This includes employees of the state.
Here's a hint, guys. If your religion tells you that you have the right to treat your fellow humans as second-class citizens, you're missing the point of faith entirely.
On the other hand, these guys are clearly willing to see this go through the federal court system for 4-5 years because they figure by the time this gets to SCOTUS, a Republican president in 2018 will have replaced Ginsburg with another Alito, and they'll win. And even if that doesn't happen, all it takes is Anthony Kennedy deciding that religious freedom is more important than who you love.
That will motivate many, many such state bills enshrining bigotry into law and saying "We're ending discrimination by protecting the religious beliefs of Christians."
It's a pretty good bet, and you'll see more and more Republicans taking these odds. makes it more likely there will be a sweeping 5-4 SCOTUS ruling in their favor because they'll just have to act "for the good of the nation".
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