Issue Position: Protect LGBT Rights in Kansas

Issue Position

None of our citizens should be cast aside because of who they love.

It's outrageous that, with the stroke of his pen, Sam Brownback decided to make discrimination legal in Kansas. And despite his empty promise of a "new day in Kansas," Jeff Colyer doesn't have the political courage to right this wrong. It's time to defend the rights of all Kansans. Discrimination has no place in a state internationally known for being one of the most important battlegrounds in the fight for equality in the U.S.

From our status as a free state during the Civil War to Brown v. Board, equality is part of every Kansan's DNA. But make no mistake: the fight continues.

Despite the claims that DCF Secretary Gina Meier-Hummel (who was appointed by Colyer) would be a more forward-looking leader who would curb the agency's discriminatory practices, the agency supported the bill that would allow adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBT couples who want to start families in Kansas. And now Colyer has pledged to sign it.

What sort of message would we send LGBT Kansans with such a cruel and unnecessary law? What would we be saying about our state's priorities to the rest of the country?

Like Colyer's refusal to protect LGBT state employees from discrimination, Meier-Hummel's support for such a prejudiced law is indefensible. Kansas clearly has a lot of work to do when it comes to protecting the rights of all its citizens.

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