Unit 2 Current Events Post - New Bill on the Table in Kansas

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

There is a new bill circulating around the Kansas House of Representatives that is based on the premise that heterosexuals are experiencing discrimination from homosexuals.  As conservative Rush Limbaugh puts it, heterosexuals are "under assault by the 2 to 5 percent that are homosexual."  This new bill would entitle businesses and individuals to refuse service, accommodations, interactions, and more to anyone who identifies themselves as having a connection with a gay marriage or similar arrangement.

Kansas lies on the right side of the political spectrum.  It is labeled as a red state, meaning that the majority of people who reside there are conservatives, and its representatives are mostly Republican.  This bill makes sense in the aspect that it is in accordance with the beliefs of Staunch Republicans and other political typology groups that identify with the Republican party.  But the bill brings up some of the core American values.  The issue of equality is extremely closely connected to the bill: is it a proper display of equality in America to deny services to specific citizens?  The bill also questions the definition of liberty: who should be entitled to complete economic and cultural freedom?  Some of stated that this bill is a modern version of Jim Crow laws; if the bill can deny services to gays, it may end up being used as an excuse to keep gays from voting in the state of Kansas, therefore increasing the success of the Republican party.

In a way, Kansas is ignoring public opinion results.  Public opinion polls have recently suggested that the public's views on gay rights is shifting in the favor of gay equality.  In this sense, Kansas' House of Representatives is moving in the opposite direction of national public opinion.

This bill is the new foundation for a gay equality argument that has the potential to be long-lived.  The Kansas House of Representatives is fighting discrimination with more discrimination, and it will be interesting to see if Republicans will be willing to openly oppose this discriminatory bill, even if they are against gay marriage and the gay rights movement.