Kansas Wants To Keep Unconstitutional Laws About Homosexuality on the Books
Have you ever just wanted to take someone by the lapel of his or her suit and scream, “What is wrong with you?” Right in their face? No? Maybe it’s just me.
Because I really want to go up to Jan Pauls and Lance Kinzer, both Kansas state representatives (a Democrat and Republican, respectively), and do just that.
What has caused this affective state is something that is so ridiculous, so asinine that I didn’t even think my state elected officials were capable of it. Pauls and Kinzer have successfully made a motion in the Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee to keep on the books the law that makes gay and lesbian relationships criminal.
Oh really? That’s how you’re going to play, is it? That is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard.
As I am sure my dear and brilliant readers know, the Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas said that, no, there cannot be laws that criminalize homosexual relationships. Done. You can’t do it. Yeah, I’m looking at you Representatives Pauls and Kinzer.
Oh, and did I mention that Pauls used to be a judge? Well, she was. Way to uphold the laws of the land.
I am frankly a little surprised these laws were still on the books. I figured something like this would have been wiped clean years ago, but apparently not. That is actually what the Kansas Judicial Council was trying to do: resolve inconsistencies in the Kansas criminal code and remove unconstitutional laws. But now the law that was supposed to bring the rest of the Kansas criminal code up to date, called HB2321, has been compromised.
What do you know? Irrational posturing defeats something totally reasonable. Who would have guessed?
This is just another example of the maliciousness of the powerful. Because it doesn’t do anything, substantively. Kansas still can’t prosecute people for being in gay relationships. The last time I checked, Kansas was still part of the union. Smack in the middle, in fact. So no one can be prosecuted under that law. What we have here is simply an attempt to make LGBT people feel marginalized, maligned and less than human.
This is not what the law is supposed to do. The law should protect people, lift them up. The law should be fair and not give credence to privately held prejudices that say some people are inherently worth less than others.
There is nothing in Representatives Pauls’ and Kinzer’s actions but bile and hate. The people of Kansas deserve so much better.
Photo credit: Steven Depolo
Mindy Townsend
is a recent law graduate.
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