The intent behind this bill would allow anyone to claim religious exemption to local ordinances. This bill was specifically targeting local non discrimination ordinances that include sexual orientation and gender identity protections. The only organization working to extend and protect non discrimination ordinances for SO and GI is the Kansas Equality Coalition. This bill was brought before the House Judiciary Committee last Thursday. This is the testimony that was given by our State Chair/Lobbyist. I had the privilege of sitting in the room and watching the faces of those this was directed to. It was priceless. Here is the testimony followed by result today.
**************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Testimony of Thomas Witt, Chair, Kansas Equality Coalition
House Committee on the Judiciary
In Opposition to HB2260
February 17, 2011
Good morning Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. I am here today to speak in opposition to HB2260, and I thank you for the opportunity to do so.
My name is Thomas Witt. I am Chair of the Kansas Equality Coalition, which works to eliminate discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In the five years since we formed, we have organized eleven chapters around the state and have nearly 2000 members.
I stand in opposition to HB2260. It is clear from the timing of introduction, and from language of the bill, that its target is the non‑discrimination ordinances passed by cities and counties within the State of Kansas, and that its purpose is to deny gay, lesbian, and transgendered Kansans their right to petition their government for a redress of grievances; namely, to request the inclusion of “sexual orientation” and/or “gender identity” as protected classes in their local ordinances.
Section 1(b)(2), starting on page 1, line 20, makes this clear. The only activity defined as not being a “compelling government interest” is the enforcement of any non‑discrimination ordinance that goes beyond that which is set forth in KSA 44-1001. KSA 44-1001 is commonly known as the Kansas Act Against Discrimination, which provides protections to classes of Kansans who have historically been the targets of discrimination, repression, and oppression. The original Act, passed in 1953, has been amended repeatedly over the years to both broaden its scope and further enforcement.
Currently in Kansas, the largest and most prominent class of people who have a history of suffering from discrimination but are not covered in the Act are gay, lesbian, and transgendered citizens, and it is we who are working in our local communities for enactment of the protections everyone else enjoys.
As the Act has evolved, local jurisdictions in Kansas have also passed civil and human rights ordinances. Many of these ordinances go beyond the provisions in the Act in enforcement provisions and in the classes found to be targets of discrimination. In many respects, it is the local jurisdictions that have led the way in addressing the scourge of bias and discrimination, with the state often years behind in updating the Act to reflect modern standards. An excellent resource on the history of the civil rights movement in Kansas can be found in the book “Dissent in Wichita: The Civil Rights Movement in the Midwest, 1954-72” by Dr. Gretchen Eick.
The US Constitution, in the 10th Amendment, reserves to the states those powers not granted to the Federal Government. The 10th Amendment is has been the subject of much recent debate in this body over whether the Federal Government has the power to regulate the manufacture and sale of firearms within the State of Kansas, and whether the Federal Government has the power to compel the purchase of health insurance. There are current bills, sponsored by many of the members of this committee, that specifically cite the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution as justification for their passage.
The Kansas Constitution, in Article 5, guarantees to cities the powers of home rule. Under home rule, adopted by Kansas constitutional amendment in 1961, incorporated cities within Kansas are granted the power to pass charter ordinances. Section (c)(2) states:
A charter ordinance is an ordinance which exempts a city from the whole or any part of any enactment of the legislature as referred to in this section and which may provide substitute and additional provisions on the same subject.
This is the section which has been relied upon by many cities across Kansas to expand upon the provisions of the Act Against Discrimination, with ordinances tailored to their local communities, for nearly fifty years. Furthermore, the Kansas Constitution declares in Article 5, Section (d):
“Powers and authority granted cities pursuant to this section shall be liberally construed for the purpose of giving to cities the largest measure of self-government.”
This tradition of Kansas cities having the power to regulate discrimination within their jurisdictions is something we should all be proud of. As I state earlier in my testimony, it has often been the cities that have led the way to removing the scourge of bias and discrimination from Kansas. This bill now proposes, however, to meddle with that authority by giving individuals an ill-defined method to personally “opt out” of obeying the laws of the cities where they live or conduct business. This, to my knowledge, is an absolutely unprecedented assault on the home rule power granted to cities under our Constitution.
I have previously referenced the home rule power granted to cities under Article 5 of our Constitution. Oddly, though, HB2260 makes no reference to home rule. Instead, it is all done by inference and circuitous language that all has the effect of usurping the Constitutionally guaranteed powers of cities to govern themselves, and seeks to overturn nearly fifty years of tradition in the power of our cities to regulate discrimination within their jurisdictions.
There will certainly be unintended consequences from some very obvious flaws in this bill. The bill relies upon the provisions of KSA 44-1001 for that “opt out.” If you study local ordinances, however, you’ll quickly find that there are more differences between state and local laws than merely whether sexual orientation and gender identity are included. One example is in employment discrimination, in which the Act exempts businesses that employ four or fewer persons. The current human relations ordinance in Lawrence, Kansas, however, only exempts businesses employing two or fewer persons. A careful examination of the Act, compared to charter ordinances in Lawrence and other cities, will almost certainly reveal many instances in which local provisions are more restrictive than state provisions.
Up to now in my statement, I have stipulated that this bill’s targets are gay, lesbian, and transgendered citizens of Kansas. Notably, HB2260 makes no reference to sexual orientation or gender identity. I believe it is no coincidence, however, that this bill was introduced the very day after the duly elected commissioners of the City of Manhattan passed an amendment to their local ordinance to extend protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Other cities in Kansas currently extend some protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation, most notably Lawrence (sexual orientation only) and Topeka (sexual orientation, city employees only).
In Lawrence, the City Commission added sexual orientation as a protected class to their human relations ordinance in 1994. Since then, there have been no instances that I know of in which any Lawrencian has made an adjudicated claim that this ordinance has violated their First Amendment rights to free exercise of religion. For nearly 17 years, discrimination against gay and lesbian Lawrencians in employment, housing, and public accommodations has been prohibited by ordinance, with no ill effects. In fact, Lawrence is a fast‑growing and vibrant city, as evidenced by the millions of dollars in new development on the west side of town. Businesses there thrive, and many of them employ openly gay and lesbian workers who do not need to fear for their jobs. People from all over Kansas, including some very conservative members of this body, travel to Lawrence as a destination to enjoy a rich culture of arts, entertainment, restaurants, and unique shopping opportunities. In short, the people of Lawrence took a strong stand against discrimination, and the world did not come to an end.
In Topeka, the City Council voted in 2004 to add protections for city employees against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Shortly after its passage, members of Topeka’s Westboro Baptist Church, led by Fred Phelps, successfully circulated a petition which put the new ordinance before the voters of Topeka for either approval or nullification. That ballot measure, decided on March 1, 2005, was defeated. Gay and lesbian City of Topeka employees today enjoy protections from discrimination based on their sexual orientation. The world has still not ended.
Why does this bill’s author, or authors, dance around the home rule issue, rather than addressing it directly?
Why does this bill’s author not come right out and say what they mean – that they don’t want to see protections for sexual orientation or gender identity enacted into law in any Kansas city?
A moment ago, I spoke of Fred Phelps and his campaign against the Topeka ordinance. The Phelps clan, whose anti-gay activism goes back over twenty years, makes no secret of their disdain for gay and lesbian Kansans. They are honest about their views, to the point of carrying huge, brightly colored signs declaring their hatred, and what they believe is God’s hatred, for “fags.” “God Hates Fags” is written all over everything they publish – from emails to faxes, to signs, to the very name of website from which they spew their filth. Of course, we all know that Fred Phelps isn’t speaking for God when he declares that hatred – he’s speaking for himself, and those that follow his ministry.
The only difference between what this bill purports to do and what the Phelps clan does is honesty: Phelps is honest about how he feels about gay and lesbian people. This bill is a dishonest and cowardly attack on every gay, lesbian and transgendered Kansan alive, for between every line of text of a bill that seeks to hide legalized bigotry behind the Bible are those words of Fred Phelps: God Hates Fags. At least Mr. Phelps has the courage of his convictions and says in plain language what he believes. I could only hope that the authors of this bill could do the same.
Like Fred Phelps, the author of this bill does not speak for God’s hatred. You speak only for your own.
Thank you for your time and attention. I would be happy to take questions or to provide further information.
**************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Here in Kansas we find ourselves in a very bad situation. We know that we are going to have to work as hard as we possibly can to not lose ground. We have a few allies on both sides but there are only a few with courage. We are just going to go all out and pull every string we possibly can, including making a lot of noise and not backing down from going straight to the point. We will hit back. Here is the result from today.
**************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Dear Kansas Equality Coalition members, allies, and supporters,
Late this afternoon, the House Committee on the Judiciary voted to table HB2260, the bill that would have negated local non-discrimination ordinances (such as those in Manhattan, Topeka, and Lawrence) by allowing anyone to claim their religion as a reason not to obey the law. There was no debate on this bill, which the proponents are calling the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act," this afternoon. As soon as it came up, a motion was immediately made to table; that motion passed by either a 12-8 or 13-7 majority (it was over so quickly, I didn't have an opportunity to count the hands raised in favor of the motion).
Since the bill was only tabled and not voted down outright, this means it *could* come up for action later in the session, but given the fact that we're halfway through and most bills need to have been voted on by at least one chamber by Friday, it's unlikely we're going to see it again this year. Bottom line: it's a good day to celebrate, but be ready for a new fight tomorrow.
One thing is clear: our organized opposition to HB2260 stopped it in its tracks. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all of you who took the time to write and call the committee members over the weekend and today. My lobbying in the Capitol is not enough by itself - without your help, we COULD NOT have stopped this bill.
I promise you I will continue to be vigilant, and to watch every piece of legislation that gets introduced in Topeka, and will work to do whatever it takes to stop the far-right's anti-LGBT agenda. Today was a win for us, and for the equality movement in Kansas, but tomorrow could bring more challenges.
Finally, I cannot stay in Topeka and fight this fight without your help! Please consider renewing your KEC membership, or making a contribution directly to our lobbying fund. You can make contributions online at
http://www.kansasequalitycoalition.org/donate/ , renew your membership at
http://www.kansasequalitycoalition.org/join/ , or mail a contribution to Kansas Equality Coalition, 6505 E. Central PMB 219, Wichita, Kansas 67206.
Again, I thank you for all your help over the past few days, and for your continued support as we push forward for equality for *all* Kansans.
Tom
Thomas Witt, Chair
Kansas Equality Coalition
Mobile 316-683-1706
Chair@KansasEqualityCoalition.org
http://www.KansasEqualityCoalition.orgYou can view this on our website at:
http://www.kansasequalitycoalition.org/viewevent.php?e=3575**************************************************************************************************************************************************************
I don't think the authors of this bill even thought we would see this. There was no mention of LGBT in the bill but it was obvious in reading it that it was directed at LGBT protections. This is a win, not a total win but a win for us and here in Kansas we will take it. Now to move on to the heinous HB2067, the SAFE act, about voter fraud authored by the lovely Kris Kobach our newly elected Sec of State, author of the lovely "papers please" act in Arizona. Yes, we were stupid enough to elect this guy. So the Equality Coalition is going after Kobach next. Wish us luck or better yet send money!
Just a report of something good from a place where something good for LGBT is getting harder to come by every day.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
