Lawmakers should be judged for anti-trans legislation striking fear into hearts of Kansans
Holiday gatherings will look different this year in Kansas, with a lot of empty places at the table.
I personally know grandparents who may never see their grandchildren again. A lot of people just lost a safe place to call home in Kansas. And Kansas is worse for it.
The senseless cruelty that Kansas lawmakers unleashed in House Substitute for Senate Bill 244 is disgusting. They have painted targets on the backs of transgender Kansans and everyone else, with any citizen now encouraged to investigate if people are using the “wrong” bathroom and opening a pathway to sue for bounties if not. They also negated hundreds of lawful driver’s licenses overnight, with no grace period and the threat of being arrested while trying to sort through the details.
Many trans Kansans will flee the state, if they can. Trans Kansans who cannot leave will have to scramble. How will they get to work? Or school? Or doctor’s appointments? Or grocery shopping? Or even to the DMV to follow the new rules?
Some trans Kansans will be pushed closer to suicide with this added persecution. Some will be subjected to senseless violence when they apply for jobs or housing.
Whatever Kansas Republican politicians tell themselves, many of their neighbors and family members see the truth. Decent human beings do not decide to gain political points by picking on the one marginalized person in the room that they think no one will defend.
Kansas politicians should be ashamed of themselves. I’m ashamed for them. We see the blood on their hands. It is absolutely disgusting for our elected officials to attack our trans neighbors, friends, family members, and community members.
Trans people are not the problem. They have never been the problem. They simply want to live their lives just like the rest of us. Harmful laws like this and politicians willing to institute them against public sentiment and around normal procedures are the problem.
Many of us see through the political rhetoric to what this perversion of justice really reveals. We do not like what we see.
We do not condone bigotry. Laws pushed through without debate and public input are not normal. Nothing excuses it. Kansas politicians are not the good guys here. And I suppose we have to ask ourselves if they ever have been. Or have they just been in hiding until they felt safe enough to show this ugly, mean side? Now that we’ve seen that side, we can’t really unsee it. We wouldn’t want to, anyway.
GOP leaders might be thinking to themselves: Sure this will cost the state, private businesses, and citizens money and time, but at least we got to pick on an already marginalized part of our population who weren’t hurting anyone and gain some political points.
Yuck. They are not on the right side of history. They are not on the side of good.
Every single Kansan should be able to expect our elected officials to do better. If they don’t, they should expect to be judged harshly.
Leaders should expect restaurants to refuse to serve them. They should expect people in public to tell them how ashamed we are of their cruelty. They should expect doors to close to them. They should expect to be disinvited to Sunday dinners. They should expect to be seen by their actions as who they truly are. And they should be ashamed.
Tamara Moots lives and works in Manhattan. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
