Kansas Governor Sam Brownback released a long list of state statutes that he thinks are outdated and should be tossed out. He even issued an executive order last year to create a new position, the Office of the Repealer, to come up with that list. But his final product did not include the repeal of the state’s anti-sodomy law. Despite the fact that the Supreme Court ruled that anti-sodomy laws were unconstitutional in 2003, Kansas has kept its own law on the books.
It would be difficult to overestimate the degree to which the American Taliban has assimilated Kansas. How bad have things become in the Sunflower State? Well, how about so bad that uber-Jesus-y Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has decided to keep Kansas’ anti-sodomy laws on the books. The Supreme Court may have declared anti-sodomy laws unconstitutional, but NOBODY tells the American Taliban how to administer their dominion. THEY decide what’s right and wrong, and THEY will determine how, when, and/or if laws will be enforced. Anything that doesn’t conform to their narrow, hateful, uber-Jesus-y agenda is just so much Liberal Big Government overreach.
Famous for having a thin skin, and being no fan of speech that impugns his regal mien and demeanor, Brownback has not-so-slowly but surely turned Kansas into the playground and domain of Conservative White Christians. The word I’ve seen tossed around a lot online about Brownback is that he “sucks.” While that’s hardly and empirical or dispassionate description of Kansas’ High Priest and Chief Inquisitor chief executive, I wouldn’t presume to refute that sentiment.
He even issued an executive order last year to create a new position, the Office of the Repealer, to come up with that list. But his final product did not include the repeal of the state’s anti-sodomy law.
Despite the fact that the Supreme Court ruled that anti-sodomy laws were unconstitutional in 2003, Kansas has kept its own law on the books. Kansas Statute 21-3505 lists “criminal sodomy”-that which occurs “between persons who are 16 or more years of age and members of the same sex or between a person and an animal”-as a misdemeanor. Straight sodomy is a-OK.
Leaving 21-3505 on the books has no real or practical effect; even if Brownback or his minions tried to enforce it, any case would be thrown out by any judge that hasn’t been co-opted and/or compromised by the Kansas chapter of the American Taliban. Failing to repeal the law sends a very clear and unmistakable message to Kansas’ LGBT community, though: you may be here, and you may be queer, but you’re second-class citizens and you’re not welcome here in the People’s Christian Republic of Kansas.
The tone and tenor of Brownback’s reign thus far has made it clear that his intent is to appoint people to positions of power who will remake Kansas into as close to a Dominionist theocracy as possible. Brownback knows he can’t replace Kansas statutes with a Bible-based legal system…but you can bet that he would if he thought he could get away with it.
In Saudi Arabia not so long ago (and this may still be the case), pictures of Israel were cut out of books and magazines sold within the Kingdom. I can’t help but wonder how long it will be before something similar will happen in Kansas? How long before books and movies are banned based on their “un-Christian” content or message? How long before censorship becomes the norm? Brownback and his minions have already pointed Kansas down this path; it can’t be long before Kansas is a patriarchal Dominionist theocracy straight out of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
The decision, despite public and private lobbying, has angered gay leaders here. “We were pretty much the first in line with our request to have this unconstitutional ban on gay and lesbian relations repealed,” said Thomas Witt, chairman of the Kansas Equality Coalition.
“This isn’t just some archaic law that’s sitting on the books and isn’t bothering anyone,” Mr. Witt continued. “It’s used as justification to harass and discriminate against people, and it needs to go.”
Sam Brownback is using his tenure as Governor to transform Kansas into a place where women are viewed and defined as sperm receptacles and the property of men. It’s becoming a place where to be different is to be sinful, wrong, and damned to roast in Hell for all eternity. It’s becoming a place where diversity- of thought, opinion, religion, and lifestyle- is becoming a dirty word. Before long, if you’re not a thoroughly and reliably heterosexual Conservative White Christian, there’ll soon be no place for you in Sam Brownback’s Kansas. Once the Sunflower State has been made safe for straight and God-fearing Conservative White Christians, what’s to stop the American Taliban from taking their show on the road and attempting to remake the rest of America into a carbon copy of Kansas?
At least they’ve got a head start; they won’t have to worry about Texas and Oklahoma.
The moral of the story: If you live in Kansas and you’re Gay, Liberal, non-Christian, and/or a Democrat, you’re not welcome. Period. You have no voice, no standing, and no reason to stay. You can just hie thee off to San Francisco, where they welcome godless heathen such as yourself with open arms…and whatever it is that Teh Gayz open up.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t America founded by people fleeing religious oppression? Who says history isn’t circular?
