The Kansas Republican state committee met over the weekend in Wichita, Kansas, and candidates walked the room, talking to their constituents, looking to make headway on winning the Republican nomination. The location was filled with conservative leadership — many of the “moderate” coalition stayed away, knowing they weren’t welcome. Despite calls that the moderates were managing to make changes in their party, to bring “reason” to leadership, conservatives struck back, featuring a rowdy debate of ideological ideals, attacks on immigrants, and a debate that called for constitutional amendments against school funding and in favor of removing rights.
This amendment, however, submitted by former Gov. Sam Brownback’s son-in-law, Eric Teetsel, however, may take the cake.
Thomas Witt, director of Equality Kansas, summed it up this way in a Facebook post:
Denying science and attacking schoolchildren in the name of religion is not a recognition of "dignity." This is a cheap election year attack by Sam Brownback's son-in-law, and yet another attempt to dehumanize those who do not fit inside the narrow world view of Brownback, his family, and his wing of the Republican party. Equality Kansas is incredibly disappointed that Kansas Republicans, on a day they should be focused on protecting children, promote such an undignified and crass assault.
But, what, exactly, does this resolution do?
RESOLVED, that the Kansas Republican Party recognizes the dignity of every human being, including those who identify as LGBT; that we affirm God's design for gender as determined by biological sex and not by self-perception; that we oppose efforts to surgically or hormonally alter one's bodily identity to conform with one's perceived gender identity; that we oppose all efforts to validate transgender identity; that we recognize the fundamental right of parents to guide their child's education; that public schools should not undermine the values of parents who do not agree with transgenderism; and that students have a reasonable expectation of privacy and safety at school.
There is a lot to take in here. First, Republicans begin their resolution with an opening support of “those who identify as LGBT”, but then seem to completely forget that the T in LGBT stands for Transgender, as they go on to say that transgender issues are not real, and they should be shunned. Even more interesting, they seem to indicate that “efforts to surgically or hormonally alter one’s bodily identity to conform with one’s perceived gender identity” opens up a whole other can of worms — many people perceive their gender identity the same as their biological identity; and current lead Governor candidate Gov. Jeff Colyer has made his living on exactly that as a plastic surgeon. As structured, this resolution would not just attack individuals who are transgendered, but every woman who has received breast implants, men who have gone on hormone replacement therapy, or anything designed to alter their perception of identity — whether transgender or not.
The Republican resolution promotes fears of attacks in bathrooms and concerns over unhealthy moral standards, saying that “students have a reasonable expectation of privacy and safety at school” an interesting twist considering down the hallway, a US Representative candidate was giving away an AR-15, apparently that isn’t the kind of safety they were concerned about.
these cultural currents run counter to God’s created order and violate the dignity of every human being;
To my “moderate Republican” friends, those who say you are creating change in your party — your party backed Trump, it spent their state convention attacking educators and women. It passed resolutions that imply that they will “oppose all efforts to validate transgendered identity” a passive way to say: “we approve bullying”. At what point, moderate Republicans, will your party really go “too far” where you recognize that you can’t save it? At what point will we hit an understanding that says: your party has become feral?
Maybe, unfortunately, never, but the water around you has gone from cold to warm and is beginning to outright boil. Who knows if you’ll hop out in time.