Some of the links that formed the basis for this opinion:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/13/us/kansas-bill-same-sex-services/index.htmlhttp://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/02/13/kansas_anti_gay_segregation_bill_is_an_abomination.html?mc_cid=c956dc4a7a&mc_eid=3daa687f0e
http://news.yahoo.com/kansas-bill-gay-same-sex-segregation-210533466.html?.tsrc=lgwnthis
I came home from work today to see several posts on my Facebook feed about potential new legislation in Kansas. Normally I glance quickly at these series of links and move forward along my feed, but the title of this one made me click. The link I happened to see was of a Slate article, but upon reading that particular source I continued to read many more. I posted some links above in case anyone reading this hasn't heard, but, essentially, the state of Kansas is attempting to pass legislation that allows both public and private sectors to deny services of all kinds to gays in the state. Effectively this would make any gay or suspected gay I second class citizen. This is a culmination of my feelings on the subject after reading several articles.
I would love to say that my reaction to anti-gay legislature in Kansas was that I was "appalled, repulsed, digested" and so on, but none of those words can accurately describe my reaction and do it any sort of Justice. Yes, I am appalled. Yes, I am repulsed and, yes, I am disgusted, but I am also so much more. I am angry. Angry at the people that wrote this. Angry that people actually think this humane and justified. But most of all. I am angry that this even exists. The Anti-gay legislation passed in Russia caused such concern and emotion in the heat of the Sochi Games, and yet, here we are in the "land of the free" basically repeating our Jim Crow history.
Understanding that being gay is not a choice is what is truly boggling about this situation. I am baffled in seeing that some of the elected representation of Kansas seems to feel this sense of superiority in that they have the right to literally take away the freedoms of anyone who just wants to be true to themselves. To me, this sparked a thought train of how someone can think its okay to punish other people based on innate traits. Each of us has a set of heritage traits which tells us which groups we identify with - gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, handicaps, brain capacity and more. Yes, some of these can be adapted or converted throughout life, but that does not change the facts of our originality of which we can identify. Going back through history I would be hard-pressed hard-pressed to find one person who didn't belong to a group that was once persecuted simply for being themselves. I am a white, straight, Jewish woman of slightly above average intelligence and little physical handicap. Many of my memberships come from a historically "superior" background, but some do not. I may not be an extremely religious individual but I still consider the Jewish plight to a part of my heritage and part of the person that I am. I am also a woman. In my time and place, I am lucky enough that very little gender indifference exist, but that does not negate my understanding of the fight my gender-ancestors fought, or that my female peers are fighting in other countries now. We all belong to a long series of groups, and if we are to go far enough down the list, everyone will find somewhere where they once wouldn't belong. So why do we continue to think ourselves better than others?
I think that superiority should be judged on merit. How well do you treat others? Would you help a stranger? Do you do your best to look past stereotypes and see a person for who they really are? If you had all money in the world, what would you spend it on? How many good deeds have you done today? These are the questions we should be asking when you judge who is "better" than others and, in turn, how people should be treated. In an ideal world, it would be as simple as good versus bad and that would be it. The good would try to help the bad overcome their boundaries and we could inevitably create a near-perfect. Instead we have people that think they can put others down on the basis of nothing. If I were judging good versus evil, I could tell you that anyone who voted yes on this law would not make my list of the nice. This is not religious freedom - this is immoral discrimination.
I have friends that live in Kansas. I have friends that live in the "red south." I have friends that are republicans. None of these alone does make a person a problem. I know for a fact that anyone I chose to associate myself with would be some of the first people to check no against this law. I also know that while I may come from the true land of the free within in the US, but I am no longer a part of that world. Long gone is my Boston accent, my Massachusetts license and most of Boston identity as a whole. I am a Floridian. A member of a state that is notoriously anti-gay. However, I live in one of the "gayest" cities in America and I work for a company that whole-heartily supports same-sex equality. Identifying with factors of a negative group doesn't make them a bad person, but acting on negativity does.
I majored in history in college, and I do understand that history does repeat itself. I also believe that eventually sexual equality will be won, gay marriage will be legal, and students generations from now will read about this era in the same way we did about slavery. I also believe that in its place will rise of a new challenge and this cycle will start again. But if mistakes are always going to made, that means they can always be conquered. All we can do is keep fighting. I hope that this media backlash prevents this from ever becoming a bill. But if it does pass, and other states follow suit, we will quickly find ourselves on the brink of another civil war, freedom versus punishment. And we all know how that went for the Confederacy the first time.