State Rep. John Carmichael (Photo: Carmichael for Kansas).
It might seem impossible in the state that twice elected Sam Brownback as governor, but a bill to prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination is finally going to get a hearing nearly 11 months after it was first introduced.
The bill, HB2323, was introduced by Rep. John Carmichael (D-Wichita) during the final hours of last year’s legislative session, in response to Brownback’s decision to rescind a nondiscrimination executive order for LGBT state employees that was issued by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D).
The bill, as introduced, amends a number of statutes to include sexual orientation and gender identity among a list of protected classes when it comes to discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. House Judiciary Chairman John Barker (R-Abilene) has granted the bill a hearing on Jan. 14, three days after the legislature convenes for its 2016 session, The Wichita Eaglereports.
While the bill is unlikely to pass the Republican-dominated legislature, or even emerge from committee, Barker has at least promised to hold a hearing on the issue. But social conservatives are expected to mobilize their forces to defeat the bill, claiming it violates their First Amendment rights to express their religious beliefs.
“It will of course be up to the committee and the whole body, but I think it needs to be aired,” Barker told the Eagle. “And I like to listen to people. I like to listen to both sides of an argument.”
“I think the people of Kansas need to understand that anti-LGBT discrimination does exist in this state and there are steps we can take to end it,” Tom Witt, the executive director of Equality Kansas, said in a statement expressing support for Carmichael’s bill.
Meanwhile, Carmichael is happy just to get a hearing in front of the Judiciary Committee to ensure that LGBT people will be protected from being unfairly fired or evicted from their homes.
“Where the bill progresses from there, I cannot offer a guarantee,” he told the Eagle. “I think it depends in large part on what happens in the hearing and quite frankly on what happens in society outside the Capitol as well.”
Lucien Bates, a transgender man, says security guards threatened to arrest him after he used the women’s restroom at a Round1 arcade inside the North Riverside Park Mall in suburban Chicago. Bates, an Indiana resident, was visiting the venue on September 28 with his fiancé and a friend to play Dance Dance Revolution.
Bates, who presents as alt-masculine with facial hair and piercings, had just arrived at the arcade when he needed to use the restroom. He chose the women’s restroom, a decision he often makes in public because he feels safer there and is less likely to be harassed.
A Texas grand jury has indicted 57-year-old Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez in connection with the June 1 killing of actor Jonathan Joss. Police say Alvarez confronted Joss and his husband as they were picking up mail at their San Antonio home, which had burned down in February.
The 59-year-old Joss -- whose legal name was Jonathan Joss Gonzales -- was best known for his roles on the animated series King of the Hill and the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation.
The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office said in a Nov. 19 statement that Ceja Alvarez "is charged with murder, the most serious charge applicable under Texas law." The office added that, because the case is still pending, no further details could be released.
A Florida man has been arrested and charged with the murder of Girlalala, a 21-year-old transgender TikTok influencer, after allegedly shooting her during what appears to have been a dispute between the couple.
Broward County Sheriff's Office deputies say 25-year-old Shanoyd Whyte Jr. shot Girlalala shortly before 7 p.m. on Friday, November 14, while the two were sitting in a car on the side of the road in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida.
According to Miami-based WPLG, video from a nearby Tesla shows a man believed to be Whyte getting out of the driver's side of a sedan as Girlalala tries to exit the passenger side. He appears to grab her by the hair and force her back inside before pacing outside the car with a cellphone in hand.
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