Coalition forms to fight for equality / LJWorld.com

Lawrence and Douglas county

December 3, 2005

Topeka — A new group formed to fight discrimination based on sexual orientation better be ready for a fight from some conservative church leaders who are veterans of the Kansas political fray.

The Rev. Terry Fox, the Wichita minister who wields statewide political clout after successfully pushing for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, said gays and lesbians should be prohibited from adopting or providing child care.

"When you have the view that homosexuality is not a healthy lifestyle, then why would you want to put children in a non-healthy lifestyle?" Fox said.

"I would be very much in favor of stronger policies prohibiting gays and lesbians from adopting and child care. We will encourage the Legislature to review those policies," he said.

Opposition to the agenda championed by Fox and others has, in part, led to the formation of the Kansas Equality Coalition, a statewide nonpartisan group.

Diane Silver, of Lawrence, vice chairwoman of the organization, said it was dedicated to ending discrimination for all Kansans.

"We just want to see all people in the state treated fairly, and we do not want to limit anyone's rights, including the religious right and people who have been taking away our rights," she said.

Silver said the Kansas gay community was minding its own business when Fox and several other ministers got the Legislature to place on the ballot a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

Voters approved the measure 70 percent to 30 percent in April as Kansas became the 18th state in the nation to have such a provision. Activists and attorneys are still trying to figure out the breadth and scope of the amendment.

"We were attacked," Silver said. "They came after us. It is now in the Constitution that we can't even petition the Legislature for the right to visit our life partners in the hospital."

This new coalition will try to educate Kansans on issues on the horizon, Silver said.

For example, she said, Kansans need to know that prohibiting gays from adopting could also prevent singles from adopting, could tear children from the only families they have known, or prevent abandoned children from experiencing the love of a family.

Reader poll

"It would really hurt a lot of children," she said.

The group, which includes gays, heterosexuals, bisexuals and transgendered people, has formed chapters in Lawrence, Topeka, Johnson County, Wichita and the Manhattan area.

Fox said he has heard of the new group and welcomes them to the political fray.

"The more they talk, the more people join our side. They are out of the mainstream with what the average Kansan feels," he said.

But Silver disagreed, saying most Kansans want fairness.

"It's the Golden Rule and there is nothing radical about that," she said.

Discussion

LJWorld.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.

3 December 2005
at 6:15 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

smitty (Anonymous) says…

What a weak interview. Just what besides calling for the golden rule is this coalition's game plan?
3 December 2005
at 6:41 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

failed_ged (Anonymous) says…

smitty:

Please review and revise your comments, so that they make sense. Your post about the yellow store fencing operation didn't make sense either.
3 December 2005
at 10:39 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

smitty (Anonymous) says…

Well hi there little buddy. This story is nothing more than an pre-action public relations story for Silver's coalition.

To be a coalition all you need to do is state so and call a news conference for some free advertisment.

Weak interview because nothing but trash talking about the opposition and absolutley no information about the coalition. And I'm for gay rights. This weak approach is like singing to the choir. No news, no action, nothing.

As far as your concerns on the yellow house, go to that thread and read what others have posted. It may set your mind at ease.
3 December 2005
at 10:55 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

Jamesaust (Anonymous) says…

Hmmmm…didn't this go nowhere in this session of the Legislature?

“”When you have the view that homosexuality is not a healthy lifestyle…” says Fox. Huh? (A) what's unhealthy about your average 40 year old lesbian? (B) since when is “unhealthy” - what ever that means - the standard for uniting child and parent? Does Fox advocate removing children from smoking households? Is foster care “healthy”?

Fox seems to have adopted an approach (not unlike the Catholic church and priests) of confusing identity with acts. Taken to its logical outcome, the State would not only have to prevent adoption of Kansas kids but also: (1) remove those kids already adopted, (2) remove kids that are natural children of gays, (3) remove kids adopted outside Kansas but have since moved into the state. All-in-all, a bizarre set of priorities for a state that has a shameful record of warehousing orphaned and abandoned children.
5 December 2005
at 11:14 p.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

yellowrose (Anonymous) says…

People who choose to live the homosexual lifestyle should most definitely not be allowed to adopt or foster parent children. I have seen the devistation that lifestyle causes. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and attended a high school where 90% of the student body was “gay.” Many of my homosexual friends were confused about their own sexuality, the differences between right and rong and where and how they fit into “normal society,” just to name a few of their wonderings. Many of them were raised by same sex “couples” and didn't know what to call the natural parent's “partner” or “lover or “other half.” If “couples” such as these are allowed to parent impressionable children, we will have a generation of emotionally and sexually confused human beings. That's the last thing this country or world needs. A person isn't “born” homosexual, it's a choice one makes due to sexual abuse or being influenced by people in that invironment. There can be other causes but I know first-hand that these are some of the causes. How do I know this? I'm a former lesbian whom God has delivered from that lifestyle. It took years of counseling and good people of God loving me and teaching me the right way to go along with lots of prayer. Today, I am happily married to a wonderful man and walking the “straight and narrow” path of righteousness with my Saviour Jesus Christ. For those trapped by homosexuality, there is an “exodus” and the right kind of “love does “win out” if you choose to change. You can have a new life if you *choose* to do so. This kind of metamorphosis is hard work and doesn't happen over night but, I can't stress enough that it *is possible if a person wants it and is willing to work at changing their life. It takes God, counseling and a loving heterosexual comunity to help you through the rough times but you too can be delivered to wholeness as I was.