Sticker lampoons new state slogan / LJWorld.com

Archive for Wednesday, February 23, 2005

February 23, 2005

Some political-minded Lawrence residents are having a field day with the state's new advertising slogan, "Kansas: As big as you think."

Concerned about the state's push toward a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, a Lawrence attorney this month printed and began distributing thousands of brown and yellow bumper stickers with the phrase "Kansas: As bigoted as you think."

"I guess I just wanted both to have a voice in this and to provoke people to think, because I don't want to see discrimination written into the constitution of my home state," attorney Jennifer Newlin said.

Newlin ordered 2,500 of the bumper stickers and has sold about a third of them. She said she was selling them in bulk locally and wanted to distribute them statewide.

The slogan also is being skewered by "The New World Order Peace Choir," the musical arm of the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice.

To the tune of "Home on the Range" -- the state song -- the choir's song goes as follows:

"Hom- homophobe rage/ Let's all raise our glasses and drink/ A toast to our state, We''ll legitimize hate/ To Kansas -- as bigoted as you think."

So is a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage really "bigotry"?

Third Planet employee Ethan Adams displays a bumper sticker playing off the new state slogan Tuesday at the downtown store, 2 E. Ninth St. The Raven Bookstore, 8 E. Seventh St., is also selling the bumper stickers. The official state slogan is "Kansas: As big as you think."

The Rev. Leo Barbee, pastor of Victory Bible Church and a supporter of the proposed ban, said he didn't think so.

"I think bigotry deals more with mistreatment of people based on their skin, culture or heritage," he said. "I don't think people have mistreated homosexuals in the same way. I think they have good jobs. I think they have good education, a lot of money."

Geri Summers, executive director of the Douglas County AIDS Project, thinks it's clearly bigotry, given that a state law already prohibits same-sex marriage.