Somewhere Under the Rainbow

Aw, Kansas.

Kansas Pastor Curtis Knapp makes his case for genocide.

You are such a strange place. It is illegal in Topeka to own a bathtub. Topeka is also home to the infamous Westboro Baptist Church so it is probably not surprising that Kansas legislators in the State House passed a bill legalizing discriminating against people as long as they claim they are discriminating because of "sincerely held religious beliefs" and has some vague gender component. According to this law:

• If a woman enters a convenience store and is not wearing a burka the fundamentalist Muslim owner has the legal right to kick her out.
• If a black man and his white wife enter a restaurant owned by a Christian Identity believer who is religiously opposed to miscegenation, he can refuse to serve the couple with impunity.
• A Christian nurse can refuse to treat a Jewish man if she claims it violates her religious beliefs to speak to a male of that faith.

Of course, the law is intended as a kind of gay marriage Nuremberg Law designed to make homosexuals third-class citizens in the state. But, it was written broadly enough to allow for a wide range of prejudices. There is a weird line that requires alternative service be provided but it includes a massive loophole where discriminators need only claim "hardship" to escape any responsibilities.

In other Kansas news, the legislature is considering a bill to make it illegal to teach non-biblical science in public schools.