Faith perspective: Being an LGBTQ+ Kansan isn’t wrong. Attacking them is | Opinion

Imagine going through life and being told that you are wrong.

Not your opinions, not your ideas, not your beliefs — you.

Imagine how it would feel to watch your child struggle to find a reason to continue living in a world that insists that they are an abomination.

There are hundreds of people in Kansas who don’t have to imagine.

They know.

Every day, these Kansans are told that their existence is wrong.

From the halls of the state Capitol to the school playground, these messages are never-ending.

A recent survey from The Trevor Project shows that 41% of 13- to 24-year-olds who identify themselves as LGBTQ+ reported seriously considering suicide during 2023.

Nearly one in three of these young people who reported that their mental health was poor “most of the time” named anti-LGBTQ policies and legislation as a primary cause for their distress.

Legislators in multiple states are loudly and proudly bullying the LGBTQ+ community. Currently, there are two anti-trans bills in the Kansas State Legislature.

Senate Bill 63 seeks to ban gender-affirming care for minors and Senate Bill 76 would ban the use of preferred pronouns and chosen names in K-12 public schools.

The work Kansas legislators do may seem mundane to some but the young people of Kansas experience its real effects.

This is not the tradition of freedom and equality that abolitionists fought and died for to found our great State of Kansas.

Children are some of the most precious gifts that God gives us.

All children are beloved by God and, as adults, we have a responsibility to safeguard and help the children in our lives.

As people of faith from varying religious traditions, we recognize the common ideals that we all share: We are called to love our neighbors and look out for the hurting.

The evidence shows that laws regulating trans persons, their access to medical care, and the refusal to use preferred pronouns and chosen names does irreparable harm to this group.

All people deserve love and dignity.

The Legislature only needs to give this group the same level of dignity it offers to all other citizens.

The role of faith groups is to love, support, and ally themselves with all persons, and thus, we condemn all legislation harming LGBTQ+ persons in the strongest possible terms.

We stand with our siblings in this community in demanding that the shared humanity of all persons is respected and that members of the Legislature vote against these unnecessarily harmful bills.

This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 12:21 PM.