Kansas lawmakers are trying to strengthen religious protections for foster families looking to adopt kids. But the proposal could create what critics call “state-sponsored child endangerment” of LGBTQ youth. A bill would prevent the secretary at the Kansas Department for Children and Families from creating or enforcing policies that conflict with a foster family’s religious […]
LGBTQ
Posted inHealth, Kansas State Government
A Kansas ban on gender-affirming care couldn’t overcome a veto last year. Things are different now
Takeaways: Conservative Kansas lawmakers couldn’t ban gender-affirming care for transgender children last year after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the bill and Republicans fell short on an override vote. This year, they’ve passed a more restrictive ban and run into another veto from Kelly. Yet a veto override that would outlaw puberty blockers, hormone treatments […]
Posted inWichitans You Should Know
Meet Sister Ursula, a glamorous nun advocating for gay and trans youth
By his own account, Scott Sullivan leads a boring life. He’s a 58-year-old white male who works at the local tag office, as he has for 25 years. He’s married. He grew up mostly in the Midwest, one of two children in an upper-middle class, two-parent “white-bread” family. He knew little trauma as a child, […]
Posted inState Government
It took three years for Kansas lawmakers to ban trans athletes from girls’ teams. What happens now?
Transgender and nonbinary student athletes will no longer be allowed to play on girls’ sports teams in Kansas schools, following the state legislature’s override of Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of House Bill 2238. The Kansas trans sports ban does not restrict who might play on boys’ teams. The override is the culmination of a three-year […]
Posted inLocal Government
Wichita LGBTQ+ advocate Jackie Carter: Parents are ‘just terrified’ for their children
Jackie Carter is a longtime Wichita resident and LGBTQ advocate. She is the senior pastor at Table of Hope, formerly known as the First Metropolitan Community Church of Kansas. It is affiliated with the Metropolitan Community Church group, which was designed and created as the first religious community that would ordain, marry and include gay […]
Posted inHealth, How To
PrEP is a drug 99% effective at preventing HIV. Here’s how to get it in Wichita
“We can stop the spread of (HIV) if we do two things: get people who are engaging in high-risk behavior on PrEP and, for the people already infected, get them in therapy and keep them on therapy,” Sweet said.
Posted inLocal Government
Why cities across Kansas enacted LGBTQ protections — and what that means for Wichita
UPDATE: On Oct. 12, the Wichita City Council voted 6-1 to pass the nondiscrimination ordinance. The council approved amendments to the measure proposed by Wichita’s Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights Advisory Board and rejected an amendment from City Council member Jared Cerullo to expand religious exemptions in the ordinance. This Twitter thread breaks down the […]