The daughter of one of the Kansas lawmakers sponsoring anti-gay marriage legislation publicly shamed her father this week, condemning hi...
The daughter of one of the Kansas lawmakers sponsoring anti-gay marriage legislation publicly shamed her father this week, condemning his “cruel actions.”
The lawmaker now says he made a mistake. And the daughter is praising her father’s decision.
Rep. Ron Highland’s adult daughter, Christel Highland, posted an open letter on Facebook to her father about his sponsorship of House Bill 2320. Christel Highland describes herself as a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community in Kansas City.
The bill calls same-sex marriage “parody marriages.” It drew widespread attention when it was introduced last week.
Highland, a Wamego Republican, is a powerful member of the Kansas House, chairing both the chamber’s agriculture committee and a joint committee on rules and regulations. He is one of seven lawmakers sponsoring the bill.
His daughter posted an anguished response this week to his decision to sponsor the bill.
“One thing you said to me that struck me to my core at a very young age, which has lasted with me until this day is, ‘Think before you speak.’ I would respectfully ask that you think deeply prior to sponsoring any legislation. Legislation which reeks of utter disrespect toward anyone, actively striving to make the lives of others more difficult is beneath you,” Christel Highland writes in the letter.
She adds: “I love you, I always will, in spite of your flaws. I cannot, however, condone your cruel actions. Shame on you.”
Christel Highland also requested an apology from her father on behalf of her family and friends and wrote, “I beg that you show yourself to be the honorable man I’ve always known you to be.”
Rep. Highland has now apologized.
“The bill that I should not have signed on to cosponsor contained some hateful language which I do not condone, and it is against our Lord’s command to love our neighbors,” Highland said in a written statement.
Highland said in the statement that he has asked for his name to be removed from the bill. He said sponsoring it was a mistake and offered an apology.
In turn, Christel Highland sent a statement to reporters Friday praising her father for apologizing.
“It took strength to do what my Father did, and I’m proud of him for setting an excellent example to his colleagues and constituents by removing his co-sponsorship from HB 2320,” she said. “I think this situation is an example of what is possible if we work together toward good with love in our hearts. I can only hope that this is a step in a positive direction where we work to make the pursuit of happiness easier for one another irrespective of birthplace, race, beliefs, or orientation.”
Christel Highland said she had decided to share the letter to her father because she had friends in Kansas “reeling from yet another attempt to legislate hate.”
“I wrote that letter from a place of exhaustion as a result of our divisive political climate,” she said.
Christel Highland’s letter has circulated widely since it was posted. On Friday morning, she posted a link to an article on Highland’s statement, commenting: “Now I have to write another letter,” with a heart emoji.
Rep. Highland and Christel Highland appear together in a group photo on Rep. Highland’s campaign website on the page with his biography.
Christel Highland is a self-employed artist, designer, writer and curator in the Crossroads Arts District in Kansas City, according to a resume posted on her professional website.
Her open letter and her father’s apology are the latest aftershock stemming from the introduction of six controversial bills in the Kansas House. Rep. Randy Garber, R-Sabetha, introduced the bills after prompting from Chris Sevier, a well-known anti-porn, anti-gay advocate.
Highland is a sponsor on all six bills, which aim to reduce porn consumption, tax strip club attendance, elevate heterosexual marriage, and limit censorship on religious online speech.
“I trusted the author of the bill who is my office mate and signed on to several of his bills. Knowing that some of them were very important, I trusted that they all were, and that was not the case. However, I must take responsibility,” Highland said in his statement.
Highland defended sponsoring the other bills, noting that human trafficking is a serious problem in Kansas.
Now she can condemn Israel ---
ReplyDeleteIsraeli tolerance -- Israeli agents have forced homosexual marriage onto White Western Christian countries through the ACLU, SPLC, ADL, and all their other Front Groups. Look at what the Jews do back home (for the dual passporters.) After putting on a Ptomkin's village show of "tolerance", Israel's Supreme Court refuses to "recognize" homosexual marriage as they force it here. https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/2017090
The man who is responsible for gay marriage in New York City is rabbi David Saperstein . His wife, Ellen Weiss, was formerly the head of the NPR newsroom, National Public Radio. This is a powerful force and he basically claimed responsibility. He said if it weren't for our group of rabbis, this would have never passed. So what you see is this constant tension for Jewish revolutionary subversive activity and now the homosexual has succeeded the negro as the avant garde of the revolutionary movement in the United States.
But wait! Gets better - Jewish Dual-citizen politicians call you racist for not groveling to every Black demand -- Netanyahu has just called for blacks in Israel to be sent back to Africa: "We will return south Tel Aviv to the citizens of Israel, they are not refugees, but infiltrators looking for work. If needed, we will legislate an amendment to the law or change the agreements with the African countries, or both." http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.809999
Israel offers to pay African migrants to leave, threatens jail http://news.trust.org/item/20180103115805-egc1s
He should have told her, "Sit down, shut up, and eat your dinner."
ReplyDelete