It's Sunday

A Republican lawmaker from Kansas has apologized and removed his name from a piece of highly contentious anti-LBGTQ legislation after his daughter wrote an open letter, publicly shaming him for sponsoring it.

Christel Highland, the daughter of State Rep. Ron Highland (R), wrote the open letter to her father on Facebook this week, asking him why he would “openly attempt at policy that elevates hate and hurts my family or friends.”

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The recent controversy surrounds House Bill 2320 — which aims to have same-sex marriages deemed “parody marriages” and allow the state to deny them.

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Christel Highland, who described herself on Facebook as “a proud member of Kansas City’s LGBTQ+ community, a Mother, a Partner to the love of my life, an Artist active in my creative community, and a hard-working Businessperson,” said in a post that she was “personally offended by the egregious nature of Kansas Representatives’ proposed legislation, most notably, my father’s.”

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“Your most sacred job as an elected official is to serve and protect people,” she wrote. “Your God did not elect you, living, breathing humans beings did. Further isolating the marginalized among the population you serve is far from your duty.

“Hate has no place in public policy. I respectfully request an apology on behalf on my family and beloved friends that this cruel attempt at legislation impacts — viable or not — and I beg that you show yourself to be the honorable man I’ve always known you to be. Ultimately, what is right can never be something that hurts another. You taught me that.”

“I love you, I always will, in spite of your flaws,” Christel Highland told her father. Then she added: “I cannot, however, condone your cruel actions. Shame on you.”

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Following her father’s public apology, she said that she was proud of him “for setting an excellent example.”

“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 in the statement. “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.”

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“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. I have asked for my name to be removed from the bill. The process for doing so is in motion,” Ron Highland said in a statement to the Wamego Times, according to the Mercury.

  WaPo

A little hopefulness in dark times.