Volume 126 Issue 84
kansan.com
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
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the student voice since 1904
CIVIL RIGHTS
Yesterday, dozens of activists gathered across the street from the state capitol building in Topeka to protest what they feel is unfair treatment by the Kansas state legislature. The event was scheduled in advance of House Bill 2453's rejection, a bill proposed and passed by the Kansas House of Representatives which was purported to legalize discrimination against those who identify as LGBTQ by both private and public employees.
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
TOM DEHART
news@kansan.com
University students, concerned voters, sexual and gender minorities, and other Kansas citizens stood and marched up and down the sidewalk near the intersection of Harrison Street and 10th Avenue outside the Kansas state capitol on Tuesday as part of the End Inequality: Topea Protest, a rally organized in opposition to legislation that allows discrimination against sexual and gender minorities.
"We simply want to be recognized under the law with equal rights so we can move on to more important subjects like education, and economics, and the housing crisis and wars," said Jen Harris, one of the organizers of the rally. "This is an archaic conversation, and we're tired of having it."
A group of approximately 50 protesters began rallying at 9 a.m., while members of select coalitions across the state of Kansas lobbed as part of the Equality Day of Action in opposition of House Bill 2453
and other legislation.
Holly Weatherford, the advocacy director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that her organization is attempting to make a strong statement to legislators.
"Today is a day of action in Topeka," Weatherford said. "What we are trying to do is to send the legislature a very strong message that 2453—this discrimination bill—should go nowhere. We are trying to give them a visible picture of what the support for equality and freedom for all looks like in
Kansas."
Supporters of the bill have claimed that it aims to protect individuals from lawsuits who do not wish to supply services to members of the same sex celebrating the union of marriage, referring to lawsuits filed in other states such as Colorado, Oregon and Washington — states that have explicitly stated sexual orientation as a protected class under their respective state's anti-discrimination laws.
Sandra Meade, the State Chair of Equality Kansas, however, says those cases are irrelevant in the state of Kansas because sexual orientation is not a protected class in the Kansas Act Against Discrimination. The Kansas Act Against Discrimination protects individuals on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, disability, national origin or ancestry.
"This bill doesn't really do that [protect individuals from lawsuits], people already have the right to object," Meade said. "What this bill really did
SEE PROTEST PAGE 2
KEY TERMS
Kansas citizens and University students rallied outside the south side of the State Capitol on Tuesday
Coalitions and equality organizations lobbied and voiced concerns inside the State Capitol
A similar bill has passed both legislative chambers in Arizona, and is awaiting signature or veto of Gov. Jan Brewer
FEATURE
Transgender student says he 's just a dude'
EMILY DONOVAN news@kansan.com
Daniel English wants a beard. He knows he's genetically capable — all the men in his family are hairy — and he's always imagined himself with one.
"That's one thing that's missing right now," English said.
After a couple more years on hormones, his body will catch up to his vision of himself.
English, a junior from Olathe, is transgender. Though he identifies as a man, he was born as the opposite sex.
Now, a year into transition, he passes in public. He uses men's restrooms. He watches "Bob's Burgers" on Netflix with his fiancée, takes his dog Bella, a corgi-German Shepherd mix, to the park, reads books and plays Zedda video games.
As a kid, he wore what his mom dressed him in: always effeminate and flattering. Regardless, he remembers walking through the mall at 13 years old and saying, "Boy clothes are so cool. I wish I
He describes himself as "just a dude."
"This is it," English said. "It's not as complicated as people make it out to be."
Now, Daniel English says it plainly: He's not a woman. He doesn't feel like a woman. He has never felt like a woman.
could wear that.
DANIEL ENGLISH
junior from Olathe
"I tried really, really hard to make their vision for me work, but, at the end of the day, it's not who I am." English said. "But I tried really hard."
He had crushes on straight girls at his high school and never understood why he wasn't good enough.
In high school, a girl turned him down. "I'm not gay," she
said.
In college, living separate from his parents allowed him to acknowledge his feelings. He stopped denying his identity to himself.
He thought, "You don't have to be gay to date me because I'm not — wait"
"We're more than our gender identity."
He was up one night in his room in Hashinger Residence Hall. Watching videos of a YouTuber's successful transition, he had a realization: "I have to do that at some point in my life in order to be happy
"It was an internal process of just making peace with feelings I always had." English said.
English says he's not normally so open, but is always willing to put himself out there to help educate people about being transgender.
English laughs when he says he was a little disappointed he didn't sound like the Old Spice guy after his first testosterone shot. His fiancee administers the shot every week — English is terrified of needles — and will every week for the rest of his life.
Going on hormones, English said, felt right. After two and a half months of therapy, trying out masculine pronouns and making doctor's appointments. English was absolutely positive: He was ready to transition, and he was excited.
"It felt authentic," English said. "It felt like it would take a while, but that these were the steps that I needed to take to be my authentic self."
"That's just a part of our Saturday," English said. "Every Saturday."
and successful.
"Telling these stories is important," he said. "You can un-
"I made peace with it and decided it's time to stop avoiding it," English said. "I knew that I couldn't continue in life as female."
Index
Daniel English, a junior from Olathe, is transgender. He describes himself as "just a dude."
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
CLASSIFIEDS 7
CROSSWORD 5
CRYPTOQUIPS 5
OPINION 4
SEE GENDER PAGE 2
KANSAN VIDEO
English offers ways to support people who are transgender
SPORTS 8
SUDOKU 5
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2014 The University Daily Kansan
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