+
OPINION
KANSAN.COM
Liston: For lasting change, we must do our civic duty
Illustration by Gracie Williams
RYAN LISTON
@rliston235
In March, two bills were introduced in the Kansas house and senate that would restrict transgender students from using bathrooms that match their gender identity and allow their peers to receive $2,500 if they reported transgender students who did not comply. On June 14, Republican Kansas state Rep. John Whitmer told the Kansas City Star he had a separate restrictive bathroom bill
drafted in case Democracy try to influence the school finance bill that will be discussed in a session on June 23.
Policies and laws introduced and implemented by the Kansas government in recent years have often increased discrimination of the LGBTQ+ community, so it is no surprise that the Kansas Board of Education and the state legislature announced on June 14 that Kansas will not comply with new Title IX guidelines that extend to protect transgender students. Specifically, the Board of Education and state legislature stated they would continue to allow schools to determine the bathroom policies for transgender students.
Transgender students deserve the same protections as all other students. By not allowing transgender students to use restrooms that match their gender identities, schools would be creating an unsafe and unwelcoming environment for students who are already at higher risks of
discrimination.
To ensure that schools do not allow the discrimination of transgender students, the Kansas government must accept the new Title IX guidelines put in place by the Obama Administration. However, the possibility of the current Kansas government accepting these guidelines is highly unlikely, so Kansas citizens who want to improve the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community must vote in the local elections this year.
Primary elections for the
state House of Representatives, state Senate, local judicial offices, US House of Representatives and US Senate will be held on Aug. 2 with the general elections being held on Nov. 8. Every seat in both state houses and in the US House of Representatives are up for election, and Republican Sen. Jerry Moran's senate seat is up for election. Retention elections for 11 state judges will be held on Nov. 8 as well.
If we want to resolve our state government's continual discrimination of the LGBTQ+ community, we must actively participate in the selection of our representatives. We must make our voices heard and advocate for the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals. When we fail to fulfill our civic duty of voting, we become partially to blame for the problems that face our state and our communities.
Ryan Liston is a sophomore from Lawrence studying journalism.
Orth: Strict gun bans unlikely to work in America
MAGGIE ORTH
@KansanNews
All gun laws do is keep guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens. The
In the wake of the Orlando shooting, United States citizens, mostly Democrats and those who favor gun control. have waged war against firearm possession in the US. But the gun is not to blame, the person is.
real effect of the laws would be disarming the law-abiding citizen. Taking guns away would leave the public defenseless. "Criminals" do not abide by bans, gun free zones, or other laws. Laws do not stop them in the first place, what is a plastic "no guns" sign going to do?
in 2004. This did not stop the San Bernardino killers, who used illegal modified rifles. France's strict gun laws did not stop the Paris assailants.
As for stopping terrorism, California is among the few states that continue to ban assault weapons after the federal ban expired
Even outside of guns, government regulation has failed. Prohibition in the early part of the century and the current war on drugs have both shown this.
There are some 350 million guns in America, including as many as 10
million AR-15 rifles, a gun similar to the Sig Sauer used in the Orlando shooting. If Democrats want a ban to have any chance of working, they will have to enforce a nationwide confiscation.
That vote will never pass and if it does, a new war will be fought between the government and gun owners.
A combination of the proposed idyllic concept of American 'freedom' and the
immense number of firearms already in circulation means that strict gun control would not be successful.
A gun is a tool. And a man is a facilitator. Guns cannot do anything without the person deciding so. Gun control does not stop violence. Even taking a gun away from a hazardous human will not stop their inherent violent nature. Government regulation should
be transformed into a combination of monitoring and increased background checks that have a mental health assessment. Criminals will always smuggle and take advantage of guns. All gun control does is create more obstacles for law-abiding citizens.
+
Maggie Orth is a senior from Overland Park studying business marketing and art history.