By Sherman Smith | editor-in-chief
Good morning! Opinion editor Clay Wirestone has some thoughts on the gay panic spread by U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall and Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson. We're also reporting on the connection between opposition to IVF and same-sex couples.
Mike Clark for Daily Montanan
OPINION
Roger Marshall and Ty Masterson quiver in fear as Kansas faces its greatest threat ever: drag queens
By Clay Wirestone
Both U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall and Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson present themselves to the public as square-jawed manly men, red-blooded conservative Republicans who love the Second Amendment, juicy steaks and gargantuan American flags in equal measure.
They command the landscape. Nothing scares them.
Well, nothing except drag queens.
Then the candidates for U.S. Senate and Kansas governor shriek like little girls, flail their hands in panic and beat a hasty retreat behind the nearest piece of overstuffed furniture. Who knows what that drag queen might do to them. If their recent social media posts are any indication, Marshall and Masterson fear they’ll be read to.
Otto Kitsinger for Stateline
More GOP party platforms include anti-IVF language. Is surrogacy next?
In the past two years, Republicans in five states have added specific anti-IVF language to their state party platforms, and some anti-abortion groups, including Students for Life of America and Live Action, have become increasingly outspoken in their opposition to both IVF and surrogacy.
One reason is that many same-sex couples use both methods to have children, and many conservatives believe children should be raised by heterosexual married couples. Conservative critics also connect surrogacy to immigration, saying it facilitates “birth tourism” and birthright citizenship. And they note that IVF can involve the discarding of some embryos, which they say is akin to abortion.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Kansas Reflector staff will participate in the following free public forums.
3 p.m. Sept. 26, Washburn Library in Topeka. Opinion editor Clay Wirestone will participate in the panel “Why UPK: University Press of Kansas Celebrates 80 Years.” Host: Kansas Book Festival.
2 p.m. Sept. 27, Red Rocks Visitor Center in Emporia. Host: Red Rocks.
7 p.m. Sept. 29, Raven Book Store in Lawrence. Book release event for opinion editor Clay Wirestone’s “Opinionated.” Editor-in-chief Sherman Smith will moderate.
6 p.m. Oct. 12, Riverbank Brewing in Council Grove. Opinion editor Clay Wirestone talks about his book and the latest news. Host: Flint Hills Books.
6 p.m. Dec. 3, Prairie Star Restaurant in Manhattan. Host: League of Women Voters of Manhattan and Riley County.
If you're interested in having us talk in your town, email Sherman Smith at [email protected].
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