Kansas House Republicans killed a marriage equality bill

Last week, the Kansas House voted on House Bill 2177, a bill that removes statutory provisions requiring marriage to be between a man and a woman. The bill was introduced on January 25 by Rep. Brandon Woodard (D-Lenexa), Rep. Heather Meyer (D-Overland Park), and Rep. Susan Ruiz (D-Shawnee). 

The bill died in the House 43-61 on April 1. While 21 Representatives were absent and not voting, the 61 who voted against the bill were all Republicans. A total of eight Republicans voted in favor of the bill including Rep. Lewis “Bill” Bloom (R-Clay Center), Rep. Jesse Borjon (R-Topeka), Rep. Susan Concannon (R-Beloit), Rep. Nick Hoheisel (R-Wichita), Rep. Mark Schreiber (R-Emporia), Rep. Jeff Underhill (R-Junction City), Rep. Laura Williams (R-Johnson County), and Rep. David Younger (R-Ulysses). 

Rep. Woodard explained to The Kansas Constitutional in an email why he believed the bill was necessary:

“Kansas has a statutory and constitutional ban against same sex marriage, it remains illegal in Kansas should the associate justice of the SCOTUS have his way by saying they need to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, which is what the motion said.”  

In 2015, the SCOTUS ruled 5-4 that, under Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, state bans on same-sex marriage and on recognizing same-sex marriages duly performed in other jurisdictions are unconstitutional. The 2022 Respect for Marriage Act added further statutory authority for same-sex and interracial marriages.

We reached out to Speaker Pro Tem Blake Carpenter (R-Sedgwick County), Speaker Dan Hawkins (R-Wichita), and House Majority Leader Rep. Chris Croft (R-Overland Park) via email to understand why they decided to vote against the bill. However, none of them would respond.