Kansas should not engage in the bigoted bathroom war

They have been tremendous failures as leaders in the Kansas Legislature. So it’s no surprise that House Speaker Ray Merrick and Senate President Susan Wagle want to discriminate against transgender Kansans when it comes to the simple task of going to the bathroom.

The lawmakers have decided to push a cause receiving national attention for no discernible reason except it’s a red-meat issue for ultra-conservatives.

News alert: There are no widespread — or even isolated — examples of girls and women being preyed upon by the transgender community in restrooms.

Kansas should join some other states that are refusing to take part in the anti-trans bathroom war because they don’t want to hold themselves up to national ridicule and do want to look like welcoming states for new jobs and residents.

Yet Merrick is asking fellow legislators to sign on to a letter he wrote to the U.S. Justice and Education departments. Responding to the bigots pushing “bathroom laws” in North Carolina and other states, the administration issued a federal guidance letter last week.

It tells schools across the nation they should allow transgender students to use bathrooms as well as locker rooms that correspond to their current gender identities — not their birth gender.

This is only common sense. To act differently is to discriminate against some children who are bullied at school because of their transgender status.

Wagle upped the ante, vowing that the Senate would vote next week on what would be a meaningless resolution trying to force transgender students to use bathrooms corresponding to their birth sex.

The mean-spirited attitudes of Merrick and Wagle are sad commentaries on the lack of stand-up leadership in Topeka.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Kansas should not engage in the bigoted bathroom war."