Kansas GOP now worried over extremist House bill, passed 72-49, allowing police, nurses and others to withhold services from gay couples; a list of reps who voted for bill

Kansas House of Representatives photo:
JimmyWayne via Flickr

HB 2453 would:

...bar government sanctions when individuals, groups and businesses cite religious beliefs in refusing to recognize a marriage or civil union, or to provide goods, services, accommodations or employment benefits to a couple. Antidiscrimination lawsuits also would be barred. Individual workers and government employees also would get some protections.

The Lawrence Journal-World published a list of Kansas state representatives who voted to legalize discrimination against gay couples (below) as well as their reasons for doing so.

     On roll call, the vote was: Yeas 72; Nays 49; Present but not voting: 0; Absent or not voting: 3. Yeas: Anthimides, Boldra, Bradford, Brunk, Couture-Lovelady, Campbell, Carlson, Carpenter, Cassidy, Christmann, Claeys, Corbet, Crum, E. Davis, DeGraaf, Dove, Edmonds, Edwards, Esau, Estes, Ewy, Garber, Goico, Gonzalez, Grosserode, Hawkins, Hedke, Henry, Hibbard, Highland, Hildabrand, Hoffman, Houser, Howell, Huebert, Hutton, Jones, Kahrs, Kelley, Kelly, Kiegerl, Kinzer, Kleeb, Lunn, Macheers, Mast, McPherson, Meier, Meigs, Merrick, Moxley, O'Brien, Osterman, Pauls, Peck, Petty, Powell, Proehl, Read, Rhoades, Rothlisberg, Rubin, Ryckman Jr., Ryckman Sr., Schroeder, Schwab, Schwartz, Seiwert, Suellentrop, Sutton, Thompson, Vickrey.
     Nays: Alcala, Alford, Ballard, Barker, Becker, Bollier, Bridges, Burroughs, Carlin, Carmichael, Clayton, Concannon, P. Davis, Dierks, Doll, Finch, Finney, Frownfelter, Gandhi, Henderson, Hill, Hineman, Houston, Jennings, Johnson, Kuether, Lane, Lusk, Lusker, Menghini, Perry, Phillips, Rooker, Ruiz, Sawyer, Sloan, Sloop, Swanson, Tietze, Todd, Trimmer, Victors, Ward, Waymaster, Weigel, Whipple, Wilson, Winn, Wolfe Moore. Present but not voting: None. Absent or not voting: Bruchman, Peterson, Thimesch. The bill passed, as amended.

In Britain The Guardian reports that national and international disgust at the Kansas legislature's action has caused the state's GOP to have second thoughts:

     Susan Wagle, the Republican president of the Senate, has raised objections to the bill, House Bill 2453, that has already cleared the House of Representatives by a 72-49 majority. In a statement, she said that despite strong support among the 32 Republican state senators for traditional marriage, “I’ve grown concerned about the practical impact of the bill… My members also don’t condone discrimination. If we cannot find ample common ground to ease legitimate concerns, I believe a majority of my caucus will not support the bill.”
     ...The business coalition, Kansas Chamber, praised Wagle for her intervention, which effectively puts a halt to HB 2453 in its current form. The Topeka-based organization said that many Kansas businesses were worried that the bill would have raised potentially costly legal actions over speech, discrimination and privacy concerns. “The impact on Kansas businesses, particularly those with very few employees, is very troubling,” it said.