KANSAS: "Little Apple" Gets LGBT Rights

With the backing of Kansas State University, the city commission of the small town of Manhattan, Kansas, known locally as the "Little Apple," has narrowly approved a sweeping LGBT rights ordinance by a vote of 3-2. The vote was hotly followed across major anti-gay websites as a possible harbinger of the continued march for equality out of the big cities and into the heartland.

The American Family Association laments:

In Manhattan, Kansas, city commissioners have passed a controversial "anti-discrimination" ordinance creating a special protected class for the sexually confused. The move has many Christian leaders dismayed at the direction of their rural Kansas town. Kansas Family Policy Council director Donna Lippoldt attended the meeting. She shares her reaction to the vote. "I don't think that the rest of the people in the state have any idea that they're sending their children to a university that has [endorsed] the gay agenda -- and [that] they just want more and more people to come who have this lifestyle," laments the family advocate. "It was very, very disappointing."

The virulently anti-gay Canada Free Press weighs in:

If you are simply shaking your head and giving thanks this debacle is not taking place in your town, be ready for a scary surprise in your morning paper. In April of 2010 Manhattan, Kansas, deep within the Bible Belt of the heartland, had its first gay pride parade. Then, by political fiat, the month of June was name by the Manhattan mayor pro tem as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. Now in December, three out of five liberal politicians, on behalf of a minority group with a political agenda, are about to create a liberal city ordinance more extreme than anything seen in San Francisco. This new ordinance will be used as a civil hammer to beat traditional values into submission, and the shock waves will be felt around the country. Toto, we are in a big fix, because Kansas is about to be no longer in Kansas anymore.

Welcome out of the woods, Little Apple.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Readers from Manhattan, Kansas point out that the above celebration may be premature as the bill must undergo a "second reading" next month before it becomes law. Fingers crossed, everybody!