Years of anti-gay rhetoric and policies collide with Kansas GOP’s desire to slam political enemy

State Rep. Kyler Sweely, R-Hutchinson, attends an election objections hearing on June 21, 2024, in Topeka. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

“This is the highest level of hypocrisy and apparently it knows no bounds,” bellowed Kansas GOP executive director Rob Fillion this week after a confrontation between current and former Hutchinson representatives at a state fair fundraiser.

So let’s talk about hypocrisy, then.

State Rep. Kyler Sweely, R-Hutchinson, accused former state Rep. Jason Probst, a Democrat from Hutchinson, of making “homophobic remarks” while he “reeked of alcohol.” Probst told Kansas Reflector senior reporter Tim Carpenter that the younger man was exaggerating. I’m not sure what to make of these dueling accounts, but I sure don’t recall Kansas Republicans being concerned about homophobia before.

How anti-gay are they?

State law makes same-sex intimacy a crime punishable by prison time. The restriction can’t be enforced thanks to a Supreme Court ruling, but GOP lawmakers left it on the books.

During this year’s session, they imposed a budget proviso banning preferred pronouns in state employee signature blocks.

Republicans’ first bill of 2025 targeted transgender youths at their most vulnerable, forbidding them from accessing gender-affirming care.

Back in 2024, they voted down a bill that would have recognized same-sex marriage in same statutes.

Earlier that year, the proposed GOP platform called for restricting marriage to men and women.

They even passed a bill that defined any depiction of same-sex couples as pornography, in case you wondered how far they might go.

Even today, Republican House Speaker Dan Hawkins’ website says the state must “defend the unborn and protect traditional marriage.” For those keeping track, Hawkins, R-Wichita, serves as Sweely’s boss in the House of Representatives.

Now, I can condemn homophobia with the best of them. I’ve been out of the closet as a gay man for longer than Sweely has been alive. Harassing or catcalling someone for their perceived or actual sexual orientation has no place in society, polite or otherwise. But let’s take a step back for some perspective here. Kansas Republicans have outright bullied transgender people and refused to pay proper respect to other members of the LBGTQ+ community.

You don’t get to vote for stripping rights away from people and then act insulted by homophobic comments.

The actual, concrete actions of Kansas GOP members have done far more real, lasting damage to gay (and straight) people than any epithets.

Trust me, we old gays have appallingly long memories.

But lest you think I’m carrying water for any single party, I don’t give Probst a pass either.

Last year, he wrote a couple of lengthy posts on his Substack blog taking issue with a column of mine about an anti-pornography bill. I had not mentioned him by name or singled him out among Kansas House members.

Probst was not pleased with the piece, criticizing its premise and my past work. What’s more, his prickly initial response used problematic language. He referred to me as “hysterical” — a gender-coded word used wielded against women — and minimized the fact that I had actually spoken with a lawyer.

In essence, I was being asked to step aside for the enlightened opinion of a straight white man, and his response irked me at the time.

It irks me still, because (see above) we old gays have appallingly long memories.

I don’t know what went down between Probst and Sweely. The former lawmaker’s statement to Carpenter doesn’t quite include a denial: “If his feelings get hurt so easily, perhaps public service isn’t for him. He is grossly exaggerating the exchange, which isn’t surprising coming from someone who can’t even be honest about something as simple as his address.”

Republicans have made no secret of their contempt for Probst, either, joking on the House floor about blowing him away with a tank. No one apologized for that exchange between Sweely and former Rep. Patrick Penn, R-Wichita.

Feelings are bad, then, and likely to remain so.

At the very least, Kansas Republicans should take a step back and wonder about whether their plaintive claims of discrimination really land. A lot of mud has been spread around by a lot of people, and no one looks especially clean right now.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.