Wamego Rep. Ron Highland apologizes for co-sponsoring a bill that would bar counties from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and refers to such marriages as “parody marriages.”
The bill was introduced by Sabetha Rep. Randy Garber and has drawn criticism from many organizations and representatives, including Manhattan City Commissioner Jerred McKee.
Highland issued a written statement to the Wamego Times saying he trusted his officemate — the bill’s author — when he signed onto multiple of his bills, including the Marriage and Constitution Restoration Act, or HB 2320. He told KMAN he hadn’t read the bill’s full text.
“Knowing that some of them were really important, I trusted that they all were,” Highland writes. “And that was not the case.”
He further writes that it was a mistake and he should not have signed it. Highland’s name is in the process of being removed from the list of cosponsors.
“The bill that I should not have signed on to cosponsor contained some hateful language which I do not condone, and it is against our Lord’s command to love our neighbors,” he writes.
