In the name of religion, the Kansas House of Representatives has passed a bill that would deny civil liberties to tens of thousands of the state's residents and visitors.

If approved by the Senate and signed by the governor, Kansas could become the first state to legalize segregation based on sexual preference. A bill is making its way through the Senate that could separate those who identify as lesbian, gay, transexual, bisexual—anyone, really, who doesn't identify as 100 percent straight—from everyone else. 

The bill would permit discrimination in restaurants, housing and services, including hospital care and police response. Gay employees could be terminated from jobs and denied entry into public places, including government-run parks. 

According to the bill, the segregation has to relate to any marriage, partnership, union or "similar arrangement," a broad phrase that can justify individual discrimination as well. 

If individuals fight back through the justice system, they could be forced to pay the other side's legal fees, turning the victim into the criminal. With the facade of religious rights, the Kansas House of Representatives has made discriminators into victims. 

Kansas isn't the first state to recognize the rights of bigots to discriminate. For more information, see Jim Crow.