Last week during the Kansas Legislature veto session we defeated yet another attempt to discriminate against LGBTQ Kansans. SB 160, this year’s anti-transgender student athlete bill, would have added Kansas to the growing list of states targeting gay and transgender youth and families. For the second year in a row the governor vetoed this bill. And for the second year in a row only a few legislators broke with their party to narrowly sustain the veto. That means for two years we have been far too close to losing some of the hard-won equality victories that generations of Kansans have been fighting for.

On June 4, I will walk in part to celebrate that, despite the best effort of certain legislators to attack and bully transgender youth, we continue to hold them at bay. But I’m also walking because the fight isn’t over. This bill, or a more dangerous version of it, will be back next year. And as politicians continue to be emboldened by outside interest groups and the fervor of a hate-filled minority, we’ll see even more degrading and damaging legislation make its way through the Statehouse.

I walk because all Kansans deserve the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without the fear of being discriminated against, or worse. On June 4, I will walk for Equality. Why will you Walk the Vote?

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Watch Michael talk about why he walks for equality here.