https://www.reddit.com/r/kansas/comments/1j7dp4f/does_anyone_know_why_district_rep_barb_wasinger/
created by Mindless_Journalist1 on 09/03/2025 at 18:13 UTC
231 upvotes, 31 top-level comments (showing 25)
Some kids I know from Fort Hays attended a legislative coffee yesterday morning. Apparently Representative Barb Wasinger was very mean to them and directed anti trans remarks at them. Some of the kids are trans. They were not allowed to speak.
Rep Wasinger even went so far as to have a body guard intimidate them physically when they tried to speak ?!? They were still very afraid when I spoke with them last night.
I'm a mom myself and I can't understand why she would be so hateful to college age kids? I definitely would never make them afraid.
Can anyone help me understand this level of hate toward kids?
Comment by Cool-Medicine-2831 at 09/03/2025 at 18:16 UTC
189 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Could it just be that she’s a horrible close minded person? 🤔🧐
Comment by stonedandredditing at 09/03/2025 at 18:17 UTC
101 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I am convinced people like this are suffering from their own self-hatred. No one that truly loves and has embraced their authentic self and has compassion for themselves treats other humans this way.
They project their own internal misery.
edit: to those kids, you matter. thanks for showing up in the face of such cruelty. She sounds super insecure tbh.
Comment by Cagekicker2000 at 09/03/2025 at 18:17 UTC
79 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Sadly, this is what the state of Kansas has become; an acceptable place to spew hate and division. I am so embarrassed by the politics in Kansas.
Comment by Key_Company_279 at 09/03/2025 at 18:19 UTC
37 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Tell those same kids to get all their friends together and vote against her in 2026. We need to root the evil out. Vote blue! 💙
Comment by SisterResister at 09/03/2025 at 18:27 UTC
60 upvotes, 1 direct replies
She was a bitch before she was a rep. I rented from her as a college student and she was a rude bitch 15 years ago, so no surprise that she hasn't changed.
Comment by dreamsforless at 09/03/2025 at 21:30 UTC
20 upvotes, 0 direct replies
She will be on The Kansas Legislature on March 14 at 7pm. It's a live call-in show put on by Smoky Hills PBS. If you aren't in their viewing area, you can also catch the Livestream on their YouTube channel. I encourage everyone to call in and ask as many questions as they can!
here is a link to the program schedule
and a link to their YouTube page
Comment by takigrl at 09/03/2025 at 18:29 UTC
38 upvotes, 4 direct replies
Food for thought. Trans porn is usually one of the top 3 categories in red states. Conservative men feel threatened, disgusted, and ashamed when they see their fetishes walking around like normal people. Imagine how much deeper that anger gets when they see a trans child. Absolutely abhorrent.
Comment by ThisAudience1389 at 09/03/2025 at 19:58 UTC
12 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Vote this bitch out.
Comment by FloorIsGround at 09/03/2025 at 18:37 UTC
10 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Never understood the local appeal here for barb wasinger. I don't know anything about the person. But they sound awful and incompetent if they are using intimidation on constituents. I definitely have a reason to dislike them now though.
Comment by No-Estate8679 at 09/03/2025 at 20:03 UTC
10 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Not all kids fit in her oven and that pisses her off
Comment by TG1970 at 09/03/2025 at 19:39 UTC
9 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Because she's a Christianist. That's their whole shtick: cruelty and malevolence.
Comment by 5_lbs_of_Bacon at 10/03/2025 at 02:44 UTC
8 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Barb Wasinger is just a horrible person. I remember when FHSU President Ed Hammond made a presentation to the Hays City Commission when she was on the City Comission about having one wind turbine for FHSU and she was the biggest bitch to him. As a former longtime Hays resident, I can not stand that lady.
Comment by KattBlankett at 09/03/2025 at 18:39 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This just INFURERATES me. How about as, "adults", we Don't Bully Children! 😡
One day this, 'individual will age and potentially, some of these youngsters will be in charge of that person's continued care. Bullies, let bhat sink in. Youth is Not eternal, power is not unlimited. One day those you harm or try to hinder Will Be in a Better Position than you! 🤔
Comment by groundhog5886 at 09/03/2025 at 19:00 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Republicans have an image to maintain. If they were to act with normalcy and compassion, they would lose relavence the party.
Comment by Moda75 at 09/03/2025 at 19:04 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
because kids aren’t fetuses and therefore worthless to her and her ilk?
Comment by Equal-Winner7370 at 09/03/2025 at 19:15 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
That is insane. Wasinger is upper level twat to be such a shit to kids.
Comment by Present-Drink5377 at 09/03/2025 at 20:29 UTC
4 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Does anyone happen to know. When and where she will be speaking again? I am seeing a lot of our state representatives bullying their constituents.
Comment by beattrapkit at 10/03/2025 at 00:44 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
If she won't talk to her constituents she needs another job.
Comment by Rjlvc at 10/03/2025 at 01:21 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
She is just spewing the MAGA culture war BS like good little foot soldier.
Comment by mumbo-wumbo-jumbo at 09/03/2025 at 19:16 UTC
9 upvotes, 1 direct replies
We really need to just record, share and shame. The Sen. Marshall seemed to be pretty eye opening for folks across Ka sas and the U.S.
Comment by apgren87 at 09/03/2025 at 22:09 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Is there a video of it?
Comment by RainfrogCroax at 10/03/2025 at 04:08 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
FYI - Age interp Depends your Point-of-View. C'mon, we've all heard *college kids.* ... not *children.* More to the point, let's celebrate *young people* being aware and involved in the political process. Theirs is the courage, the energy, the fortitude and resilience to combat the outrageous behaviors of backward-thinking terror-mongers. Sometimes i think the ONLY thing i can do to enrich the future is to encourage and support those younger than myself. Times are shockingly disapointing; i remember believing civilization would be evolved beyond bullying in *society* by now.
Comment by EERobert at 10/03/2025 at 06:06 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
So I did theatre with Barb about 12 years ago in a local community theatre production and she was…not cold but just kind of there if you couldn’t do something for her (that was my impression). I never really engaged much with her other than passing greetings if she came to other shows. Years later, when she was running for her seat in the house, a friend of mine (working for TigerMedia) asked her what qualifies her to be our representative. Her answer was that she is a “wife and mother”. Not her years on city council, as mayor, commissioner, etc. she was a “wife and mother”. It didn’t surprise me that is what she said based on my previous interactions with her. That’s how she wants to be seen and knows that that is the key to continuing election success in Hays. As long as she runs and has that R by her name she will win.
Why is she mean? Because she can be. I believe she believes all three trans athletes in the state of Kansas are a threat to HS women’s sports (notice how it’s always men invading into women’s spaces and never vice versa?) and I believe she believes that trans people are a threat or something. She also knows that a lot of the voters in Hays don’t care and the three or four actual registered voters in Ellis County that were there aren’t ever going to vote for her so they offer nothing to her. She’s also banking on the scare tactics that the GOP has managed to do around the confusion amongst older white voters re: trans rights, what drag is, etc
Barb is the Republican Party in microcosm—if it doesn’t benefit her or even “represent” her, she’s not even going to bother hearing you out and make some sort of position out of this.
The ONLY way I think someone can legit challenge her is to run as an Independent in this district but then she is going to outspend you and you’ll have no support from a major party.
Comment by alyzmal_ at 10/03/2025 at 09:44 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Trans kids from Fort Hays? Good chance they’re some of my friends (fellow trans kid from Fort Hays). If that’s right, not at all surprising that Barb Wasinger is still the same bitch she was years ago. Some people just are too inculcated with hate that it totally blinds them. And unfortunately not enough people in this town will care enough to vote such a hateful presence out of office.
Comment by Haveyouseenthebridg at 10/03/2025 at 01:03 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
You can't understand why a conservative politician would be disrespectful to trans college kids? Did you just wake up from a ten year coma?