SCOTUS Leaves Transgender Student Rights in Place

Yesterday, anti-transgender Christofascists lost a round at the U.S. Supreme Court when the Court refused to hear a challenge from students - no doubt pushed by their parents - who claimed that a school system's bathroom policy allowing transgender students to use restrooms appropriate for the gender identity violated the privacy rights of the anti-trans students.  The rejected challenge is part of a larger Christofascist effort - which is being aided by the Trump/Pence regime - to reverse rights that transgender (and gays) have achieved under the Obama administration. A piece in Bloomberg Law looks at the Court's action.  Here are excerpts:

The U.S. Supreme Court won’t take up the controversy over bathroom use by transgender students. The justices turned away a challenge by four students from Boyertown Area High School in Pennsylvania who claim a school policy of allowing LGBT students to use their preferred bathroom violates their right to privacy.

Controversies have erupted nationwide as school districts decide whether to let LGBT students use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity rather than their gender at birth.

Some challengers say it’s a violation of federal anti-discrimination laws not to accommodate LGBT students.  The Supreme Court was preparing to hear a similar case at the end of the Obama administration when a policy change by the Trump administration undid much of the lawsuit. The justices nixed the case.

The case is Doe v. Boyertown Area School Dist., U.S., No. 18-658, review denied 5/28/19.

Sadly, the Christofascists continue to believe that their rights override everyone elses and Trump is only too happy to play to this self-centered crowd.

The Fight for Gay Rights Shifts to Jacksonville

Here in the holiday season Christians are supposed to be motivated by peace. love and good will towards all.  That is, unless one is a "conservative Christian" in which case one's motives and thoughts continue to run to hate, bigotry, and a license to mistreat others.  At least that is the image one gets from the ongoing effort of the "godly folk" in Jacksonville, Florida, to defeat a measure before that city's city council that would provide LGBT protections in housing, public accommodation and employment.  As was done in Houston, these "loving Christians" are depicting gays and especially the transgender as predators seeking to lurk in women's rooms so that they can molest women and girls.  The irony is that moderate Muslims are being told that should condemn their extremist coreligionists, yet moderate Christians are largely silent when it comes to condemning their foul fellow Christians.  Once again, Christianity in America receives an undeserved deference.  Here are highlights from the New York Times on the message of hate being promoted by the "godly folk":

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The first major gay rights showdown since Houston’s rancorous vote to repeal its anti-discrimination ordinance is shaping up here in Jacksonville, the largest city in the nation whose leaders have never enacted civil rights protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Like Houston, Jacksonville is a growing Southern city where religion plays a powerful role in public life. And, as in Houston, the battle here pits a well-organized coalition of gays and business forces against energized Christian conservatives who raise issues of religious freedom and the specter of male predators in women’s bathrooms.

For Christian conservatives, wounded from repeated losses in the courts culminating in the Supreme Court’s decision in June to make same-sex marriage legal nationwide, it is a chance to show that Houston was not an isolated victory.

“It’s a fact of life that predators attack women and children in bathrooms; it happens everywhere,” said one panelist, Roger Gannam, a lawyer and former Jacksonville resident who represents Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He drew jeers when he said an anti-discrimination law “will make that easier” by allowing male criminals to pose as transgender.

Currently, more than 200 cities and 17 states have ordinances barring discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, with no evidence of any increase in crime, proponents say.

If Christian conservatives are not as well organized here as they were in Houston, they soon would be, Mr. Gannam said in an interview. He helped lead the opposition that defeated a similar effort in Jacksonville in 2012, and is now working with a coalition of pastors and conservative groups, including the Florida Family Policy Council, a statewide group affiliated with Focus on the Family.

And already, others are organizing locally. Raymond Johnson, a Republican strategist who runs a ministry devoted to “biblical concepts in public policy,” has been emailing a network of pastors with fliers opposing what he calls “a Christian persecution law.”

“The business case is simple,” said Steve Halverson, the chief executive of the Haskell Company, one of the city’s largest private employers. “We are handicapped if we have a culture that is the least bit intolerant or uncomfortable for anybody.”

The hypocrisy of the "Christians" is disgusting.  They define "Christian persecution": as anything that restricts their right to persecute and mistreat others.  The Biblical Pharisees come off as nice folks in comparison.  Please NEVER call me a Christian if it puts me in the same category as these foul individuals.  

Northern VA "Conservative" Parents Upset Over School Curriculum that Admits Gays and Transgender Exist

Having had three children go through the Virginia public schools over the course of the last 25+ years, one thing that never changes is the way in which Christofascists ALWAYS want the school curriculum to reflect their ignorance embracing beliefs that exclude the existence of gays and transgender individuals.  They are self-centered and truly care nothing for the rights of beliefs of others and demand that their darling children be forever sheltered from the realities of real life and the real world.  Now, the Fairfax County School Board has committed the cardinal sin of (i) voting to implement a non-discrimination policy to protect trans students and staff, and (ii) amending the curriculum to include lessons on gender identity and being transgender.  The hate-filled "godly folk" are going ballistic.  Here are highlights from Gay Star News:

Conservative parents are furious about proposed changes to the curriculum for grades 7 to 12 at some schools in Virginia..

Last week, the Fairfax County School Board voted to include gender identity in their non-discrimination policy to expand protection for trans students and staff.

Parents and students opposing the policy change claimed children could choose which bathroom or locker room to use, heightening the danger of sexual harassment.

Now the school board is reportedly planning to extend the curriculum to include lessons on gender identity and being transgender.

‘Students will be provided definitions for sexual orientation terms heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality; and the gender identity term transgender,’ the district’s recommendations state.

‘Emphasis will be placed on recognizing that everyone is experiencing changes and the role of respectful, inclusive language in promoting an environment free of bias and discrimination.‘

Parents have been said to be ‘irate’ over the recommended changes; Fox News columnist Todd Starnes expressed his disagreement, calling the update ‘unadulterated sex indoctrination’.

Peter Sprigg, of the Family Research Council, called it ‘an attack on nature itself’, saying children would be taught they could choose their gender.

‘It’s only going to create more confusion in the minds of young people who don’t need any further confusion about sexual identity,’ he said.

The changes are set to be formally announced on 21 May; because lessons need to be planned, the schools are planning to implement the changes later next year.

 

Planet Fitness Terminated Membership of Woman Who Complained About A Transgender Member

When the husband and I go to the gym - something we don't do often enough - we go to a local Planet Fitness because (i) it's conveniently located, (ii) the cost is reasonable, and (iii) it has a "no judgment zone" policy, unlike some local gyms filled with gym bunnies who do all but mock those of us less obsessed with working out.  Now, Planet Fitness has demonstrated that it truly stands behind its no judgment, no discrimination policy by terminating the membership of a woman who went off over a transgender woman at a company facility.  Huffington Post has details.  Here are highlights:

Planet Fitness says its staff stood by the company mantra of being a "Judgement Free Zone" when they canceled the membership of a woman who "inappropriately" responded to the presence of a transgender woman in the locker room. 

Member Yvette Cormier complained to a front desk employee after seeing a transgender woman in the women's locker room at the Planet Fitness in Midland, Michigan, according to ABC News. But after the employee told her it is company policy to allow members to use whichever locker room associates with their gender identity, Cormier said she decided to tell "everyone in the locker room what happened."

In turn, Planet Fitness canceled her membership because of the "inappropriate" way in which she went about dealing with the situation, CNN reported.

McCall Gosselin, director of public relations at Planet Fitness Corporate, released a statement to The Huffington Post on the decision: 

Planet Fitness is committed to creating a non-intimidating, welcoming environment for our members. Our gender identity non-discrimination policy states that members and guests may use all gym facilities based on their sincere self-reported gender identity. The membership of the member in question was not cancelled as a result of complaints about the policy, as we welcome all feedback from our members. Rather, the manner in which she expressed her concerns about the policy exhibited behavior that club management deemed inappropriate and disruptive to other members, which is a violation of the membership agreement and as a result her membership was cancelled.

As Huffington Post reports, the usual hate merchants were up in arms over Planet Fitness' policy of treating all people respectfully:

Some conservatives, however, are troubled by Planet Fitness' response. In a blog post, the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council said Planet Fitness is "no longer part of the rational universe" and urged members to go to gyms "where the atmosphere will be more conducive to moral sanity." 

Virginia Senate Democrats to Use New Majority to Revive Bills Killed by GOP

Virginia Capitol

As noted on Tuesday, Virginia Senate Democrats have used GOP enacted rules to take over control of Senate committees and now plan to revive bills previously killed by Republicans earlier in the 2014 session of the Virginia General Assembly.  While revived bills will still have to clear the House of Delegates which is controlled by some of the most insane Republicans in Virginia, with Senate control with the Democrats, to pass anything into law, the Virginia GOP will now have to compromise - among some of the bills to be revived are gay friendly bills.  This, of course will drive the Christofascists and Tea Party loons of the GOP base into hysterics.  It ought to make for interesting entertainment.  Here are excerpts from a piece in the Roanoke Times:

There was a lot of political theater on the floor of the Virginia Senate on Tuesday when Democrats used the lieutenant governor’s tie-breaking vote to wrestle control of the evenly divided chamber from Republicans.

Democrats — now installed as chairs on all 11 Senate committees, nine of which feature majorities — are expected to try to revive some legislation that was defeated earlier in the session when Republicans were in control.

Among the bills that could be given new life is a measure to codify the inclusion of gay and transgender Virginians as part of the state’s nondiscrimination hiring policy. SB 248 failed in the General Laws Committee last week on a 7-7 vote. The committee now has eight Democrats and seven Republicans.

Likewise, a bill to provide in-state tuition to the children of undocumented immigrants, the so-called “Dream Act,” is also expected to be revived in the Democrat-fattened Senate Education and Health Committee, where it was defeated last week on a 7-6 party-line vote.

And gun control bills like SB 520, which was defeated Monday in the Courts of Justice Committee, could also be resurrected with a new, 9-6 Democratic majority on the panel.

With 20 members in the 40-member Senate and the vote of Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, Democrats could also defeat bills on the Senate floor that have already advanced thanks to earlier GOP committee majorities.

In most cases, the Democrats’ successes could be short-lived, given the GOP-dominant House of Delegates. But passage in the Senate would provide material for Democratic campaign brochures in the upcoming 2015 Senate elections, when the GOP is expected to mount a significant campaign to again shift the balance of power.

Boy Scouts Lose Largest Donor Over Anti-Gay Policies

Once again anti-gay bigotry is being shown to have a price.  While the Boy Scouts maintain that they area private organization and can discriminate against gays if they so choose, they are discovering that other enterprises have a similar right to decide what organizations they will help fund and which ones they will not.  In the wake of the Boy Scouts conscious decision to remain hostile to gay scouts and gay troop leaders, Intel - heretofore the largest donor to the Boy Scouts - has announced that it will no longer be funding the Boy Scouts and that the Scouts will be taking a $700,000 hit to its finances.  I applaud Intel's action and hope than more corporate donors will follow suit.   Yes, the Boy Scouts do do some good things.  But sadly, they are also sending a message that bigotry and prejudice are acceptable attributes.  Boys and young men do not need to be receiving this insidious message.  Here are highlights from the New Civil Rights Movement:

The Boy Scouts have just lost their largest corporate donor over their unrelenting insistence to exclude — and even expel — from all levels any gay, bisexual, or transgender man, teen, or boy. Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), the $54 billion multinational semiconductor chip maker that powers most computers, has announced they recently ceased funding the century-old Scouting organization, to which it donated$700,000 annually.

GLAAD announced that on Wednesday, Eagle Scout Zach Wahls, founder of Scouts for Equality, launched a campaign on Change.org supported by GLAAD and signed by more than 30,000 Americans urging Intel to pull funding from the Boy Scouts of America after an American Independent report revealed that the company gave nearly $700,000 to the Boy Scouts in 2010.”

According to the American Independent, the Intel Foundation has a policy that it will not fund “organizations that discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, veteran or disability status.”

Intel made their announcement yesterday.

“Intel joins current Boy Scouts of America Board Members, President Obama, Mitt Romney and hundreds of thousands of Americans in speaking out against the BSA’s practice of unfairly kicking out gay scouts and scout leaders simply because of who they are,” GLAAD President Herndon Graddick said in a statement. ”All of the great work that the BSA does to help young people will continue to be overshadowed by their blatant discrimination until they join other inclusive national organizations like the Girl Scouts of the USA and the 4-H Club. The time is now for the BSA to side with fairness, otherwise they will continue to see sponsors and scouting families drop their support.”