Anti-Discrimination Transcript

I just noticed that a partial transcript of the testimony at the Anti-Discrimination was posted on the Connecticut General Assembly web site. You can visit it here.

They only list one testimony in opposition to the bill.........................

Deacon David W. Reynolds, M.P.A., Legislative Liaison, Connecticut Catholic Conference- First, I would like to make it clear that the Church does not in any way support violence or harassment against any individuals having gender identity issues. All individuals have a right to live a life free from threats of violence or persistent harassment. Current hate crime statues in Connecticut already provide these individuals such protections. However, this bill goes far beyond protecting individuals from violence and harassment. This proposed legislation would raise a cluster of various sexually related orientations, such as transsexualism and transvestism, to a protected class. Establishing gender identity as a protected class raises many issues.

If gender identity is established as a protected class, all persons within our state would be forced to accept, and support, the transsexual lifestyle. Many people of faith would be forced to violate their religious beliefs. Employers would have no discretion in the hiring of a transsexual person or removing that person from employment. If that employer found that person's behavior related to their gender identity to be negatively impacting their business, or disruptive to other employees, no action could be taken to alleviate the situation. Religious employers also would not be able to consider a person's behavior related to their gender identity, even if it violated their religious beliefs. Schools, public and private, would not be able to consider behavior related to their gender identity when hiring or evaluating teachers. Religious schools also would be forced to violate their religious tenants under this legislation, by affirmative action mandates.

Well first of all it is not a lifestyle! If I had a choice I sure wouldn’t chose being a transsexual, it is no fun at all. It is not fun being laugh at, it is no fun being stared at and it is no fun being the butt of jokes.

Second about violating their religious beliefs that is the very same argument that they used to justify slavery, that the bible allowed it so it must be alright to enslave people. They used the same argument to justify segregation and they used the same argument to ban interracial marriages. We have since found these to be wrong and have outlawed them.

There are 307 Employers of which 82 are Fortune 500 Companies, 9 State Governments 78 City and County Governments and 37 Colleges and Universities that include Gender Expression in their EEO polices ( According to the Human Rights Campaign) without having problems. Also an employer always has the right to fire a disruptive employee.

Then they bring up the school question, how it will affect the children at school if their teacher transitions, lets be truthful about it, the kids don’t have a problem, the adults do. Everywhere a teacher has transitioned on the job, the kids never really complained about the teacher, but a very small but vocal group of parents did.

Their last argument is that the religious schools will be forced to hire transsexuals, that doesn’t hold water either because the religious establishment is exempt from the Anti-Discriminations law, they always have been.