More Hits Against Us

The hits keep on coming and they’re not good hits, this time it is coming from the Department of Labor.

TLC Strongly Opposes Proposed Rules by Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance
Transgender Law Center
By Anna Castro
September 16, 2019

Last Friday, Transgender Law Center submitted a comment in strong opposition to the proposed rules by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance that would amend section 204(c) of Executive Order 11246. The proposed rule would allow federal contractors to invoke their religious beliefs in order to discriminate against transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) employees.

“The Trump administration is proposing policy changes that radically depart from existing policy and established case law. When the stakes are this high, you’d expect that someone would be able to provide an answer as to why” said Kris Hayashi, executive director of Transgender Law Center, noting that the Department of Labor has provided no justification for such a drastic change in regulation. “Meanwhile, trans people are working jobs at which they’re being discriminated against simply for being themselves, or not able to find a steady job with a good income and living on the streets or engaging in survival work just to be able to eat. The Department of Labor has a job —their job is to advance policies that safeguard the rights of all employees living in the United States. They should do it.”

The impact of this proposed rule would be acutely felt by transgender people of color, transgender people living with HIV, and transgender people with disabilities. Earlier this summer, Positively Trans (T+) announced the results of their 2018 needs assessment of TGNC people living with HIV in three locations in the U.S.: Detroit, Michigan, New Orleans, Louisiana, and South Florida. Nearly half the respondents were unemployed and 86% reported that their greatest legal need was related to employment discrimination.

We are the punching bag for the Trump administration.

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Then down in Arizona the courts sanctioned discrimination against us...

Court: Phoenix Business Can Refuse to Make Invitations for Same-Sex Couples
Phoenix New Times
By Lynn Trimble
September 16, 2019

In a 4-3 opinion, The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Phoenix-based Brush & Nib Studio, a small business that refused to produce wedding invitations for LGBTQ couples.

“The rights of free speech and free exercise, so precious to this nation since its founding, are not limited to soft murmurings behind the doors of a person’s home or church, or private conversations with like-minded friends and family," wrote Justice Andrew Gould for the majority. "These guarantees protect the right of every American to express their beliefs in public. This includes the right to create and sell words, paintings, and art that express a person’s sincere religious beliefs.

Okay, so what they are saying is that all discrimination laws are null and void.

After all if it free speech to refuse to do business with us than it is free speech refuse to do business with people who are Jewish, Muslims, black, an unmarried couple, a woman who divorced, or anyone else in a protected class.

But my guess is that the courts will just discriminate against us and allow other protected classes to stand.

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Kidnapping, unlawful restraint, assault, and probably a whole of other charges could be brought against them but do you think that they would get convicted in the Bible belt?

A gay couple was attacked at church, held down & prayed over to turn straight
"It’s a sin, it’s an abomination, you need to realize, wake up, and see it for a sin," the pastor said as the victim was surrounded.
LGBTQ Nation
By Alex Bollinger
September 17, 2019

A gay couple says that they were attacked by a church’s congregation in attempt to convert them to heterosexuality.

Sean Cormie, 23, recently came out to his family in Blackwell, Oklahoma. Since then, his family has been trying to get him to go to church with them and to bring along his boyfriend, Gary Gardner.
[…]
He said they started to leave, and Gardner was pushed away by other church members. Cormie, though, was forced to stay and he was slammed to the ground by his stepfather. A group of 12 to 15 church members held him down and prayed over him.

“Sort of picked him up and body slammed him over and started praying on him, and when they were doing that, Sean ended up with marks on his arms a black eye and sort of blacked out,” Gardner told News 9.
[…]
Police have been contacted but they are not commenting on the investigation.

I can hear their cry… “Religious Freedom!”

We should have the right to persecute non-believers!