States’ Rights!

That has been one of the rallying cries of the Republican party along with all the other “anti-” legislation.

What exactly does States Rights mean?

Well it is one of those terms that are hard to pin down, some would say all the stuff not delegated in the Constitution but others people would say anything that we don’t like coming out from Washington. It is kind of like “activist judges” where any verdict don’t like is because of an activist judge.

Op-Ed: Expect the battle for civil rights to move to statehouses. LGBTQ rights are at risk
LA Times
By Andrew Reynolds
July 3, 2022


The imminent reversal of Roe vs. Wade is likely to be the first step in a campaign to rescind a raft of legal rights and protections that the Christian nationalist right in America finds objectionable.

The strategy is to turn constitutionally protected rights into political questions at the state level. In addition to state-by-state fights over abortion access, expect a battle to be waged by GOP evangelicals against LGBTQ rights state by state.

Two decades of gains in federal protections for LGBTQ Americans have largely been based on recognition of a constitutional right to privacy, a right rejected by the leaked draft opinion overturning Roe. That opinion tells us that a majority of the justices on the Supreme Court may no longer see queer Americans as worthy of equal protection under federal law.

[…]

The far-right Republican strategy will not be to invalidate gay marriage immediately but rather to diminish equality by allowing states to enshrine discrimination against queer people in areas like adoption, partner benefits, schooling and public accommodations.

Divide and conquer.

The Republicans have 23 states trifectas and in 13 other states they control at one branch of government, so by declaring that there is no Constitutionally protected right to “Privacy” they basically throwing our human rights back to the states to handle.

Republicans have already signaled that they will make schools and children the next battleground: “Don’t say gay” laws to muzzle public school teachers are sweeping the nation, and attacks on trans girls playing sports resonate with religious conservatives. Sadly, invoking the trope that LGBTQ people are pedophiles “grooming” vulnerable children works with a bloc of voters who can swamp a GOP primary.

Their gerrymandering and voting laws insure that they will also have a majority in those states (Just look at Texas, the Republicans have been in control since 1990!), so if they get the trifecta of the federal government expect to see their hate go nationally! All of sudden you will see their tune on “state rights” go out the window.

The anti-gay Christian nationalist movement is also wealthier and better organized than gay rights proponents. The strategic acumen of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a leading anti-LGBT group, makes it a much more pernicious and powerful organization than most Americans realize. The ADF effectively runs anti-trans and “don’t say gay” legislation campaigns throughout the U.S. The Southern Poverty Law Center notes that the organization raises and spends millions of dollars a year supporting anti-LGBTQ mobilization in America and overseas, including drafting legislation, and providing lawyers and campaign strategy advice.

We cannot be a “one issue” community and just vote on LGBTQ+ candidates but rather stand shoulder to shoulder with abortion rights advocates, with the Black Lives Matter advocates, with the immigrant rights movement advocates, and other minorities communities.

It will not be an easy struggle, there will be bickering among us that will try to pull us apart, the Republicans will try to divide us, and the Republicans are a huge monolithic block that will whip their followers in-line. The Republicans have the billionaire oligarchs behind them while we have the workers and the ordinary people behind us.

United we stand, divided we fall.