Many lesbian and gay conservatives never spoke up against all the anti-trans bills, but now as the Martin Niemöller poem says,
Then they came for meAnd there was no one leftTo speak out for me
Some lesbians and gays did nothing about all the anti- trans legislation… I am not trans and it doesn’t affect me so why care. Then with all the anti-drag laws… I am not a drag queen and it doesn’t affect me so why care.
But now…What do you mean that I can get fired for being gay!
They claimed that protecting the LGBTQ+ community from discrimination would open business up to lawsuits.The AdvocateBy Christopher WigginsMay 4, 2023The Louisiana state House of Representatives committee failed to approve a bill aimed at improving workplace protection for LGBTQ+ employees on Wednesday in a vote 7-5.The bill would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's current employment discrimination law, which bans discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, or cultural hairstyle.Opponents said the addition could result in lawsuits against companies.
Well duh! Only if they violate the law.
Only if they discriminate. Connecticut has had the non-discrimination laws protecting lesbians and gays since the 1990s and there have been probably only a dozen lawsuits since then. So that argument doesn’t hold water.
“Skilled and talented people are in short supply in our state,” Boyd said, according to public radio station WRKF. “We need to expand our employment pool regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation.”Several members of the LGBTQ+ community spoke to the House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee about their experiences being discriminated against while looking for employment.
STOP RIGHT THERE!!!!!
“We need to expand our employment pool regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation.” whoa, nothing about gender identity or expression! So I googled the bill…
Intentionally fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to intentionally discriminate against any individual with respect to compensation, or terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of the individual's race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or natural, protective, or cultural hairstyle.
Whew we are included, it just that no one thought we were important enough to be mentioned in the article!
But we all know that this bill had a snowball’s chance in hell of passing. But one bill that is on the fast track to passing.
Law would apply to all K-12 public schoolsLouisiana IlluminatorBy Wesley MullerApril 26, 2023It could soon be illegal to say “gay” in Louisiana public schools. State lawmakers advanced two proposals Wednesday that would prohibit the use of certain language when referring to LGBTQ+ people.House Bill 466, sponsored by Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton, cleared the House Education Committee in a 7-5 vote. The bill would prohibit any school employees, volunteers or guest presenters from discussing their own sexual orientation or gender identity.It would prohibit any other discussions of sexual orientation or gender identity that don’t align with state standards. School employees would also not be allowed to use a student’s preferred pronoun that differs from the gender listed on their birth certificate unless a student’s parent provides written permission. It makes no allowances for legal guardians.One of the more significant provisions would allow school employees to overrule a parent’s written permission and refuse to use a student’s preferred pronoun on religious or moral grounds.[…]Horton’s bill follows a conservative pattern of backlash against the rights of LGBTQ+ people across the nation. It closely resembles a law adopted in Florida last year but is much stricter. Where Florida’s law applies only in kindergarten through third grade, Louisiana’s would apply in all grades.
It is BS that this is about the children… this is about politics pure and simple. They heard testimony that suicide rates of trans children go up, that parents are taking their children and fleeing the states that pass these draconian laws. If it was about the children they would support them, not beat down them when they are most vulnerable.
I have to admit that I have just about given up on ringing the danger bell to this foolish group of people. How I despise those who have not learned the lessons of OurStories and the history of the treatment of our people by straight society. Look at those in Connecticut who are in charge of the Pride Festivals. Look at the page of Ct. Virtual Pride and see where these types priorities lay. This Me First group is a selfish lot. I have been preaching against this since the one issue comfortable class crowd convinced the LGBT movement that their wants and desires was what all of us wanted. BS from start to finish. So now they squirm, the fascists are after them. But soon expect them to start with the finger pointing, "its those outrageous drag queens, it's those transgender people who are messing us all up." I can hear it now. Anyone with even an ounce of understanding about and of OurStories will say, "We heard this crap coming out of their mouths many times before. Any way I need to find a new position in my outlook, leaving behind the foolish class of LGBT folks who Harry Hay warned us about. I know what is going to happen when the push comes to shove, and I can only hope that everyone is ready for that day.
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