I foresee it. Either to the U.S. Supreme Court or to the Montana Supreme Court, or to both!
CNNBy Nicole ChavezDecember 4, 2023As they fight to reclaim their history, some in Montana’s Two-Spirit community are challenging a state law that defines sex as binary because it “infringes” on their spiritual and cultural beliefs.The law, Senate Bill 458, defines “male” and “female” based on the presence of XY or XX chromosomes as well as reproductive systems. The legislation, which took effect in October, inserts those definitions of male and female in several parts of the state’s legal code, impacting driver’s licenses, demographic records and the state’s anti-discrimination law.In October, attorneys representing the Two-Spirit nonprofit Montana Two Spirit Society along with a group of transgender, intersex and nonbinary Montana residents, filed a lawsuit in Missoula County District Court challenging the law.They argue the state’s definitions of sex “improperly categorizes many Montanans, excludes others from legal recognition entirely, and deprives them of the benefits and protections of myriad state laws.” The complaint also argues the law violates Montana’s individual dignity, equal protection, privacy and freedom of speech laws.[…]Steven Barrios, a 71-year-old enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation and co-founder of the Montana Two Spirit Society, said the organization supports efforts to fight back against the state’s new gender definitions.“We’ve already been traumatized through so many things that the government has done to us and so we just figured it’s time – we have to step up and reclaim what’s rightfully ours and not let the government take that away from us,” Barrios said.
The Republicans are on a mission from god to eradicate us and they don’t care who gets run over in the process.
MissoulianBy Nora MabieAugust 14, 2023When Sergio Papa Ruark attended a presentation at his university about Two-Spirit people, he was awestruck.“I approached the presenter after, and I asked, ‘Are there really more people like us — queer and Native?’” Papa Ruark recalled. “And he said, ‘Yes.’ He told me to search for Two-Spirit gatherings on Google, and that’s what I did.”Two-Spirit is an umbrella term, referring to Indigenous people who occupy a traditional third gender. Different tribes had different words in their languages for these people, who often held important roles within cultures, seen as medicine people, negotiators, name-givers or critical to certain ceremonies.[…]For more than 25 years the Montana Two Spirit Society, a Missoula-based organization, has been hosting its annual gathering event, which includes, powwow, ceremony, pageants and presentations on generational trauma, legislation updates and healing. The event celebrates Two-Spirit culture and community and promotes healing.
Trump says that don’t exist in history that we are a new phenomenon… yeah right!
The Conversation wrote;
One thing these new laws do not take into account is that the 12 federally recognized tribes in Montana have historically recognized multiple gender identities, including transgender identities. Most Indigenous peoples recognize multiple gender identities that are believed to be the result of supernatural intervention.In this regard, Montana state Rep. Donavon Hawk, a Democrat from Butte who is Crow and Lakota, said, “It surprises me that this country is only a couple hundred years old, and we are not able to function with LGBTQ people in our communities.” Indigenous communities have incorporated LGBTQ+ peoples within their societies for centuries.As an Indigenous scholar who studies the history and religion of Indigenous peoples, I am troubled by how these new anti-transgender laws might affect religious expression and the rights of Indigenous communities, not just in Montana but across the nation.
NBC News reported that,
By NBC MontanaOctober 13th 2023A group of transgender and intersex individuals are suing the state over a new law. Senate Bill 458 revised Montana Code to provide a common definition for the word “sex” when referring to a human.The lawsuit alleges the bill violates the Montana Constitution and forces gender diverse people to misidentify themselves.The suit was filed Wednesday in District Court.Upper Seven Law released the following information:On Wednesday, a group of transgender and intersex individuals and the Montana Two Spirit Society filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Senate Bill 458 (“SB 458”), which codifies an unscientific sex and gender binary.The law effectively eliminates state law protections and benefits for all gender nonconforming Montanans. The bill violates the Montana Constitution’s rights to privacy, dignity, equal protection, and freedom of speech, as well as the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.SB 458 divides human beings into two exclusive categories—female or male. “Sex,” a term that appears in approximately 40 sections of the Montana Code, is now defined as exactly one of two “without regard to an individual’s psychological, behavioral, social, chosen, or subjective experience of gender.” The law also defines “female” and “male” using imprecise references to reproductive capacity—i.e., sex “chromosomes” and “gametes”—and applies these definitions throughout the Montana Code, affecting everything from discrimination in employment and public accommodations to inmate classification, marriage licenses, cemetery association records, and driver’s licenses.As a result, SB 458 removes protections in these arenas and others and compels gender diverse people to misidentify themselves on important government forms in a highly personal way. It forces them to disclose private medical and biological information in nearly all aspects of public life. Incredibly, the law ignores intersex conditions as well, compelling intersex Plaintiffs to identify as a sex they were not even assigned at birth. More fundamentally, SB 458 purposefully excludes all trans, nonbinary, intersex, and Two Spirit people from the social and political community, devaluing them and actively refusing to recognize their inherent human worth.SB 458 serves no legitimate state interest. The bill’s sponsor made clear that it was passed to ensure that legal protections against “sex” discrimination would no longer include “gender” discrimination. He claimed that confusion between the meaning of sex and gender required clarification. Tellingly, the bill makes no attempt to define the term “gender.”“This is just as much an attack on tribal sovereignty as it is on the LGBTQ+ community,” said David Herrera, the co-founder and executive director of the Montana Two-Spirit Society. “SB 458 continues what colonization has always tried to do—which is to eradicate Two Spirit culture.”“I am challenging this law because it took me decades to find personal peace—and now the state is trying to take that away from the next generation,” said Susan Edwards, a trans woman who lives in a small community in Eastern Montana. “I stand with the next generation and against discrimination.”
Can you say “Religious Freedom?” Or do they just apply to evangelical Christians? You know the Republicans only care about one religion… the evangelical Christians all the other don’t count.
The people voted!
The Republicans are ignoring the vote.
AP NewsBy SAMANTHA HENDRICKSONDecember 4, 2023Banning marijuana growing at home, increasing the substance’s tax rate and altering how those taxes get distributed are among vast changes Ohio Senate Republicans proposed Monday to a marijuana legalization measure approved by voters last month.The changes emerged suddenly in committee just days before the new law is set to take effect, though their fate in the full Senate and the GOP-led House is still unclear.The ballot measure, dubbed Issue 2, passed on the Nov. 7 election with 57% of the vote and it set to become law this Thursday, making Ohio the 24th state to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use. But as a citizen-initiated statute, the Legislature is free to make tweaks on it, of which they’re attempting plenty.“The goal of this committee is to provide the people’s wishes with a safe product,” Sen. Michael Rulli, a Columbiana County Republican, said during a meeting of the Senate General Government Committee, where the changes were tacked onto an unrelated alcohol regulation bill.
The Republicans did that with a referendum on abortion did the voters reject banning abortions, South Dakota, Montana, Kansas, and Kentucky they tried to pass anti-abortion laws against the voters wishes.
Senate changes would prohibit growing marijuana at home, a departure from provisions approved by voters that allow individual Ohioans to grow up to six plants at home and up to 12 per household.The Senate’s proposal also would increase the approved tax on marijuana products of 10% to 15%. Cultivators would also be taxed at that rate under the revisions.
Tell me do you think that Republicans in Congress would vote to remove marijuana from a Schedule One drug?
Update: 12/8/23 @ 9:30 AM
Yeah right, “to an auction…” allowing only rich corporations to get a license while the small independents are frozen out.Local marijuana industry not entirely happy with changes to Issue 2
WKBN
By: Stan Boney
December 7, 2023While the Ohio House debated recreational marijuana on Thursday, the state Senate the night before passed a major overhaul of what the voters decided last month. A few men already involved in Ohio’s marijuana industry had some thoughts on the matter.
Lowellville native Tom Haren is spokesperson for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. He wants no changes made to what voters already approved.
“What the senate passed does not reflect the will of Ohio voters,” Haren said. “Imagine that, that we should respect the will of Ohio voters — I didn’t think that was a crazy concept until yesterday.”
The changes passed in the Senate include:
- Reducing the number of plants grown from 12 to 6 per household
- Reducing THC levels for extracts from 90 to 50%
- Eliminating the social equity program
- Allowing marijuana to be sold 90 days after passage, instead of after nine months
The changes passed would also eliminate cultivators from automatically getting dispensary licenses and instead open new licenses to an auction or submission process, which cultivator Brian Kessler of Youngstown’s Riviera Creek is opposed to.
The Ohio Senate also increased the sales tax on marijuana from 10 to 15 %, which Haren, Kessler and Washington all agree is too much. They say it will only drive people to buy marijuana in “the black market,” or in Michigan.
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