It appears that Marty Jackley’s joining of South Dakota to an anti-transgender lawsuit by Nebraska in part does a political favor for the conservative Family Heritage Alliance, which is waging war against the Rapid City School Board’s effort to add “gender identity” to the classes protected from discrimination at Western Dakota Tech.
The Rapid City School Board gave second reading to an update of WDT’s Discrimination and Harassment policy that would prohibit “discrimination, harassment, exploitation or victimization” of non-gender conforming individuals on the WDT campus. The good Christians at Family Heritage Alliance apparently want to be able to harass, exploit, and victimize transgender people, so they’ve launched a petition and are rallying their fellow survivors of Roman persecution to attend the next Rapid City School Board meeting on September 10 to defend the traditional Trumpistani concept of strictly binary and hierarchical gender roles.
The lead point in the FHA petition is the Jackley-endorsed amici curiae brief arguing that God-fearing Americans ought to be able to fire dudes dressed like a lady:
Nothing in either federal or state law supports, much less requires, adding gender identity as a protected classification under WDT Policy 2005. In fact, on August 23, Attorney General Marty Jackley joined 15 other states in filing a brief at the U.S. Supreme Court demonstrating why the text, structure, and history of Title VII and Title IX demonstrate that it was intended to only extend to discrimination based on “sex,” not “gender identity.” Likewise, the South Dakota legislature has repeatedly rejected efforts to add “gender identity” to state law. Adding gender identity to the list of protected classes makes a claim that is not supported by law or substantial legal precedent, and would potentially punish anyone who questioned that claim [Family Heritage Alliance Action, “Rapid City School Board Considers Gender Identity Policy—Sign the Petition!” retrieved 2018.09.02].
Jackley’s brief gives FHA rheotrical fodder but not legal cover. FHA tries to make it sound as if this policy revision breaks the law, but the absence of “gender identity” from current anti-discrimination laws does not prohibit the Rapid City School Board or you or me from being civil toward our transgender neighbors and stopping others on our property from acting like Trumps toward our transgender guests. Consider WDT’s policy on sexual violence:
This policy applies to all members of the WDT community, including, but not limited to, students, faculty and staff, and it covers prohibited conduct that: occurs on campus; occurs in connection with WDT programs or activities, including academic, educational, extracurricular, or other programs and activities; or otherwise affects the WDT community. In certain instances, this policy applies to third parties (e.g., visitors, volunteers, vendors, and contractors while on WDT property, participating in a WDT-sponsored activity, or providing services to the College, or applicants for admission to or employment with the College). This policy applies equally to all regardless of an individual’s sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. All academic and administrative units of the College must comply with this policy [Western Dakota Tech, Policy 4001: Sexual Violence Response, last reviewed 2017.07.11].
WDT has also already written “gender identity” into its Title IX statement on discrimination and harassment:
Western Dakota Tech (“WDT”) will not tolerate racism, discrimination, harassment, exploitation or victimization of students, school employees, non-employees or any person who is an invitee of WDT for any reason, including but not limited to race, color, ethnic background, national origin, pregnancy, marital status, religion, creed, age, sex, citizenship, political affiliation, mental and/or physical challenge, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, status as a veteran, or any other status protected under applicable federal, state or local law [Western Dakota Tech, Title IX: Discrimination and Harassment, retrieved 2018.09.02].
The gender identity horse has already left the barn at WDT. Even Jackley’s friend-of-the-court brief won’t stop the Rapid City School Board from telling folks at WDT to be civil to each other.
Related Bleating: FHA boss Ed Randazzo offers his supporters some talking points to support their anti-trans bullying. Twice Randazzo tells his followers to dismiss pronouncements of gender theory as “based solely on ideology.” Wow—if I could use that argument against FHA, their whole agenda would go poof!
FHA boss Ed Randazzo – FHA members – Marty Jackley = shallow gene pool
1. Brief Description of Anti-Discrimination Laws. It is illegal under U.S. federal law to discriminate against an employee, either intentionally or through a disparate impact, on account of his or her race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information …Mar 24, 2017
Employers at least, are protected from discrimihaters.
I expect there are general anti-bullying policies already that cover, for example, if some Christian bigot engages in bullying of any student for any purpose. I suspect the administration could throw that Christian bigot out the door. However, attorneys and insurance carriers prefer specificity, because then you don’t have to argue the inevitable whining that comes from the ilk of people who think that their freedoms comes with the right to harass and bully one of God’s children who doesn’t quite fit their religion’s idea of what God’s children should be.
Moar special rights for phony kristians, did I understand you Mr Pay? I can see how they could/will probably scream violation of their so called religious freedumbs if they can’t harass others.
I wished Scotus would have planted that particular case up some bogus religious butt.
MFI, I give them credit for thinking they are doing the Lord’s work, but it’s no Lord that I want to have any part of if they want to excuse bullying.
Christians can have whatever beliefs they want, but they can’t use those beliefs to bully or harass others. I believe in being tolerant of everyone’s views. I certainly don’t like it when some Christian sects comes knocking on my door. Sometimes I’ll listen to what they are saying and ask a few questions. I’ll argue with them if they start preaching hate, and then I tell them I’m not interested in the brand of religion they are selling. If they persist in ringing my doorbell after that, I would consider that harassment. Everyone I’ve had the opportunity to meet in this way are polite, and will go on down the street.
If they want to preach hate in their own churches, they have a constitutional right to do so, but they don’t have the right to demand the public allow them to bully people on public property.
There’s the key, Donald. Randazzo’s talking points open with Genesis (not Phil Collins, alas), demonstrating that this is one more effort by the theocratic FHAers to write their religion into law. WDT is a public institution; it has a duty to protect all people from bullying, and as Donald points out, clarifying their policy by adding gender identity makes clear they are protecting everybody and not leaving loopholes for transhaters with big legal defense funds.
I was so thrilled to see Randazzo soundly whooped in the Republican primary by a candidate with no pulse (who in life was, yes, FHA endorsed, but we did have some productive conversations about these stupid ‘potty panic’ bills). RIP Rep McPherson.
Don Pay: “If they want to preach hate in their own churches, they have a constitutional right to do so, but they don’t have the right to demand the public allow them to bully people on public property.”
Exactly.
It’s still so strange to me that these “Christians” are so over-the-top concerned with matters sexual when it was mostly irrelevant to Jesus and the bible as a whole.
That big collection of letters and poetry and history and musings and essays and warnings and proverbs and stuff ranted endlessly about taking care of people in need. I mean endlessly. I’d be hard pressed to name a half dozen books in the whole bible that don’t say something about helping people in need, outcasts, sick, injured, etc. On the other hand, most books don’t worry much about sex.
Weird obsession.
Debbo … I break Christianity into three groups. Mainstream Protestants. (That’s me.) Catholics and Evangelicals. The last two are obsessed with telling people what to do and use sex as a weapon. As you say, we Protestants are more about helping people. Mine is a simple explanation, not at all as educated as yours. It’s a pleasure to read what you write.
People of all kinds deserve basic human dignity and should not be treated poorly for things that they ARE. We should only judge people based on what they DO.
That being said, you people who pretend your church is better than some other church are nuts. You pick and choose the stuff in your bible to “believe” and act progressive because you know half the text supports absolutely terrible stuff. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say your religion is right and good and justifiable and that your god is merciful and benevolent while hiding half of its history or beliefs because they’re disgusting. Phonies.
To quote the Corporate Avenger:
“In the history of the human race…
Of all the inspirations for the separation of man from his true tribal culture…
Of all the inspirations for the acts of violence from one man onto another…
From one nation onto another, from one oppressor onto the oppressed…
There is no more guilty party and inspiration than those books known as the Holy Bible, the Koran, and the Bhagavad Gita to spread separation of mankind.”
I mean, perhaps? But I think there is more to religion than that. While I am not a believer myself, a core belief system that approaches the definition of religion is not necessarily terrible and can be a powerful unifying force (and frequently is). The problem with using religion as the whipping boy is that it ignores the common thread: people are frequently terrible beings and will rip each other apart and then blame someone or something else for it. Ultimately, whether one church is “better” than another in this context should be judged, as you said, based on what they do.
Ryan, buddy. Calm, down boy. The Bible is a history book. Lots of disgusting things happened throughout history. The Old Testament is a history lesson listing the reasons God sent his son Jesus to Earth. The New Testament “testifies” how God & Jesus want us to act. Mostly we fail. Sometimes we gather as a group and do good things for those who probably don’t deserve much more than Grace. We try not to brag and you can criticize. Who cares?
Porter, absurd commifier, I’m calm.
You say things that make me laugh so hard I had to type this twice.
“The bible is a history book.” Hahahahahaha
“The Old Testament is a history lesson…” Hahahahahaha
“We try not to brag…” Hahahaha
Dicta – I agree. The belief in a higher power alone is not a problem. Even praying to an imaginary friend is not a problem. Humans in groups are the problem, like you mentioned. People do terribly things to each other, so the last thing we need are cults of group-thinkers who think it’s OK to tell other people who aren’t in their cult what to do.
Ryan … You went to Roncalli, didn’t you?
I don’t even know what that is nor care enough to google it. And google is, like, super easy.
I’m not sure I follow your reasoning on the last line. Are we speaking solely about churches here? Because if not, your reasoning leads a sort of solipsistic relativism, which isn’t an internally consistent moral structure.
Porter, I have to think the Bible is more historical fiction rather than “history.”
O – Since the victor’s write history, that’s no doubt accurate for all history.
Ryan … You were raised a Catholic, weren’t you?
Porter, except the Vietnam War – The US wrote that history as well.
O – I see your viewpoint, that not everything in the Bible is true. I wholly agree with that. There are some on this blog who believe the Bible is 100% true. They seem to argue that belief more than one should have to. Faith is faith and needs little defense.
– Not to argue but I have many friends of Vietnamese heritage. Most came to Colorado after the war, as little kids and grew up here. They know that Vietnam kicked USA’s ass. I know Vietnam kicked USA’s ass. Ken Burns knows the same. Accurate Vietnam history was written by Vietnamese and Chinese because they won.
I was not raised catholic or anything else. My father is an episcopalian (which I don’t even know what that means – I just know the name of his church) and he took my siblings and me to “sunday school” at his church weekly until I was 6 or 7. I remember nothing about it except getting candy if we weren’t too raucous. Since then, I can remember maybe one time he mentioned the bible in passing, but we just didn’t ever feel the need to talk about it.
My mother, as far as I can remember, has never discussed out loud her thoughts on church or religion or god or anything even related to those topics. My beliefs and disgust about organized religion are based solely on my perception of the world around me since I was in middle school or so.
Dicta – you are looking for much more meaning in my comment than is there. I think organized religion, and the churches that house them, are more destructive than good. Humans have enough reasons to hate each other and do terrible things to each other, we don’t need to pick cults based on what imaginary friend our parents believed in and then let that silly belief define us in such a way that we are disconnected from other humans because they believe in a different silly imaginary fiend.
Ryan … I asked about your religious background not because I’m interested but to get you to reveal it. If you have no formal religious background and have never had interest in it, what validity do you have to reject my assertion that the Old Testament is a book of history? Is it just your uneducated opinion?
Porter, I don’t think somebody has to go to a catholic church every sunday and “be raised” catholic to know that their book is not history. I have read the new testament and I have read one translation of the old testament. I didn’t say I never had interest in religion – throughout most of my life i was very interested in the idea of religion and spent time learning about several. I really really really really wanted to believe in one. I wanted one to be right and true. I wanted the universe to have meaning. I wanted help to be on the way. But I realized wanting to believe something and believing something are not the same, and I didn’t want to spend my life pretending to be something I wasn’t. Your book might as well start with a scrolling preface…”Many years ago in a galaxy far far away…”
Feel free to keep on keepin’ on with your fear of reality, though. It suits you.
The Old Testament is the history of the Jews. That’s a book of history.
Right, and Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles are the history of the first martians.
… and, Ryan is the history of South Dakota’s shallow gene pool.
Some of the Old Testament is true, though details might be inaccurate. The initial creation stories of Genesis are mythic, but Sarah and Abraham did exist, as did their progeny– Rebekkah, who married Isaac, and their progeny– Essau and Jakob, who married Rachel and Leah, and also fathered children with their 2 slaves, Bilhah and Zilpah, 12 in all.
Kings Saul, David and Solomon and the others did exist, did conduct various wars and building projects. David did father Solomon with Bathsheba. Etc. Prophets like Amos, Elijah, Jeremiah and others also existed.
There is archeological evidence and/or written record for these biblical stories being factual. The proof of supernatural interaction and intervention is not factual.
That’s the case with every religion that comes to mind for me. They can’t be proven. That’s why they require faith, not fact. That’s what differentiates religion from science, mathematics and other disciplines. The need for faith is not a shortcoming of religion. It’s a characteristic.
Wrong again, Porter. Might as well change your name to that – Wrong Again Porter.
Other things that differentiate religion from science:
Science doesn’t want you to kill anybody;
Science is falsifiable;
Science is a quest for knowledge rather than for power or comfort; and
Science adapts to evolving understanding of our world.
(and many more things.)
Ryan … Jews are a race of people with a verifiable history. Their religion is Hebrew. I assert the Old Testament is a book about the history of the Jewish race. Changing the subject to science is not going to distract the discussion.
I didn’t bring up science, I was responding to my stalker.
Ryan … LWIY (last word is your’s) until I choose to return on another thread.
Occam.
Porter said, “Jews are a race of people with a verifiable history. Their religion is Hebrew. I assert the Old Testament is a book about the history of the Jewish race.”
That’s true, not in doubt by the archeological community or historical scholars. As I said, some details are disputed, but not the general point that Porter stated.