Members of the Republican Party seem hellbent on ensure their party’s continued practical irrelevance. With the Supreme Court poised to make a ruling on whether or not same-sex marriages are constitutional the Republican Party has been throwing the mother of all hissy fits. In Oklahoma one senator has introduced not one, not two, but three pieces of legislation to discriminate against homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgender individuals. The first bill is your typical prohibition against same-sex marriage bill:
House Bill 1599 is being called the “Preservation and Sovereignty of Marriage Act.” It says taxpayer dollars or governmental salaries cannot be used for “the licensing or support of same-sex marriage.”
I love the title because it shows Sally Kern, the wretch that introduced these bills, has no idea what the word sovereign means. Sovereign means supreme authority or ultimate power. To say marriage is sovereign is to say it has ultimate power in regards to unions. If marriage was sovereign then the state couldn’t have any say in the matter of unions. The second bill would ensure parents could continue to subject their kids to “pray away the gay camps”:
House Bill 1598 “Freedom to Obtain Conversion Therapy Act” says parents would be allowed to seek counseling and therapy to help change a child’s sexual orientation, without interference from the state.
Setting aside the fact that so-called conversion therapy has been proven to not work we also have the issue that this bill would further erode minor’s already non-existent agency. As I discussed previously minors have no agency and are therefore almost entirely at the whim of their parents. This leads to major problems when the parents don’t have the well-being of the child in mind. Because of how laws in this country works the only real option for a minor to resist bad parenting is to beg the state to intervene. If this bill passed into law then even that option would be stripped from them. The final bill would allows businesses to discriminate against homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgender individuals:
The other, House Bill 1597, would allow any business in Oklahoma to refuse service to any gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person or group.
Voluntary association states that everybody is free to associate or not associate with whoever they want for whatever reason. This bill wouldn’t allow that though because under it homosexual, bisexual, and transgender business owners would not be free to discriminate against bigoted assholes. If one group of individuals can refuse service then other groups must be free to refuse that group service as well. Any bill that only grants special privileges to one group establishes more hierarchy and the last thing we need in this forsaken country is more hierarchy.
It’s fascinating to see the Republican Party continue to hold its position on social issues. As their generation dies out and later generations become the majority social conservatism will become even more poisonous to the Republicans.
I agree the state should stay out of marriage but I support the other two bills.
Your claim that conversion therapy doesn’t work is opinion. There are thousands of people who have gone through it and come up straight again. The trick is they wanted to change. The story you linked to is a case where he didn’t want to change. I’m sure he liked his special snowflake status from being a tranny. But think of the long term consequences. “Transition” drugs cause sterility. Do you think its fair to let a child sterilize themselves because they’re going through a phase? The parents did the right thing in getting help for their child.
I also disagree with you on 1597. I don’t care much what gays do. If an adult wants to stick his dick in another man’s ass that’s his business. But trannies are different. They inflict themselves on everybody. Business owners should be able to refuse them. I don’t want a dude dressed as a lady in my business. It scares away customers. That doesn’t make me a bigot. It makes me a businessman.
Before I begin I feel it necessary to point out that the worse “tranny” is a rather nasty slur. Kindly refrain from using it. Thanks.
[citation needed]
Like suicide? A life of misery caused by conforming to the demands of others? Psychological issues caused by not seeking professional help for their gender dysphoria?
And you feel certain she was going through a stage because? It’s not like she saw a therapist who specializes in gender dysphoria and could make a valid ruling on whether or not this was “a phase”.
That’s the problem, the parents didn’t get help for her. They forced her to go to therapists whose primary qualification was religious beliefs that aligned with the parents’. Instead they should have asked their child, who had done all of the research, for her input.
By “inflict themselves on everybody” I assume you mean they go out in public and live lives just like the rest of us? How terrible! What’s next? Will they eat food, drink water, and breathe air too?
What you just described is a crossdresser, not a person who is transgender. And if a dude wants to crossdress what business is it of yours? Why do you care if a crossdresser comes into your business and gives you money? In my book money is money regardless of who is trading it to me. This is a lesson taught to me at a very early age by my father who owns a successful auto repair shop. Part of that success is due to the fact he doesn’t discriminate.
Assuming you were referring to transgender individuals I have a question for you. How are you going to prevent them from entering your business? Are you going to run a full medical workup on everybody who comes in your door? Because that’s what it would take to bar all transgender individuals from entering. In many cases you can’t tell by sight alone that somebody is transgender. Hell, I have several transgender friends and I didn’t know they were transgender until they told me. So good luck with your prohibition.
Yes it does.
The fact that you’re using a slur to describe transgender individuals also makes you a bigot.
Before I begin I feel it necessary to point out that the worse “tranny” is a rather nasty slur. Kindly refrain from using it. Thanks.
I’ll call them whatever I want.
Like suicide? A life of misery caused by conforming to the demands of others? Psychological issues caused by not seeking professional help for their gender dysphoria?
Who committed suicide? He did. Who chose to be miserable? He did. Who chose to be unhappy with the gift God gave him? He did.
And you feel certain she was going through a stage because?
Because that’s what teenagers do. In my day if a boy came dressed like a girl he would have got his ass kicked. The next day he would come dressed like he should. Today liberals have a grasp on public education. When a boy comes to school dressed like a girl he’s told how brave he is. He’s rewarded for being a special snowflake. So he begins trying to act more and more special.
Instead they should have asked their child, who had done all of the research, for her input.
Do you think a boy that thinks he’s a girl should be making his own decisions? If you do you’re a moron. The parents did the right thing. They tried to get him to act as he should. But liberals like you kept telling him he can be whatever he wants so he wouldn’t change.
What you just described is a crossdresser, not a person who is transgender.
Same things.
Why do you care if a crossdresser comes into your business and gives you money?
The only reason I care is because they scare away other customers. They might give me some money but they scare away a bunch of other customers. Nobody wants to see a dude dressed like a lady.
Hell, I have several transgender friends and I didn’t know they were transgender until they told me.
Then you sir are blind. And how did you feel after they told you? Pretty fucking pissed I bet. Nothing says friendship like lying. And you say friends but do you actually hang out with them? I bet you don’t. Who wants to be seen in public with a man dressed like a woman?
Actually, I make the rules here. But if you want to make an ass of yourself in public I’m not going to stop you.
One generally does not choose to be miserable. When a loved one dies you do not choose to be miserable about it. Likewise when one has gender dysphoria they do not choose to be miserable. They suffer the reality that your beloved god saw fit to put them in the wrong body.
But to address the issue of suicide, it’s true that suicide is the taking of one’s own life. What you’re failing to see or address (or both) is the reason she committed suicide. That reason, ultimately, is because her parents inflicted their beliefs on her and she had no way to resist them. Because she was a minor her parents’ actions were backed by the state’s capacity for violence. If she tried to run away the state would retrieve her. If she attempted to see the therapist of her choose the state would deem it illegal unless her parents also agreed to it. She was pushed into a corner that resulted in agony so terrible that death was a preferable alternative.
Do you realize the psychological damage caused by your idea of the correct method of handling these things? Do you have an clue what so many transgender people suffer horrible depression and have a high rate of suicide? It’s because people like you use physical violence to inflict your idea of right on them. It’s because people like you terrorize them simply because they don’t fit into your little box. The reason transgender people who come out are brave is because there is a very real threat of them suffering physical violence by doing so. Based on what you’ve said I’m assuming you identify as a Christian. Imagine being a Christian in Rome when it was against the law. Knowing that you very well may die for being honest about your faith would be quite brave under such circumstances.
Do I think transgender individuals should be allowed to make their own decisions? You’re goddamn right I do. But I’m an anarchist and believe all should enjoy the liberty to live their life as they choose so long as they don’t harm anybody.
Also, I’m not a liberal. I’m a dirty leftist. Terminology matters.
Just like how a Muslim and Christian are the same thing.
Can you actually cite a single instance where you have seen customers flee a business because either a crossdresser or transgender individual were shopping there? Can you site a single instance where ten customers fled for the same reasons? I’ve not only seen transgender individuals in stores I’ve accompanied them into stores. Nobody fled. In fact nobody cared. Except the business owners, they cared a great deal about the money they received and appreciated the business.
Technically I’m not blind. Even without corrective lenses I’m slightly above the legal blindness threshold. But how did I feel when my friends told me they were transgender? I didn’t feel any different than before they told me because it’s a non-issue for me. Nor did they ever lie to me. Not telling somebody something they didn’t ask about isn’t lying. And even if they did lie I would understand it because, again, transgender individuals suffer a very real threat of violence. In fact one of my friends was put in a hospital on a first date when she told the guy she was with that she was transgender. Consider incidents like that I totally understand any hesitation a transgender individual has in coming out.
And, yes, I do hang out with them. Sometimes I even take them to the range. If somebody has a problem with my friends that’s tough shit. Anybody who has problems with me for my choice of friends isn’t my friend thus their opinion is meaningless to me.