By: Lloyd Gardner
The Democrat machine in President Biden’s administration seems to be on a mission to accomplish as many “progressive” ideas as possible during his first few months in office.
With virtual control of all three branches of government the Biden administration shows signs of actually fulfilling Barack Obama’s dream of transforming America. Nothing depicts this certainty as clearly as the H.R. 5 (House of Representatives 5) bill that is aimed at protecting the rights of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) citizens. The bill can be read in full here.
The actual reading of the bill has this far reaching summary statement:
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (referred to as ‘‘LGBTQ’’) people commonly experience discrimination in securing access to public accommodations—including restaurants, senior centers, stores, places of or establishments that provide entertainment, health care facilities, shelters, government offices, youth service providers including adoption and foster care providers, and transportation. Forms of discrimination include the exclusion and denial of entry, unequal or unfair treatment, harassment, and violence. This discrimination prevents the full participation of LGBTQ people in society and disrupts the free flow of commerce.
The bill is nicknamed “The Equality Bill” and proposes that people of these various sexual inclinations should be protected by federal law from discrimination. The bill has passed the House and if passed by the Senate would mandate country-wide standards that would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination. The bill essentially treats all LGBTQ people as classes to be included in the 1964 Civil Rights Act which outlaws discrimination against a citizen based on an “individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
This bill, if it passes the Senate, would create ominous problems because it broadens the definition of “sex” to include LGBTQ people. This would mean that anyone who fits into one of these categories would be classified as a protected minority. The bill’s opening statement reads “To prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, and for other purposes.” Notice the words “identity” and “orientation.” This concept opens the way for people to identify as whatever orientation they want without proving that the identity has any scientific backing, which at this point it does not. The bill gives an example using these words:
…with respect to gender identity an individual shall not be denied access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual’s gender identity.
A person would be able to use the restroom of their choice simply based on how they sexually identify themselves. This conundrum not based on science would undoubtedly open our society up to disparities and incongruences that would send us down a pathway of social mayhem.
Many other details could be mentioned but in general there is great possibility that the following effects and many others could result from this bill if passed into law. It would:
- Sanction abortions as it contains this wording: “pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition… shall not receive less favorable treatment than other physical conditions.”
- Include sexually explicit materials in school curriculums across the nation.
- Would allow children to be pressured toward cross-sex hormones and surgery despite scientific evidence to the contrary.
- Would deny parental rights based on a political ideology about sex.
- Would undoubtedly abolish faith-based foster and adoption agencies.
- Allow biological males to overpower girls in athletic endeavors and use girl’s locker rooms and women’s shelters.
- Force churches to host same-sex ceremonies or lose tax-exempt status for refusal.
- Colleges would lose accreditation for noncompliance and would lose student loans unless they compromised their beliefs.
- Churches would not be able to segregate rooms by biological gender on mission trips or other church activities.
- Require that bathrooms, showers, and nursing rooms be open to biological men.
- Churches would be forced to hire people who identify as LGBT for daycare facilities.
- Churches could be sued for the smallest accusation of discrimination.
- The overall effect of the bill would be to silence people of faith.
The wording of H.R.5 can be read here so that citizens can see for themselves how this bill is a Pandora’s box that, if opened, would unleash inequalities into our society in the name of “equality.” No doubt there are LGBT people who are treated unfairly in our society. Is the answer a federal law that grants them civil rights status resulting in the unfair treatment of so many others?
This is especially true since a recent report in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, which examined 200 peer-reviewed studies on the issue, concluding that science has not confirmed accepted theories on LGBT issues including the belief that homosexuals are “born that way.” Because of this they reject medical intervention for children on the grounds that most such children outgrow these tendencies that conflict with their biological sex.
Many other studies reach the same conclusion. Should our government mandate such transformational actions that are not founded in sound science? The answer to clear-thinking Americans is a resounding “NO”.