A few days ago, it was suggested that I write a post analyzing Colorado’s new law, signed by Governor Ritter, extending anti-discrimination protections to cover sexual orientation. This law has been given a lot of attention nationwide, mostly due to Focus on the Family being against it. It has been described as a power grab by the homosexual lobby, and yet another attempt to shove the agenda of a 1-2% minority down the throats of the majority, thereby further tearing down the moral fabric of our society. Or something like that.
Dr. Dobson seems to think that all this bill will do is make crazy queers pop up in bathrooms all over the state, where they can prey on our children. The proponents of this bill say that it will simply extend protections to a group of people that have been discriminated against in many facets of life. Somewhere in the middle is the truth.
So, let’s take a look at the bill itself:
SB-08-200: Concerning the Expansion of Prohibitions Against Discrimination
(That there is a PDF file, so if you don’t have Acrobat, go get it)
First, we get to this controversial bit, defining “sexual orientation”:
“SEXUAL ORIENTATION” MEANS A PERSON’S ORIENTATION TOWARD HETEROSEXUALITY, HOMOSEXUALITY, BISEXUALITY, OR TRANSGENDER STATUS OR ANOTHER PERSON’S PERCEPTION THEREOF.
OK, well, that seems pretty complete, but what in the world is “transgender status” and what is “another person’s perception thereof”?
Well, I suppose that “transgender status” refers to people undergoing “gender reassignment” surgery. OK, I think these people have something very, very wrong with them psychologically, but this does not mean that I would want them to be discriminated against. I would want them to get help, but unfortunately the psychologists that might help them have all been co-opted by the gays so that they won’t do that. So it falls to others to minister to them and help them get past the feelings that they are a man/woman trapped in a woman’s/man’s body and be happy to be themselves. And let me suggest that it doesn’t really help matters that those who might do such ministering are often judgemental about it, or that those who try to minister are often criticized by the gays for trying to do so.
On to the “perception” business: so now I can’t be seen to discriminate against someone because I “perceive” them to be either straight, gay, bi, or transgender, even if they’re not what I think they are? This sounds like a law meant for “Lyle The Effeminate Heterosexual”! I bet Dana Carvey thought that character was just a joke when he invented it, and now he’s influencing public policy.
Well, guess what? This just means that anybody can be sued now under this law for just about any reason. What a way to write a law; thanks Colorado Democrats!
Continuing through the bill, it redefines the civil rights commission, including this bit:
The membership of the commission shall at all times be comprised of at least four members who are members of groups of people who have been or who might be discriminated against because of disability, race, creed, color, sex, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, national origin, ancestry, marital status, religion, or age.
This seems to me to be defining people not as individuals, but as members of groups, and is in direct contradiction to how I (and most conservatives) view people. Since the commission has only seven members, I doubt they would include someone like myself, an able-bodied, Caucasian, Christian, white, male, straight, Texan, Scots-Irish, married, Christian, Generation-X’er. Jiminy Christmas, just think of the permutations required to create an absolutely fair membership for this commission.
OK, further into the bill, we find a plethora of places where the term “sexual orientation”, as defined above, has been added to anti-discrimination protections.
These are: restrictive covenants; private clubs not open to the public but have a purpose of promoting discrimination; rental properties; financial assistance; publications or ads about rentals; real estate transactions; MLS listings and real estate brokers; representing properties; misrepresenting properties; property appraisers; places of public accomodation; patronage just about anywhere; consumer credit; joining labor unions; labor for public works; auto insurance; insurance licenses; cemetery space; funeral services; cremation services; school enrollment; jury service; charter school enrollment; boards of education; school district hiring, employment, and enrollment; pilot schools; teacher transfers; state university system; university housing and dining facilities; job promotions; availability of contraceptives; merit systems to be subject to being fair; enrollment in managed care plans; low-income housing; orphanages and other charities; clubs that discriminate will not be exempt from income tax;
These are NOT: private clubs not open to the public; churches, synagogues, mosques, or other religious places
Then there are the penalties and civil liabilities for those who violate these laws, which include FINES and JAIL TIME. Good grief.
Then there is the prohibition of the publishing of “discriminative matter”. I’m not sure how the Colorado legislature thinks it can pass laws that restrict our First Amendment protections, but they seem to have done so. This might result to the Bible being litigated against as it has been in Canada!
Then they finish up with the appropriations needed for this law, and some other legislative stuff at the end of the bill.
Well, I’m pretty exhausted already reading through all this stuff. I didn’t realize that people were being discriminated against in so many areas! For the most part, I agree that “sexual orientation” should be added to the anti-discrimination codes in most of those areas. After all, these people do exist, and they don’t deserve to be treated poorly. However, this bill goes way overboard, and there are two main areas that I will strongly disagree with, namely the “public accomodations” and schools.
First, it is the “public accomodations” that set off Dr. Dobson and his acolytes. A literal reading of this bill does seem to mean that anyone should be able to go into any bathroom. Well, where do you think these people are going to the bathroom now? They have to answer nature’s call somewhere. Now, I happen to listen to a local radio host, Mike Rosen, and once a month he interviews the Governor. In the most recent interview, Mr. Rosen and Governor Ritter discussed this issue, and Ritter’s response to the whole “sexual predators in the bathroom” issue was this:
There are already laws in place prohibiting sexual predation in bathrooms, and any of these people who think they can use SB-200 as a way to get around it will find themselves sadly mistaken.
I would suggest that anyone who feels that a bathroom is being used inappropriately should still confront such persons, but in such a case should get police or security involved as soon as possible. Yes, you might end up in court, and yes, that’s really really stupid, but you do need to protect your children in public restrooms no matter what. I’m sure Dr. Dobson will help find you a lawyer, since he’d love to overturn or redefine this law.
Second, in the area of schools: OK, so they can’t discriminate against students, teachers, or other employees based on the complete set of criteria. This is fine, up to a point. I would certainly not want my children taught by someone I objected to. However, when you hand your children over to the public school system, you also hand over control over such things to that system. Well, guess what? That’s one of the many reasons why we homeschool! If you don’t/can’t homeschool, then you might have an objectionable teacher in your kid’s classroom. Too bad for you, at least in Colorado. Maybe you can afford private school or get them in a charter school, where you take a chance yet again. I would think you would also quit electing Democrats (and RINOs) to the legislature or your school boards, but so it goes.
Well, that’s about it for my analysis. Read the bill for yourself and see what you think. And remember, you might think this sort of law won’t be passed in Texas, but whatever starts in California usually spreads across the country, like this business did to Colorado. Be ever vigilant.
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28 Responses to “Colorado SB-200: An Analysis”Search
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Any of y’all that know how to shrink this post down with a “more” link after third paragraph, could you please do that? I can’t figure out how to do that.
One thing for sure, we can no longer count on the courts to save us from idiotic legislation anymore.
God hates fags. Right?
I do have a zero tolerance for idiots –particularly legislative idiots such as in the US Congress, US Supreme Court and a large passle of Texas Legislators.
Astrosmith’s filibuster was a little confusing. Is he for it or agin’ it?
Homosexuals are liars–to themselves; to nature and to God as are their political pimps like Obama.
Lets keep things a little simpler
At least we know John McCain will not be worried about this matter during his first 100 days.
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/06/28/audio-comprehensive-immigration-reform-will-be-my-top-priority-yesterday-today-and-tomorrow-says-mccain/
#3, now what in blue blazes, after reading my post, makes you even think for one nanosecond that I should be lumped in with those morons at Fred Phelps’ Church of Hate?
Do you have problems with reading comprehension?
Let’s see, I said that I do not want the people defined by the bill under “sexual orientation” to be discriminated against. I implied that Dr. Dobson was exaggerating a bit with his whole scare tactic about sexual predators in the bathroom. I said that these folks exist and don’t deserve to be treated poorly.
Good grief. Well here’s a shorter summary for you:
I don’t hate gay people, and believe that they should have all the rights that everyone has. I do not appreciate, however, having their gay-this, gay-that, gay-everything agenda being forced down everyone’s throat all the time.
Now, under this law, if you object to having said agenda shoved down YOUR throat, then you are violating THE LAW. And that’s just plain ridiculous.
Oh yeah: and while I don’t agree with gay marriage, I don’t see a problem with civil-union type arrangements. But that’s just me.
bob42, did you forget your chill pill today? I don’t see anything in this post that called for attention to be brought to Fred Phelps and his family.
I’ve been thinking what I would suggest should have been done instead of what was done with this bill.
If I were the governor, I would have vetoed it.
If I were a senator or congressman, I would have tried to get the “another person’s perception thereof” language struck, and I would have defined “transgender status”. Then, I would have tried to get JAIL TIME taken out of the law as a possible punishment for the whole realm of discrimination. Fines, yes, but jail time? For a civil matter?
Then, I would work to have another bill that would make it easier to get actual sexual predators out of our school system, because this bill protects the whole category of possible sexual criminals behind the facade of anti-discrimination.
But of course, since I would be a Republican in a Democrat-controlled legislature, my ideas would go nowhere and I would have voted against this bill’s passage.
Actually, I wouldn’t be elected in the first place because of my support for some sort of civil unions.
Astrosmith, I’m pleased to meet you and am glad to know that you apparently don’t hate fags.
BigJ, I don’t ever do chill pills, but do suggest that Mr. Dobson provides the logical link to the Phred Felps philosophy in the linked article.
Gee whiz Jimmy, when my daughters were little I frequently held their hands as we entered men’s public restrooms. It wasn’t a big deal.
Dobson unfairly connects gays with predators, and actively encourages fear of them. Such is the essence of the “gay agenda” that exists chiefly in small minds such as Jimmy’s and Phred’s.
fwiw, I think the CO legislation goes overboard in a few places where it needlessly expands government interference. But what do you expect? It’s Colorado!
OK, bob42, nice to meet you too.
Did you miss this little bit from my post?
What I meant by this is that it doesn’t help anyone for Christians to always be preaching against gays without actually trying to talk to them, understand them, and minister to them. And then, when there are some Christians who do this, they are criticized by the other side for trying to help gays come out of that lifestyle.
So I was speaking out about hate and hateful acts on both sides of the issue!
And yep, it’s Colorado. We need more Texans up here; there are too many Californians.
Hey, thanks for fixing the “more” thing, and now I see how to do it!
When are we going to start legislating to protect obese people? They are discriminated against. There is proof people treat them differently. Should we require airplanes to proved two seats at no extra charge? Should we make potty stalls bigger, so they won’t be embarrassed? Should we make sure every laugh, comment, and rude individual is punished for hurting the feelings of the obese person? Should we change clothing sizes so there is not ” Plus size” discrimination
I don’t think we can legislate sexually different people into normal, and that’s what they want.
In fact, if you can’t tell already, I’m sick of gays pushing their agenda onto me. I’m tickled to death my kiddo is 23 and not 5.
On a one to one basis, people make friends with people who are whatever whenever. It’s overcome at that point.
The founding fathers didn’t care much about gays, fat people, bald people, mentally impaired people. They figured people would have to make their own way.
And another thought. We are so horrid in this country that we have Dr’s bending over backwards trying to turn these people into whatever they choose. We have provided funding, and research to try to make their lives whatever they want them to be, but it’s not enough. We also have tackled the diseases that are unfortunately attached to some of this behavior, and spent more money than I can add up to help them stay well. The Governor of Colorado and every other weak kneed, need votes politician can KMA when it comes to stuff like this.
The “shove it down our throats” comments are a little too inuedoish for me. Nevertheless, It is true that ‘they’ want to put’us’ on the defensive. We are in a troublesome situation with the LAW and with PC. The thing we have yto realize, is, that they wont ever stop advancing thier cause. it’s a case of give an inch they’ll take a mile. My Gay friends and relatives are great people, but we have to protect the basis for our freedom….. Faith. This land, whether you know it or not, is a ‘Blessed’ land to the civilizations that follow God. When we don’t, we will be swept off. ( The Book of Mormon)
Might I suggest you try one?
I am not a great supporter of James Dobson, just search what I’ve written about him and you will find that statement to be true.
But bob42, to put James Dobson in the same universe as Fred Phelps is just plain ludicrous.
I’ve stood in the pouring rain to shield families from seeing the hate of Fred Phelps and his family.
What have you done?
Hi;
May I interject a real life situation. I’d like to hear your guidance on this.
My mother was given a drug to take to lessen the chance of miscarriage and promote healthy babies — that’s what the doctor told her. The drug is Diethylstilbestrol, or DES. In male fetuses, it feminizes the brains of one in five of us ‘DES sons’.
I finally came to terms with this, and realized my choice was transition or die. So, I’m now a male-to-female transsexual who’s had ‘the operation.’ I’ve changed all my legal paperwork and although I still have a male body with XY chromosomes, it has been retrofitted to approximate female anatomy, which is good because if I ever end up in an accident, there will be no ’surprise’ for the first responders.
I ‘pass’ very well, thank you. Only rarely do strangers figure out I was not born this way. Most people have to be told, by me, or, more often, by someone else who just has to ‘drop the bomb’ that I was born with a male body.
So my question to you is — knowing what you know now about me, and assuming for the moment you get absolute power to label me and make determinations on where I can and can’t go —
-Which restroom and changing facility do you feel I, a male-to-female transsexual, should use when in public spaces?
-Am I immoral?
-Am I a paedophile?
-Am I tearing down western society in support of a deviant agenda?
-Am I selfish?
I eagerly await your responses;
Hazumu Osaragi
Hazumu:
By your own statement, you “pass” very well. Most people never notice that you are transgendered. So, go the women’s room, use the bathroom, and don’t make a big deal about it.
As to your morality, that’s between you and God.
Are you a pedophile? I hope not - if you are I hope they catch you and lock your sorry a$$ up for ever.
Are you tearing down society? No. And quite giving yourself airs.
Are you selfish? Possibly.
Look, if we can just get back to the definition of “tolerance” that the dictionary uses, things will be a lot clearer. You have the right to live whatever life style you choose, as long as you keep it out of my face and work within the confines of polite society. You do NOT have the right to force me to approve of your lifestyle, affirm your life style, say your life style is “OK”, or admit that your lifestyle is the moral equivalent of mine. And, you do not have the right to teach children that your lifestyle is perfectly acceptable.
That’s how I define “tolerant”.
Well stated Fat Albert, and American Woman!
Hazumu, I do feel sorry for you situation, and hope that you realize that I don’t wish you ill at all, and in fact wish the best for you. Nor would I suggest that you should be discriminated against in almost all the areas defined by Colorado’s bill.
To answer your questions, I would echo #18.
Best of luck to you.
Hazumu, Thank you for sharing your life experience here. You handled a very difficult and personal situation with stoic dignity, and I’m proud of you for doing so.
BigJolly, I’m not a bit surprised that you’re not a big Dobson fan, and I applaud you and the other members of the PGR for all you do protect the privacy and dignity of grieving families from loud mouthed nut jobs such as Westboro “Baptist Church.”
While Felps and his small but hateful band of inbred imbeciles disgust me, Dobson infuriates me.
He distorts the truth and plays on the irrational fears he instills in millions who listen to his programs. In more than one of his books and brochures, Dobson states that 80 percent of all children in Norway are born out of wedlock, and blames it on “the gay agenda.” Actually Jimmie boy, roughly 50 percent of births in that country are out of wedlock. It was a trend that started in the ’70s. Norway did not start recognizing same-sex unions until 1993.
When Dobson and his hydra-headed organizations stop broadcasting lies and promoting an agenda based on fear and discrimination, I might just pop a “chill pill.” But of course, by then I won’t need one.
If anyone is interested in hearing the truth about “The Gay Agenda” I suggest you get it from people who actually know what they’re talking about.
bob42,
It is pretty much impossible to discuss this with you rationally because of your emotional involvement in the issue.
For whatever warts he has because of his political involvement, James Dobson has helped millions of families through the years and that is a fact.
Soulforce is nothing more than a cheap publicity filled stunt benefiting a group that is trying to normalize the abnormal. Unlike those of us who tend to keep our abnormalities under wraps (whatever they may be), these guys want it to be in your face and every street corner turned into the equivalent of the Fulsom Street Fair.
There is NO TRUTH in Soulforce.
Hazumu,
Your post triggered my curiosity, so I did some research. I can’t find any reputable scientific support for the theory that DES “feminizes” the brain of male children. I’m not arguing, just curious. Is there actual verifiable research or just speculation and theories? If so could you point me in the right direction?
Thanks.
BigJolly, I’ve enjoyed the conversation, and am in full agreement with you on Dobson’s warts as well as the beneficial aspects of FOTF. (His tapes about relationships were helpful to me.)
Despite the fact that Dobson and his arm’s length, socially intolerant PACs tick me off to the Nth degree, I’ve attempted to keep my comments rational and based in fact, and have explained why I think it is fitting to mention Dobson in the same sentence as other world class homophobic power hungry dominionists. He surrounds himself with them.
That strikes me as emotional.
Got linkies?
You’ve already provided the link. Add to that the show they put on here in Houston trying to meet with Joel Osteen. Add to that the fact that they did this around the country, most recently (I think) at Rick Warren’s Saddleback in CA.
Emotional? Read your comment - distorts, irrational, Jimmie-boy, hydra headed, promoting an agenda based on fear and discrimination….you know, those things.
I forgot to ask: how was the parade this year?
If anything, the demise of the Westheimer Arts Festival is reason enough to rally against the homosexuals. Classic example of taking over something respectable and turning it into something else.
Is there a specific page at Soulforce.com that supports your statement, BigJolly?
It’s a fact that Dobson and his gang (”hydra-headed” refers to the numerous organizations and PACs affiliated with FOTF) purposefully distort the truth, promote an irrational fear of homosexuality, and strongly endorse discrimination based on sexual orientation.
I’ve been pretty vocal in some of my previous comments on this issue, but at least there are quite a few LST readers that have said they don’t have a problem with civil unions, and I respect that rational viewpoint.
Dobson & Co. are against civil unions, and actively support legal discrimination. I have zero respect for their actions, and rationally express my disrespect through terms such as “Jimmie-boy.”
There’s was a pretty good, if lengthy, discussion of Soulforce’s picnics in this reader blog over at the comical.
And guess what? Nobody had sex of any kind.
#26 Thanks for asking. I wasn’t able to attend the parade this year, but the festival held earlier Saturday was nice. I met a lady there that I hope to see again soon.