California State Senator Scott Weiner, feeling empowered by the lack of a conservative movement in his state, is attempting to criminalize traditional values. His “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Long-Term Care Facility Resident’s Bill of Rights,” which was recently passed by the state senate, would make it a crime to “misgender” nursing home residents by referring to them according to their birth names and the sex inferred by their chromosomes.
Generally, traditionalists reject the “progressive” premise that society should treat men as if they were women so long as they claim to be women and vice versa. We don’t think it is appropriate to open all locker rooms, bathrooms, showers and sports teams to people of all biological sexes.
We acknowledge that there are real, measurable differences between men and women and that these differences should be reflected in some areas of society. Floyd Mayweather should not be in the boxing ring with a woman. Young boys and girls should not be in locker rooms with unrelated adults of the opposite sex, sometimes showering within arms-reach of them. Women should not be forced to compete against men for athletic scholarships. Society can function properly only if these distinctions are acknowledged and respected. I contend, if I could be so bold, that the claims made in this paragraph are self-evident moral truths that any clear-thinking individual would recognize.
Senator Weiner has other ideas about how society should function. He believes that nursing home staff who point out inherent differences between men and women should be jailed. The current bill would apply only to patients in nursing homes, but there is very little doubt that California progressives aspire to expand the bill’s application once it’s in place. Eugene Volokh, a UCLA law professor who specializes in First Amendment issues, wrote for The Washington Post that
“this proposed statute would on its face extend beyond just speech to the client, and would also cover speech about the client (since the relevant pronouns, whether ‘he,’ ‘she,’ ‘ze’ or anything else, are third-person pronouns that are generally used when talking to someone else about the person). And it strikes me as pretty unlikely that, if this law is enacted, such prohibitions would be limited just to this scenario (compare the official New York City Commission on Human Rights guidance, which says that ‘intentional or repeated refusal to use an individual’s preferred name, pronoun or title’ could lead to massive fines when done by any employer, landlord, or business or professional).”
It appears likely the bill will be passed and enacted into law. It has already passed the state senate and received unanimous approval from the state’s house judiciary committee. America’s largest state may soon be erasing biological truth and compelling Californians to accept biological falsehoods.
As Washingtonians, it is important to keep an eye on what is happening in New York, Oregon, and California. These are the states where the progressive left has total control. That which is proposed in California today could very easily be proposed in Washington tomorrow. Just look at the Washington State Department of Health’s announcement that it will pursue a “third-gender option” on Washington birth certificates. Unfortunately, California isn’t the only state attempting to use legislation to change objective truths.
“For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable – what then?” -George Orwell, 1984
James Silberman is a guest contributor to the FPIW Blog. He is a pro-life activist from Gig Harbor, WA, and a student at Whitworth University.
