State Bills on the Wrong Side of History
“They never get anything done” is a common complaint about our politicians, but when you look at the legislation they have proposed or passed, you might want them to work even less. The following bills are state legislation, all from the past three years and are either proposed or have already passed. Strap in guys, this is going to be a rough ride.
LGBT Rights
This may shock some people: The SCOTUS decision to allow gay couples the right to marry was not the end of the civil rights pursuit for the LGBT community. Steps have been made in the right direction, such as banning conversion therapy for minors in states like CA and NY. Oklahoma however, decided to go with just the opposite: There is currently legislation under consideration to essentially ban banning the “therapy” and to allow parents to force their children to undergo this “treatment.” There is also a bill, again in Oklahoma, that would prevent LGBT youths from seeking counseling from therapists who are “queer-friendly.” Given that LGBT youth are four times as likely as straight youths to attempt or commit suicide, this bill is essentially condoning the death of at-risk minors.
Oklahoma isn’t the only state denying help to children: Both Michigan and Alabama have pending bills to ban same-sex couples from adopting children. There are almost 18 million orphans in the world, and over 100,000 adoptable children in the U.S. alone. Fewer than 8,000 are adopted every year. Just to reiterate: Michigan and Alabama politicians would rather have those remaining 92,000 children without stable, caring homes than allow same sex couples adopt.
I remember growing up seeing those “we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone” signs in businesses; it usually translated to “I know we’re at the beach, but put on a shirt before you come in my ice cream store, please.” I take no issue with private businesses choosing not to serve customers. It makes zero business sense, and when word gets around that they engage in that behavior, that business will go under quickly enough. Kentucky wants to make it specific: religious people can discriminate against LGBT customers. They aren’t the only ones: Nevada and Indiana are on board too. And Nevada has gone so far as to say that not only is discrimination against customers acceptable, but against employees is as well. Oh, and then there’s Arkansas. This one actually passed into law: no city or county can provide more protection in housing and employment than the state provides (and the state provides none).
Finally, Missouri. Missouri looked at all these other state laws and said, “Mine!” Adoption? Not for LGBT families. Employment? Not if the employer is religious (notice that I said employer- it’s important to remember that businesses can’t have religions). Homeless and gay? Please find a nice spot on the sidewalk, you’re not welcome in Missouri shelters. Want to file your taxes with your same-sex partner? Too bad. Oh, and don’t even think about ordering a cake for your wedding if you’re gay. Businesses can throw you right out.
Women’s Rights
Oooh, look, a 2016 Presidential candidate made the list. John Kasich, Governor of Ohio, went ahead and took a little break from his campaign to defund Planned Parenthood in his state. I don’t have to tell you that Planned Parenthood offers many more services than abortions, so if that is your issue with them, just remember that low-income women in Ohio now don’t have access to affordable birth control, annual cancer screenings, STD tests and prenatal care.
And we’re back to Kentucky. You remember those trans-vaginal ultrasounds being in the news a few years ago? The Bluegrass State just caught up with the story, and instead of noticing that people were outraged, a bill requiring them just passed through the House. Luckily, Kentucky women aren’t taking this lying down (I am so sorry for that pun). On Twitter, the hashtag #AskBevinAboutMyVag was trending after the news broke, with hilarious results, and one female politician drafted a brilliant piece of spoof legislation. It would require men to prove marital fidelity and have a permission slip from their wives to be allowed to get a Viagra prescription.
Religious Rights
I know we already talked about adoption, but it bears repeating: There are over 100,000 adoptable children in the U.S. And Alabama doesn’t want to stop just same-sex couples from adopting them, but also inter-faith couples, “nones” (atheists, agnostics, humanists), or even those who don’t follow the specific religion endorsed by a particular adoption agency. Those same couples can also be denied marriage licenses in the state, and adoption agencies are allowed to deny adoption to an unmarried couple and to single parents.
Finally, we land in Idaho. Idaho is one of several states that have banned Shari’ah law without actually understanding what that means. Banning religious practice is not only illegal, but demonstrates incredible cognitive dissonance. As The Daily Show put much more beautifully than I ever could, a law in Alabama meant to ban Shari’ah effectively banned any Christian-based law. It is also banning something that was never a “threat”: There was no attempt to implement Shari’ah law in any U.S. law, so the politicians lobbying to ban it were simply doing so to show that they don’t like Muslims.
Still with me? This list is not even close to comprehensive, and if you’ve stuck it out this far, I’m proud of you. Maybe it will inspire you to get active in politics and let your representatives know that they have to actually represent citizens, not their own ideals. Here’s your reward for making it to the end:
PHOTO CREDITS:
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