New Maryland law makes transgender discrimination illegal

SFJEFF · May 19, 2014

I don't see any reason why transgender people should be discriminated against in employment or housing.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/20...14_1_bills-o-malley-bathroom-bill-transgender

Gov. Martin O'Malley signed legislation Thursday making Maryland one of a handful of states to extend anti-discrimination laws to protect transgender people.

The transgender rights legislation, which prohibits discrimination in employment and housing, was one of scores of bills O'Malley signed during the last scheduled public signing ceremony of his eight years as governor.

The governor handed the pen he used to sign the transgender protection law to Sen. Richard S. Madaleno, a Montgomery County Democrat who fought for eight years to persuade his colleagues to pass it.

"It provides important protections for people who are just trying to live their lives," Madaleno said afterward. "They won't get thrown out of their homes, out of their jobs, out of a restaurant, just for being who they are."

The transgender rights measure could face a challenge at the polls in November. Conservative opponents have launched a petition drive, hoping to collect enough signatures to put it up for a referendum vote. They have dubbed it the "Bathroom Bill" because it protects a person's right to use restrooms for the gender with which they identify.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...fbb722-a3c8-11e3-84d4-e59b1709222c_story.html
The legislation called the Fairness for All Marylanders Act of 2014 bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and sexual identity but includes an exemption for religious organizations, private clubs and educational institutions. It defines gender in terms of a persons consistent and sincere expression of sexual identity based on appearance, expression or behavior, regardless of biological sex at birth.

waltky · Feb 12, 2016

Granny says, "Dat's right - she don't want no man peekin' at her inna bathroom...

Transgenders: We Dont Need Men and Predators Going Into Womens Bathrooms Thats Wicked
February 12, 2016 | Commenting on the need for Christians to run for public office, Rev. Franklin Graham said that when Christians do not get involved, political garbage is the result, and he noted in particular a mayor in Charlotte, N.C. who is pushing a pro-gay agenda to allow transgenders to use the bathroom of their choice.

Thats what happens when Christians dont vote, said the reverend, who added that the result was wicked and evil. Men belong in mens bathrooms and women belong in womens bathrooms, and we dont need men and predators going into womens bathrooms, Im just telling you, he said. Rev. Graham made his remarks during a stop in Atlanta, Ga., on Feb. 10 as part of his Decision America Tour 2016, a 50-state campaign recently started where he holds prayer rallies and urges people to get involved in the electoral process. Rev. Graham has not endorsed any candidates for office and has said he has no faith in either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, but that his faith is in God.

In his talk, the reverend said, Have you thought about mayors races? How important mayor races are? And how we need Christian mayors across this country. Could you imagine the impact if every community and every city across this great land of ours was run by Christian men and women in that office as mayor, the difference that that would make in our cities, if we had Christian mayors? he said. We had a recent election in Charlotte, and about 90% of the Christians stayed out of that election, said Rev. Graham. It was an election for the mayor. And we got a woman and her goal is the gay-lesbian agenda, trying to get transgenders into the bathrooms. So that if a person wakes up in the morning and they feel like theyre a woman, thats a man, and he wants to go into a ladies restroom, then they can do that, said the reverend.

And thats her goal. And I can tell you right now that thats wicked and thats evil, said Rev. Graham. Men belong in mens bathrooms and women belong in womens bathrooms, and we dont need men and predators going into womens bathrooms, Im just telling you. Now, thats what happens when Christians dont vote, he said. Thats what we get, this is the kind of garbage we get. We need men and women who will stand up for truth. Franklin Graham, 63, is the son of world-renowned preacher Billy Graham. He is married and has five children, and he oversees the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the international Christian relief group Samaritans Purse.

http://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael...need-men-and-predators-going-womens-bathrooms
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'No Matter What is Happening in Your Life, If You Follow The Lord You Are Going To Be in Great Shape'
February 12, 2016 | Former NFL coach Tony Dungy recently addressed the NFL Super Bowl 50 Breakfast. His talk focused on establishing a relationship with God.

Dungy, who coached the Colts to a Super Bowl victory in 2007, talked about his teenage son Jordan, who has a congenital defect that prevents him feeling pain. Jordan has had over 30 surgeries due to injury, and Dungy used it as an example of the importance of people having God to help prevent them from self-injury. Dungy said in part:

There are people out there like Jordan, going through life thinking everything is fine, and they don't feel pain. But they're really doing damage to themselves, and they're doing things that take them off track and away from the Lord. And the Lord is trying to get their attention and they arent seeing it, they arent feeling it even though there are things wrong. God is still out there for them and still hoping they'll come back. In contrast there are people who all you do is feel pain. Everything hurts. You cant understand why these things happen in your life, why you got fired, why youve had these problems. God is still there for you also, hes just waiting for us to say, 'I need to follow the Lord and have things respond in the right way.' I know thats been the impact that Jordan has had on his peers -- no matter what is happening in your life, if you follow the Lord, you're going to be okay. Physical pain, physical deformities, thats not a big deal. But if spiritually you are right, you are intact, youre going to be in great shape.

Dungy added: If football is your entire life and you dont have the right relationship with the Lord, you are going to be messed up. He then quoted Mark 8:36, which states, "What would it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" Dungy ended his talk with a prayer and received a standing ovation from the audience. The Super Bowl Breakfast featured the presentation of the Bart Starr Award to Thomas Davis of the Carolina Panthers, voted on by his peers in the NFL, for outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community.

http://www.cnsnews.com/blog/mark-ju...your-life-if-you-follow-lord-you-are-going-be
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waltky · Apr 20, 2016

Separate Bathrooms Based on Biology struck down in federal court...

Fed Court: VA, MD, WV, NC and SC Schools May Not Provide Separate Bathrooms Based on Biology
April 20, 2016 | On Tuesday, the Fourth Circuit Court ruled against a Virginia school district that sought to accommodate a transgender student while also protecting the privacy rights of other students.

The court concluded that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexshould be interpreted as prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity, as a Department of Education letter suggested in 2015. The ruling allows a lawsuit brought by a transgender student to proceed. The case involves a biological girl who identifies as a boy. The courts majority explains it this way: G.G.s birth-assigned sex, or so-called biological sex, is female, but G.G.s gender identity is male. Note the scare quotes around what the court calls so-called biological sex. Biological sex, in fact, is precisely what Congress protected in 1972.

In a stinging dissent, Judge Paul Niemeyer points out that the majoritys opinion, for the first time ever, holds that a public high school may not provide separate restrooms and locker rooms on the basis of biological sex. Its hard to imagine that thats what Congress was prohibiting when it enacted Title IX in 1972. Indeed, the courts ruling goes against human history, practice, and common sense. Niemeyer explains:

This holding completely tramples on all universally accepted protections of privacy and safety that are based on the anatomical differences between the sexes. schools would no longer be able to protect physiological privacy as between students of the opposite biological sex. This unprecedented holding overrules custom, culture, and the very demands inherent in human nature for privacy and safety, which the separation of such facilities is designed to protect. More particularly, it also misconstrues the clear language of Title IX and its regulations. And finally, it reaches an unworkable and illogical result.

Niemeyer even points out that students have privacy rights to not have students of the other biological sex in their locker rooms:

Across societies and throughout history, it has been commonplace and universally accepted to separate public restrooms, locker rooms, and shower facilities on the basis of biological sex in order to address privacy and safety concerns arising from the biological differences between males and females. An individual has a legitimate and important interest in bodily privacy such that his or her nude or partially nude body, genitalia, and other private parts are not exposed to persons of the opposite biological sex. Indeed, courts have consistently recognized that the need for such privacy is inherent in the nature and dignity of humankind.

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waltky · May 16, 2016

Granny says, "Dat's right - dey's young an' impressionable...

Transgender Decree Undermines Privacy Rights of Other Students
May 13, 2016 | Today, the Obama administration issued a decree not simply banning discrimination against transgender people, but also effectively mandating affirmative accommodation of them in terms of things like access to locker rooms and bathrooms. Its reasoning is very dubious. Although it was addressed to schools and colleges, if its reasoning is accepted, it could lead to lawsuits against private employers under Title VII. Past bathroom disputes have led to costly lawsuits and substantial settlements against businesses.

The decree was issued pursuant to Title IX, a federal statute that only bans sex discrimination in education. The Education Departments Office for Civil Rights, where I used to work, now interprets the federal ban on sex discrimination as also covering discrimination based on gender identity: Gender identity refers to an individuals internal sense of gender. A persons gender identity may be different from or the same as the persons sex assigned at birth. This interpretation is very strange, because ones internal gender identity is not always the same thing as ones sex. Thats why transgender people go to the trouble of getting a sex change: they are not the sex they want to be.

Its also why legislation has been proposed in Congress to expand federal antidiscrimination laws to cover gender identity, rather than just sex. Congress has declined to pass such legislation, but now, the Obama administration has effectively legislated on its own, by decree, in violation of the Constitutional separation of powers, which vests legislative power in the legislative branch, not the executive branch. Private employers will also face pressure to follow the Obama administrations demands, since the Obama administrations reasoning is not education-specific, and could thus easily be extended from Title IX (governing schools) to Title VII (governing workplaces). Title IX and Title VII are often (but not always) interpreted the same.

This decree is bureaucratic overreaching, because Title IX forbids sex discrimination, not discrimination based on gender identity. And it forbids discrimination, not failure to accommodate. Courts have rejected efforts to convert federal antidiscrimination statutes into duties to affirmatively accommodate, as they made clear in upholding Californias ban on race and gender-based affirmative action against Title IX and Title VII preemption challenges. (See, e.g., Coalition for Economic Equality v. Wilson (1997)). While the Constitution may provide transgender people with certain additional rights, the Obama administration lacks jurisdiction over such matters under the Title IX statute.

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'The Party of Science Ought to Know That Sex Is a Matter of Chromosomes'
May 16, 2016 | Columnist George Will says there are three "lessons" to consider in the Obama administration's "guidance" to public schools that they must start treating students "in a manner consistent with the student's gender identity" instead of their biological sex.

"The party of science ought to know that sex is a matter of chromosomes," Will told "Fox News Sunday." (The Obama administration frequently points to the "science" of climate change to push its clean energy agenda.) In the "significant guidance" issued on Friday, the Justice Department told public schools that "as a condition of receiving federal funds," they must treat boys as girls -- and vice-versa -- depending on a student's wishes. "This means that a school must not treat a transgender student differently from the way it treats other students of the same gender identity," the guidance said.

Will noted that the federal guidance is not mandatory, but it does allow the Justice Department to dodge the Administrative Procedures Act, which requires public hearings and public comment. "Three lessons here," Will said. "Most...public schools, every institution in America, is so tied in with federal money that as soon as they take the pieces of silver, they become appendages of the federal government and subject to this kind of unilateral executive edict. "Second, this is bound to be a stimulus -- and this is the good side of it -- to the growth of private education in this country. People say, we really don't want to be in public schools if they are manipulated this way.

"But, third, the most important thing about this is the manipulation of language. George Orwell's 1984 novel was a genius because it said that if government controls language, it has ultimate control. The '64 Civil Rights Act bans discrimination on the basis of sex. The administration is saying sex is a synonym for gender identity. Not true. "The party of science ought to know that sex is a matter of chromosomes. And the -- those advocating for transgender rights have been saying for years that indeed it is a matter of sexual gender identity that is not the same as sex. So what is sinister here is the -- is the president saying the language of the law simply doesn't mean what it says."

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article...rty-science-ought-know-sex-matter-chromosomes
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White House Suggests Just Putting Up Curtains Will Protect Privacy in Transgender Locker Rooms
May 13, 2016 White House Spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Friday that the Department of Education issued specific suggestions today along with its directive that federally funded schools nationwide must allow students to use bathrooms and locker rooms according to their "gender identity" and that one of those suggestions was "just putting up curtains" in school locker rooms.

There are some school districts across the country that have sought to enhance the privacy of their students by making relatively minor changes to shared use facilities, Earnest said. In some cases that means just putting up curtains, so that people are, have more privacy when they are changing their clothes or taking showers in what had previously been shared use facilities. The Department of Education and Justice Department issued guidance on Friday saying public schools nationwide must treat transgender students in a way that matches their gender identity not their biological sex.

The challenge here is not to isolate anybody. It is not to discriminate against anybody. Its not to make anybody unsafe. It is actually to ensure that our schools are as inclusive and respectful and safe as they can possibly be, and thats why the guidance that weve put forward includes tangible specific suggestions for how that can be achieved, Earnest said. Earnest said putting up curtains in school locker rooms is something that benefits all students, and that is what we are looking for solutions that protect the safety and dignity of every single student in the school.

When asked about the threat that schools who do not follow the governments guidance on ensuring transgenders access to the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice, Earnest said it is his strongly held belief that most schools, school districts, and administrators will welcome this guidance and will implement it. For those that dont, there is an established process for them to raise any concerns that they may have. There is an established process for that, and well go through it, but the vast majority of schools and school administrators will incorporate this advice as they confront the challenge of ensuring that theyre promoting the kind of respectful, safe learning environment that can ensure the success of all of their students, he said.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article...ts-just-putting-curtains-will-protect-privacy
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waltky · May 25, 2016

Granny says, "Dat's right - she don't want nobody tellin' her where she can go pee...

11 states sue over Obama's school transgender directive
May 25, 2016 Texas and 10 other states are suing the Obama administration over its directive to U.S. public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

The lawsuit announced Wednesday includes Oklahoma, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, Arizona, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia. The challenge, which asks a judge to declare the directive unlawful, follows a federal directive to U.S. schools this month to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. The Obama administration has "conspired to turn workplace and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights," the lawsuit reads.

Many of the conservative states involved had previously vowed defiance, calling the guidance a threat to safety while being accused of discrimination by supporters of transgender rights. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has said "there is no room in our schools for discrimination." Texas' lieutenant governor has previously said the state is willing to forfeit $10 billion in federal education dollars rather than comply. The directive from the U.S. Justice and Education Departments represents an escalation in the fast-moving dispute over what is becoming the civil rights issue of the day.

Pressed about whether he knew of any instances in which a child's safety had been threatened because of transgender bathroom rights, Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said "there's not a lot of research." He said he his office has heard from concerned parents, but didn't say how many, and said he did not meet with any parents of transgender students before filing the lawsuit. Two school districts joined the states in the lawsuit: one is the tiny Harrold school district in North Texas, which has 100 students and passed a policy this week requiring students to use the bathroom based on the gender on their birth certificate. Superintendent David Thweatt said his schools have no transgender students to his knowledge but defended the district taking on the federal government. "It's not moot because it was thrusted upon us by the federal government," Thweatt said, "or we were going to risk losing our federal funding."

The question of whether federal civil rights law protects transgender people has not been definitively answered by the courts and may ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court. But schools that refuse to comply could be hit with civil rights lawsuits from the government and could face a cutoff of federal aid to education. The guidance was issued after the Justice Department and North Carolina sued each other overs a state law that requires transgender people to use the public bathroom that corresponds to the sex on their birth certificate. The law applies to schools and many other places. Supporters say such measures are needed to protect women and children from sexual predators, while the Justice Department and others argue the threat is practically nonexistent and the law discriminatory.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/11-states-sue-over-obamas-school-transgender-directive
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RichT2705 · May 25, 2016

SFJEFF said: ↑

The transgender rights measure could face a challenge at the polls in November. Conservative opponents have launched a petition drive, hoping to collect enough signatures to put it up for a referendum vote. They have dubbed it the "Bathroom Bill" because it protects a person's right to use restrooms for the gender with which they identify.
Click to expand...

Translates to this bill allows Men to say they're Women and follow your Wives and Daaughters into the Bathrooms, Locker Rooms, Changing rooms etc etc.

Hopefully sanity prevails in the end.

The legislation called the Fairness for All Marylanders
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Except of course the above mentioned Females that dont want men around when they're most vulnerable. Love the way these lies are presented dishonestly to the public.

waltky · May 26, 2016

possum wonderin' why he can't be an Indian chief?...

If gender is fluid, what about race and age?
May 25, 2016 - What standard are we going to use to define facts and truths? If something as clear as ones sex is up for grabs, what isnt?

I was crunching my abs at the gym a few weeks ago when my pale male friend asked: What if I told you I believe I am African-American? I grunted. That I am a lesbian? Grunt. Or I truly think I am 70 years old? I seized on my opening: We all feel like that, especially here. His queries seem far less funny -- and far more interesting -- after the Obama administrations sweeping action regarding HB2 and transgender rights. A dispute about bathroom rights turned into a Pandoras box of philosophical riddles about the nature of identity and the meaning of truth on May 13 when the Departments of Justice and Education issued a letter prohibiting discrimination based on a students gender identity.

The letter defines gender identity as an individuals internal sense of gender. It also states there is no medical diagnosis or treatment requirement that students must meet as a prerequisite to being treated consistent with their gender identity. Lets unpack this. Medically, transgender feelings are defined as a condition, gender dysphoria, with a range of recommended treatments. These can include psychological counseling, hormone therapies or even surgery. Doctors are not sure whether transgender feelings are consistent with mental health. There is no dispute that childhood is a confusing time. Studies show that most children with gender dysphoria grow out of it during puberty. By age 16, research suggests, those who still feel they are trapped in the wrong body may continue to do so.

Lo, the administrations lawyers have resolved these medical debates, declaring that gender dysphoria is normal and that there is no need to refer children expressing such feelings to a doctor. While dispensing medical advice, the letter also changes the English language, conflating sex and gender. Sex is a biological fact. Almost everyone is born with distinct physical markers that define us as male or female. Gender is a social construct that refers to the fluid range of expected behaviors taught to boys and girls. The most obvious examples are appropriate clothing and make-up. At a time when many boys mousse their hair and wear not one but two earrings and when more men are staying home to care for their children, it is clear that gender markers and roles are in flux.

As a sign of its politically correct confusion -- and its legal gymnastics -- the administrations letter describes the biological fact of sex as a societal choice: a persons sex, it claims, isnt observed but assigned at birth. It engages in this sleight-of-hand because the 1972 law whose authority it is using, Title IX, mentions only sex, not gender, and so it must equate the two. Though the administration might have the best of intentions, its fusion of sex and gender raises complex questions. Race, for example, is even more of a social construct than gender. Men and women will always be biologically distinct, but race is almost entirely an invention. It wasnt too long ago that Italians, Jews and Aryans were considered separate races.

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SFJEFF · May 26, 2016

RichT2705 said: ↑

Translates to this bill allows Men to say they're Women and follow your Wives and Daaughters into the Bathrooms, Locker Rooms, Changing rooms etc etc..
Click to expand...

Holy Flashback Batman! Someone is commenting on my post made 2 years ago!

What was I thinking when I said:
I don't see any reason why transgender people should be discriminated against in employment or housing.

Clearly since May, 2014- the End of Times has come to Maryland because Marylanders can no longer discriminate against transgender people in employment or housing.

LOL

SFJEFF · May 26, 2016

RichT2705 said: ↑

Except of course the above mentioned Females that dont want men around when they're most vulnerable. Love the way these lies are presented dishonestly to the public.
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And where does this bill say anything about bathrooms?

Love these lies being spread by the right wing.

RichT2705 · May 26, 2016

SFJEFF said: ↑

Holy Flashback Batman! Someone is commenting on my post made 2 years ago!

What was I thinking when I said:
I don't see any reason why transgender people should be discriminated against in employment or housing.

Clearly since May, 2014- the End of Times has come to Maryland because Marylanders can no longer discriminate against transgender people in employment or housing.

LOL
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Hahaha, was it 2 years ago?

Well crap, didnt even notice the date. With all the transgender threads of late, it fit right in. Your post did however mention the bathroom bill, which is a current issue today, so Im sure you can understand why this would come off as a current topic to the unwary.

RichT2705 · May 26, 2016

SFJEFF said: ↑

And where does this bill say anything about bathrooms?

Love these lies being spread by the right wing.
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LOL, I guess the age of the thread tripped up the OP as well eh Jeff?

Right in the middle of your post....

The transgender rights measure could face a challenge at the polls in November. Conservative opponents have launched a petition drive, hoping to collect enough signatures to put it up for a referendum vote. They have dubbed it the "Bathroom Bill" because it protects a person's right to use restrooms for the gender with which they identify.
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Things can go from snarky jabs to "oops I stepped in it" pretty quick cant they Jeff?

SFJEFF · May 27, 2016

RichT2705 said: ↑

LOL, I guess the age of the thread tripped up the OP as well eh Jeff?

Right in the middle of your post....

Things can go from snarky jabs to "oops I stepped in it" pretty quick cant they Jeff?
Click to expand...

LOL- yes and no.

I read the language of the bill- and there is nothing in that bill about bathrooms or restrooms.

But yes- I did miss that Conservative were calling it the 'bathroom bill'

LOL

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New Maryland law makes transgender discrimination illegal

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