Tags
#AddTheWordsIdaho, argument, debate, gender identity, human rights, Idaho, law, LGBTQ
Last week I poked my nose through the clouds and basked in the wonders of a country that elected Barack Obama not just once, but twice.
This week, I slipped into the gutter. For over eight years, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community has struggled for lawful recognition by the state of Idaho. Currently Idaho has a Human Rights Amendment which falls short of addressing gender equality. LGBTQ couples are not guaranteed standard human rights regarding housing, employment, public accommodation, transportation, and education in Idaho. Repeated attempts to submit a bill to the legislature to correct this omission have been denied even a public hearing.
Photo by:JOE JASZEWSKI — jjaszewski@idahostatesman.com
After last year’s very public and raucous standoff in which 44 citizens were arrested for their silent protest of denied hearings at the statehouse, this year’s bill was at least awarded a public hearing by the House State Affairs Committee.
Unfortunately, there is no time limit for testimonials at the meeting. On Monday, the committee endured two three-hour sessions of testimony split fairly equally between pro and con arguments.
I went to the evening session, intending to do nothing more than lend my body to the count in support of the cause. However, as I squirmed through inane reasoning spouted by opponents to the bill, I felt compelled to return the next day, prepared to voice my concern. I sat through three hours this morning but my number was not called.
Just retired Boise Chief of Police, Mike Masterson, awaits his turn to support legal codification of human rights for everyone. (Photo by Katherine Jones)
I understand this bill will make many uncomfortable, especially in this state. The strong Christian community for some odd reason believes it is their God-given right to pass judgement on the behavior of other people—particularly bedroom behavior. I expected a lot of bible thumping and fear mongering. But I was completely unprepared for the level of downright ignorance spouted by the majority of opponents to adding four words—”sexual orientation” and “gender identity”—to the Idaho Human Rights Bill.
I’m talking about individuals who stood at the podium for 20 minutes or more, ping ponging from one preposterous idea to the next with no logical connection or reasoning. One gentleman, going by the name of ProLife (I kid you not!), claimed in one sentence that he loves all the gay people. He loves everyone! Then he proclaimed that “Poor people are the spiritual reserve of the world.” This proud papa of 15 and grandpa of over 35 (he’s lost count) summed up his long and incoherent testimony with an entreaty to the LGBTQs to “Go home, get saved, and have babies!”
It is really hard to behave with the decorum demanded of us by the Chairman of the Committee. He had to bang his gavel pretty hard after that little gem.
Parts of the “Gay Agenda” rumor were trotted out reinforcing the notion that the gay community is determined to take over the world by such heinous crimes as “undermining the resolve of latent homosexuals so that their will becomes too weak to resist the temptations of homosexuality.” This is just the beginning, they warn!
There are wild claims that by adding these four words we are opening the door to sexual mayhem. Did you know that there are 50 types of gender identity listed on Facebook and this law will force us to recognize each and every ugly one of them? People confuse gender identity with incest, pedophilia, rape, and a host of other psycho-social disorders.
I wouldn’t complain about the variety of ideas coming from the opposition, if only these people could articulate their beliefs with a modicum of logic. I’m sure the quality of their arguments would not pass a sixth grade ISAT exam. These individuals are so woefully nonsensical and downright stupid that I am in awe of the hubris that compels them to display their ignorance with such unabashed pride.
Am I simply blinded by prejudice? Doesn’t the Pro-side also flaunt the laws of reason, step out of the bounds of logic? Not really. I listened pretty carefully and what I heard were reasoned discussions of legality, first and second-hand reports of abuse at the hands of homophobes, and impassioned descriptions of the tenuous territory upon which LGBTQ individuals must tread in Idaho: the secrecy, the fear of discovery, the confusion and dehumanizing efforts of young kids trying to be someone they simply are not.
In a few more hours, I’ll drag myself back downtown and steel myself to stand before the committee and state my case, logically and succinctly, I hope.
Rangewriter 
Bless you for going back that second day and being prepared to speak.
My daughter is “bi” and her past boyfriend was “trans”.
I am stunned by the ignorance of the right-wing, “God -fearing” folk who oppose human rights for all. It makes me want to SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAM !
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Thank you for doing this. I’m reading fear and misunderstanding from many. Would be best if people could be judged by the content of their character not sexual preference. Agree
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So true. It is the same battle that Martin Luther King lead. When I’m in the depths of despair about how many fools populate my world, I have to stop and remember how far we’ve come in my life time. From separate bathrooms and drinking fountains to the Obama White House.
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I even went back for a third day, Sybil, to no avail.
You can’t imagine how hard it was to sit and listen to some of the filth that emerged from those tearful “Christian” mouths. There was a strict protocol of no clapping, no verbal response, we weren’t even allowed to laugh…unless the Chairman cracked one of his rare, dry jokes. At one point yesterday, I was sitting directly behind a man who had testified the day before. He’s a hispanic reformed gang banger who is now a “minister” and had his wife and 9 or 10 year old daughter in tow. Earlier, he had carried on a dog-awful rambling, hateful rant against the cause. During the grippingly emotional self-outing of a trans speaker, I watched this big goon of a guy, all spiffed up in his business suit, and began to fear for all of us. The pent up anger was leaking out in his fingers which drummed nervously on the back of his wife’s chair, his crossed legs were shaking with anger, I thought I even saw tiny beads of sweat beginning to pepper his spikey scalp. You can’t believe the fears these people have:…omg…what if there’s a trans in the public restroom at the same time my daughter is in there? But people once thought they’d get sick after using the same bathroom as black people. Time will eventually erode the fears. My heart goes out to the LGBTQ community in the meantime, though.
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You go girl!
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Thanks. I went…again. Still no mic time. I’m a horrible speaker anyway, so it’s probably no loss to the cause. I turned in written testimony before I left today.
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Thank you for doing this. I’m reading fear and misunderstanding from many. Would be best if people could be judged by the content of their character not sexual preference.
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Great write-up. I was surfing the TV recently and saw a right-wing religious program where the preacher was making statements about the way the nation is going to hell with its liberalism (sinners, gays, etc) and I looked at their faces and they all had self-righteous nods with the grimmest of faces as they condemned everyone else. I go to an ” affirming” church where all are accepted and shown love. Lots of diversity and smiles there. Glad you were there.If some of what you describe wasn’t so scary, it would be downright laughable.Alberta has its far right views too but common sense won out in the courts and everyone’s rights are protected by law.
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I spent another 3 hours today, waiting my turn which never came. But at least today we heard mostly people in favor of the bill, quite a number of the speakers were pastors or ministers of churches that do accept people of all varieties. There are good people, it’s just that the bad one seem to make so much noise! I did turn in my written testimony. Who knows if it’ll get read, but I’m not sure the my verbal testimony would have been heard by the ones who need most to hear it.
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I totally agree. Their agruments are absolutely illogical. And what gives them the right to judge over other peoples lives?. Perhaps their lives are simply boring and they have nothing else to do than to dictate their crude thinking to others.
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Yes, perhaps that’s it, their lives are boring! That’s kinder than my assessment that they are just plain ignorant!
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Linda. great summary of a frustrating topic. Two comments – I watched “The Imitation Game” with my boys yesterday about Alan Turing, who with his team solved the Nazi Enigma code and shortened the war and saved millions of lives according to General Eisenhower. Yet, he was imprisoned later for “indecency” for being homosexual and committed suicide in 1954. This man was one of the greatest heroes of the war and saved countless heterosexual lives, yet was treated as criminal.
The other is in the Case Against Prop 8, where the Supreme Court agreed by allowing gay marriage, nothing is being taken away from other marriages. They will likely uphold the same-sex marriage rulings from various states this summer, as to do otherwise would be an injustice. During the Prop 8 case in CA that led to the Supreme Court ruling, there were six witnesses against same-sex marriage. After deposition, five of them backed out as there arguments were weak. The sixth crumbled in court and later wrote an Op-Ed piece that he was wrong.
If people stick with the facts and unconstitutionality of gays being treated so poorly, they will be on the side of the Angels. WWJD? He would support people being treated like he would want to be treated. Sorry for the soapbox. BTG
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No apologies needed, my friend. If you like Imitation Game, I suggest you may also appreciate Codebreakers, available for streaming on Netflix. This movie was also produced in 2014 and is every bit as good as Imitation Game, covers the same ground but in a very different way.
I went back this morning and spent another 3 hours waiting to speak. Still didn’t get my turn, but turned in written testimony. Fortunately the vast majority of the testimony today was in support of the bill. And this time, the committee adhered to a strict (almost) time limit for each individual’s time at the mic. It’s incredible how difficult it is for people to say what they mean. While I applaud the time limit, it turns out to be slightly unfair to all of us who have sat through 12 hours or more of unrestricted rambling in which some folks hogged the mic for 20 – 30 minutes at a time. At this point, there’s not much to say that hasn’t been said in 15 different ways already. I will be shocked if the bill gets out of committee. I will be as shocked as I was when Obama won…both times. I guess miracles happen. Even if it moves past the committee, the chance of it flying further is even more remote. But at least it got a hearing.
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Frustrated just reading this, can’t imagine sitting through hours of listening to the ignorance and fear. I’m not surprised, just saddened. I hope you’re right…hope time eventually erodes the fear. And hope it’s sooner vs later. Thanks for the post
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I appreciate your moral support. Sigh.
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All power to you! Standing up for yourself, and the rights of your community, is very courageous these days, at a time when the police have been given excessive powers, that lead them to take even more liberties. Literally.
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Thanks, Bryan. Oddly, the police in this case…in Boise, at least…are more sensitive than the bulk of our citizenry. Our retiring police chief got up and made an impassioned plea for codification of protections for gay and transgender people. He related some personal stories of people who suffered beatings for being who they are, stories of subsequent suicides, and how through the years of his administration, the LGBTQ community has come increasingly more apt to report these hate crimes, as they come to realize that the cops are there to protect them. Of course, I’m quite sure that this is not the case in the outlying rural areas of Idaho. There are plenty of bigoted bully cops out there.
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I suppose that when you take God and the Bible out of the discussion, and then attempt to rationalize something that is not rational, but only spiritual, one can’t help but look foolish. Much of Christian morality cannot be defended upon the basis of reason.
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At the church I go to, our Pastor says: make the door wider, not narrower. (BTW… It’s Presbyterian). No time to say more…. Gotta get to school.
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Thanks for your contribution, Kathy. Thankfully, there are faith-based organizations that work hard to be inclusive, to show love from the inside out rather than from the outside in. There were a bunch of pastors from a variety of faiths who testified very eloquently to the committee in favor of opening the door wider.
Hope you have a great day. May the kiddos return your love.
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Which is true of all religious morality, Christian, Islamic, Jewish, or otherwise. Which is why, when religions govern the world or parts of the world, we end up with utterly irrational death and mayhem. Thanks for your thoughtful response, Dink.
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