By the grace of God, Local Law B was tabled in committee and was not even introduced for a vote in the Albany County Legislature. Vocal opposition and prayers from the citizens of Albany County were the only reasons this bill, once considered a fait accompli, was blocked.
Like David, when we show up in faith, we can slay the giants.
The Association of Politically Active Christians official position regarding Albany County’s proposed amendment to the Omnibus Civil Rights legislation labeled Local Law No. B for 2004.
Local Law No. B should be amended to exclude all references to gender. The proposed legislation is unconstitutionally vague. It also appears to lack any legislative findings indicating a need for such legislation. Further, it creates a protected class defined by a behavioral choice, not an immutable characteristic. Conferring legal status upon transsexuals will open a Pandora’s Box which will ultimately undermine Equal Protection and Objective Law. It is our position that the legislation is also far to the left of the vast majority of Albany County residents, and that most residents would be aghast to know that such legislation would even be seriously considered. We strongly encourage the Albany County Legislature to decline to extend civil rights protections to include “gender” as defined in the bill.
In spite of voluminous evidence to the contrary, homosexual activists, major media, and some politicians insist that transgender behaviors cannot be helped, that individuals practicing such behavior are “made that way.” Adolph Hitler once observed that “if you tell a lie long enough, loud enough, and often enough, the people will believe it is true.” If the world is convinced that some people are indeed born transgender, then some would feel there is a need to protect this group legislatively as a designated minority class. Attempting to protect behaviors as “civil rights” is not only an affront to those who have and continue to struggle for equality because of ignorance and/or hostility toward their sex or skin color, but is a slippery slope that could effectively lead to government endorsement of any number of actions, not characteristics, that various groups will argue give them a right to minority status.
In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Gender Identity Disorder (GID) is listed under the category “Sexual Disorders and Dysfunctions.” To directly quote the DSM-4: “Theories suggest that childhood issues may play a role in this disorder… Symptoms [include] a strong and persistent identification with the opposite gender. There is a sense of discomfort in their own gender and may feel they were ‘born the wrong sex.’”
Another disorder, Transvestic Fetishism, is listed in under the category of “Paraphilias and Sexual Disorders.” Again, quoting directly from the manual: “There are different theories related to this disorder… suggest[ing] that childhood trauma… or significant childhood experiences can manifest itself in exhibitionistic behavior. This diagnosis is used for heterosexual males who have sexually arousing fantasies, urges, or behaviors involving cross-dressing. To be considered diagnosable, the fantasies, urges, or behaviors must cause significant distress in the individual or be disruptive to his or her everyday functioning.” Please note that the DSM-4 in no way attempts to assign these behaviors to genetics, but rather to environmental factors experienced in early childhood.
Many have asserted that a transgender condition is unchangeable. Some advocate what have become known as hormone “treatments” and Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS), in spite of the language in the DSM-4 that advocates a prognosis of treatment with the goal of quote: “acceptance of assigned gender and resolution of other difficulties such as depression or anxiety.” Contrary to what some assert, there are many significant ethical questions regarding treating GID with hormones (such as concerns over side effects) and/or SRS.
Consider the plight of Yosef Kirchner. Sixteen years ago, he underwent SRS at a cost of $100,000. He now regrets that decision. In his own words, Mr. Kirchner elaborates:
“I was a straight boy who was confused. Females were familiar, men were the mystery. My mom always put men down and kids teased me at school… I was so confused that the only way I could figure out what was going on was to have sex with a man… I was pushed into homosexuality… I began to rationalize that I might be a woman, which conveniently explained my sexual desire for men. I went to a psychologist. Soon, I was taking hormone therapy and preparing to be surgically altered. . . .”
Even though he longs to revert to a male body, with his DDD-chest and fully-feminized face, he has no choice but to carry on, even as he saves for the cost-prohibitive reversal surgery. Almost everyone in Kirchner’s community thinks he is a woman, but he knows differently. “It wasn’t a sex change, because it didn’t change my sex,” he insists. “It only masked my true sex with a surgical appearance of female genitalia.”
(Annabelle Robertson, “Transgender: Nature, Nurture and When it all Goes Awry,” accessed at URL: http://www.crosswalk.com/news/1278894.html).
Another anonymous man who underwent SRS twenty-years ago describes why he made the decision to have SRS-reversal surgery (yes, there is such a procedure):
“I'm choosing to return to being a male because when it comes down to it, I really am a male. There are some things deep inside a person that a sex change can never change...and becoming the male I never allowed myself to be is going to be rewarding to me. It will be really nice to not have to pretend being a girl anymore. Being transgendered and pretending to be other than the gender you were born with is something that will most likely never leave you. It's always there in the background reminding you and haunting you. For many this leads to suicide.” (Accessed at URL: http://www.realityresources.com/postoperative_2.htm).
It is our position that the Albany County Legislature should not encourage people to adopt a “transgender” identity when there is ample evidence to show that this identification can lead to destructive behavior that threatens both the mental and physical health of the person involved.
Extending civil rights protections to “transgendered” persons in Albany County will play out in the public schools. Faculty and staff who find the behavior offensive in an educational environment will leave our schools in droves, and our children will be subject to spectacles similar to what students at Eastchester High School (Westchester County) witnessed in 2001. A male teacher, Randy Gordon, was awarded the 2000-2001 school year off – with pay – to undergo sex-change surgery. He then returned to school to teach as a woman, Randey Michelle Gordon. After teaching as a woman for about half the year, Gordon took an indefinite leave of absence and is currently receiving state disability benefits. (Jayne J. Feld, "Teacher fights for sick pay," The Journal News (Westchester County, NY), June 25, 2002, p. 1A)
The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) already has an established presence in our public schools. Visiting the group’s website, one finds the principal evils they seek to overcome are not harassment or violence, but "homophobia" and "heterosexism." "Homophobia" is a term that stigmatizes those with traditional values by implying that they have a mental illness, even though recent research has concluded that "homophobia" in this clinical sense actually does not exist ("Disgust, Not Fear, Drives Homophobia, Say UA Psychologists," University of Arkansas News Releases, June 7, 2002 (Accessed at URL:http://advancement.uark. edu/news/2002/JUN02/Homophobia.html)).
"Heterosexism" is defined by GLSEN as the belief "that heterosexuality and a binary gender structure are the norm.” The group now classifies “heterosexism” with "ideological systems that deny, denigrate, and stigmatize people" that should be "undone." ("From Denial to Denigration: Understanding Institutionalized Heterosexism in Our Schools," Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network, April 30, 2002, p. 1, accessed at URL: www.glsen.org/binary- data/GLSEN_ARTICLES/pdf_file/1312.pdf)
The fight for the acceptance of transgenderism is often compared to the “civil rights” movements of racial minorities and women. Civil rights leaders strongly reject this assertion. Jessie Jackson in an article published by the Boston Globe last February, is quoted as saying: “Gays were never called three-fifths of a person in the Constitution...and they did not require the Voting Rights Act to have the right to vote.” Using the camouflage of innate civil liberties, activists are able to divert attention away from their behavior, and focus on their “rights.”
Alan Chambers, a formerly homosexual man who serves as President of Exodus International, a national organization that reaches out to homosexuals with a message of hope and healing, lists the five key objectives of the homosexual agenda:
- Talk about gays and gayness loudly and as often as possible (have you watched TV or gone to the movies lately?).
- Portray gays as victims, not as aggressive challengers.
- Give gay “protectors” a just cause.
- Make gays look good.
- Make those opposed to the homosexual agenda look bad.
According to law professor James Jacobs and lawyer Kimberly Potter, in a 1998 book on Hate Crimes legislation, to some activists quote, “[i]t is strategically advantageous to be recognized as disadvantaged and victimized…the greater a group’s victimization, the stronger its moral claim on the rest of society.”
Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen, authors of “After the Ball,” write: “In any campaign to win over the public, gays must be portrayed as victims in need of protection so that straights will be inclined by reflex to adopt the role of protector…Gays should be portrayed as victims of prejudice.”
The organizations and individuals supporting the proposed Human Rights law amendment have engaged in tactics startlingly similar to those described above. In fact, the first organization to speak at the recent public hearing on the subject on October 26th was the Empire State Pride Agenda, New York’s aptly named statewide homosexual rights organization. It is transparent that the proposed legislation is designed to further blur the already murky lines between the sexes so that the laws of Albany County and the State of New York encourage and promote their behavior.
Conclusion
We oppose the portion of this proposed amendment defining gender as:
“[the] actual or perceived sex and shall include a person’s gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior or expression, whether or not that gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior or expression is different from that traditionally associated with the legal sex assigned to that person at birth.”
· · What does “actual or perceived sex” mean?
· · What aspects of a person’s appearance or behavior would be protected as “gender” under this amendment, and who/what/when/where/how would these aspects be determined?
· · At what age does a child gain the ability to “perceive” his or her gender identity?
· · What is to prevent a disgruntled employee motivated by malice alone from dressing up as a member of the opposite sex to spite their employer and/or pave the way for future litigation, and how is the law to make a determination that THIS type of cross-dressing behavior is not genuinely “transgender?”
- Will adding “gender” as defined by Local Law No. B to the County’s existing Civil Rights Law afford opportunities for some to gain access to places they would otherwise not be permitted to go?
- What will compliance and/or litigation related to including “gender” as a protected Civil Right cost Albany County business owners, taxpayers, school districts, and not-for-profit organizations, and what exactly will compliance look like?
On the federal level, protected classes under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 tend to share the following common elements:
- A history of longstanding, widespread discrimination;
- Economic disadvantage; and
- Immutable characteristics.
While some protected categories (religion, for example) may not involve “immutable characteristics,” protections are in place because of public policies in favor of protecting traditional American freedoms. There is no corresponding public policy in favor of crossdressing or transsexualism, and there is no evidence that there should be such a policy. Such a policy would involve a finding that these behavioral choices create positive consequences for the larger society. We assert that it is the function of the Albany County Legislature to legislate based upon the best interests of all the people, not just small special interest groups who are interested in changing the legal environment of our community, and ultimately New York State, to favor their positions.
To leave you with an idea of what this new legal environment looks like, consider what took place Easter Sunday, 1999, in San Francisco. Easter Sunday is a time when many choose to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a sacred time for Christians, but not to the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.” This group of “activists” celebrated this day by dressing up in drag as nuns, and throwing a party the size of a city block. The festivities included a “Hunky Jesus” beauty contest, fake nuns dressed in fishnet stockings and heels, and the “Pope Dementia.” Does this sound outrageous? The Sisters received unanimous approval from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to close a public section of a city street for this “celebration.” The group makes it a focal point to mock, ridicule, and demean beliefs held by others, and they are legally given a pass to do so.
This stands in contrast to what recently took place in Philadelphia on October 10th of this year. Eleven Christians were arrested and charged with three felonies and five misdemeanors, including criminal conspiracy, rioting, and “ethnic intimidation.” What did the group do? They were peaceably sharing the Gospel during “Outfest,” a homosexual event, when some activists calling themselves the “Pink Angels” confronted them outside of the entrance to the event. Police arrived and ordered the Christians to leave. The group was arrested after they refused, stating that they had a right to remain on public property. Commenting on the fact that the entire incident was captured on videotape one of the eleven individuals who was arrested said:
“The police’s blatant disregard of the law by allowing hecklers to impede our way, block our message, and then to arrest us, is inexcusable, especially by police officers who are specially trained to protect civil rights… We are clearly not guilty of these crimes, and with the help of our video footage, we shall be vindicated of these trumped-up charges” (accessed at URL: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40929).
Crossdressing and transexualism are not identities. They are forms of behavior and patterns of thinking that psychiatrically are often classified as disorders according to the DSM-4. While individuals are free to express themselves in this manner in the United States, this behavior is no more deserving of special civil rights protections than does the “right” to overeat or the right to wear facial hair. How a person chooses to dress should not be a criterion for special civil rights protections. More importantly, behavior that is or can be a sign of a psychiatric disorder should be met with treatment options, not protective legislation.
We strongly urge each member of the Albany County Legislature to insist that the proposed amendment to the County of Albany’s Local Law No. 1 be rewritten to exclude all references to “gender.” If this proves impossible, it is our position that this legislation should be defeated outright.