The Right Opinion
As gender identity ordinances and bathroom battles sweep the nation, ordinary Americans have had to confront the question of whether their long-standing beliefs about the sexes are based on biology or bigotry.
While the debate has polarized many, it has also served to unite exceptionally unlikely allies. In something of an historical first, self-professed radical feminists and conservative women are tabling their ideological differences and standing in solidarity against gender identity legislation, which they have come to recognize as threatening the civil rights of women.
The Hands Across the Aisle Coalition is a bi-partisan group of women who have committed to working together and leveraging their collective resources and platforms to oppose aspects of the transgender movement.
The following is the transcript of my introduction at an event I hosted at the Heritage in which five of the coalitions leaders offer a perspective the mainstream media too often ignores on this very important issue. I also encourage you watch the entirety of the event posted in the video below.
Thank you, John, and thank you everyone for joining us today for what promises to be an informative and enlightening conversation from voices the mainstream media has ignored. Id also like to thank the Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute for co-sponsoring todays event.
For the past several years, all across America, parents, teachers and local school districts have been having conversations about how best to accommodate the dignity, privacy and safety concerns of students who identify as transgender while also addressing the dignity, privacy and safety concerns of other students.
Solutions were found, such as the creation of single-occupancy restrooms and changing facilities for students who identify as transgender while retaining girls' and boys' rooms for biological girls and boys. But activists attacked these commonsense compromise policies as transphobic.
Then, last May, the Obama administration said that a 1972 law settles all of these issues: Students are to be treated the same based on their gender identity, regardless of their biological sex. On May 13, 2016, the Obama Administration Departments of Justice and Education sent a Dear Colleague letter to our nations schools informing them that going forward both federal agencies [would] treat a students gender identity as the students sex for purposes of enforcing Title IX.
The result of this decree was that schools would have to allow students access to bathrooms, locker rooms, dorm rooms, and hotel rooms for overnight field trips based on the self-declared gender identity of the student.
But then on August 21, federal judge Reed O'Connor blocked the decree from going into effect in all 50 states. The judge ruled that the attempt by the Obama administration to redefine sex was unlawful, writing that it cannot be disputed that the plain meaning of the term sex as used following passage of Title IX meant the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students.
The Obama Department of Justice appealed this ruling in October. But just last Friday, the Trump Department of Justice withdrew that appeal and cancelled oral arguments that were to be heard this week.
Judge O'Connor got it right. The Obama administration was unlawfully rewriting federal law. The term sex is not ambiguous, and is not subject to executive branch agencies redefinitions to now mean gender identity.
But in addition to being unlawful, the Obama administrations Dear Colleague letter is bad policy. Thats the focus of todays panel.
Today we will hear from five women, from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, explaining why the Obama-era rules turn the purpose of Title IX on its head. How the rules turn a law meant to protect women and girls into a law that allows men who claim to be women the right to enter women-only spaces. How the Obama-era rules favor the concerns of students who identify as transgender while entirely ignoring the concerns of other students. Legitimate safety, privacy, and equality concerns exist, and the Obama administration ignored them. Today, well hear about those concerns.
Let me briefly introduce our panelists.
Miriam Ben-Shalom is an educator and activist who made history for being the first person to be reinstated to the military after being discharged from service for being openly lesbian.
Kaeley Triller Haver is a rape survivor whose personal experience inspired her political activism on womens privacy and safety. She serves as the Communications Director for the Just Want Privacy Campaign in Washington State.
Kami Mueller is the CEO of the Mueller Group, a communications firm. She played an integral role in the communications efforts defending the states controversial privacy law (HB2).
Mary Lou Singleton is a midwife and a feminist who is an active member of the Womens Liberation Front (WOLF), the radical feminist organization that filed a lawsuit against the Obama Administration to restore Title IX rights to women and girls.
Emily Zinos is a stay at home mom who works with the Minnesota chapter of the Ask Me First campaign, a project sponsored by the Family Policy Alliance to defend the safety and privacy of women and children.
Unfortunately due to a family medical emergency Emily is unable to be with us in person today. Mariam will read the remarks that Emily had prepared for todays event.
Following the panelists' opening remarks, Ill open the forum to questions and answers.
Let me conclude by saying that up until last years prime-time interview of Bruce Jenner (as he was then called), many Americans had never had a conversation about transgender issues. Its a conversation we need to have. But the Obama administration tried to shut down these discussions before they had even taken place. The Obama administration attempted to force a one-size-fits-all policy on the entire nation rather than allow parents and teachers and local schools the time, space, and flexibility to find nuanced solutions that respect everyone.
For many Americans, gender identity concerns are a new reality. Rather than follow the Obama administrations rush to impose a top-down solution on the entire country, we should encourage the American people to have these conversations, consider all of the relevant concerns, and make policies that will best serve all Americans. Todays event is at the service of fostering such conversations. Please join me in welcoming our panel.
Republished from The Heritage Foundation.
Read more here:
Ryan T. Anderson: Biology Isn't Bigotry: Why Sex Matters in the Age ... - Patriot Post
- Howard H. Seliger, Hopkins biology professor - January 1st, 2013 [January 1st, 2013]
- General Biology-Concepts and Investigations - Video - January 31st, 2013 [January 31st, 2013]
- Biology Reproduction part 13 (Sexual reproduction: Flower Structure) CBSE class 10 X - Video - January 9th, 2014 [January 9th, 2014]
- How far can a Buddhist approach to biology take us? - January 14th, 2014 [January 14th, 2014]
- Biology revision song on protein synthesis by Andrew Perkins - Video - January 30th, 2014 [January 30th, 2014]
- Scientific Evidence for Creation CSE BIBLE FORUM Origins 1212 Dr Seuss Biology - Video - February 9th, 2014 [February 9th, 2014]
- Synthetic biology lab backed by 2 million award - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Vanguard High teacher wins 2014 Shell Science Lab Challenge - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Biohacking and the problem of bioterrorism - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Synthetic genetic clock keeps accurate time across a range of temperatures - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Math modeling integral to synthetic biology research - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Vacancies in biology dept. impact course options - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Dr. Joshua Reece Earns Best Presentation Award At Conference - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Life Science Reference - Biology Online - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- 9th Grade Biology: A Hectic Introduction to Mammals - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Theism vs Evolution, Biology, and History - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- AP Biology Ch.49 Circulatory System Livestream - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- AP Biology Review Cards - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- AP Biology - Chapter 49 Circulatory System Part 1 - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- MSc Biology and PhD Boreal Ecology - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Whale tales: Students set sail for biology class research - April 10th, 2014 [April 10th, 2014]
- Barnard biology professor honored with Emily Gregory award for teaching - April 10th, 2014 [April 10th, 2014]
- biology: Definition from Answers.com - Answers - The Most ... - April 10th, 2014 [April 10th, 2014]
- Biology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - April 10th, 2014 [April 10th, 2014]
- Bridging the Brain Disease Knowledge Gap through Computational Modeling and Systems Biology: An O... - Video - April 10th, 2014 [April 10th, 2014]
- Sharpening microscope images: New technique takes cues from astronomy, ophthalmology - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- COLLEGE NEWS: April 13 - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Eureka Once, Eureka Twice - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Biology - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- The Art of Nutrients - Biology Song - 'Counting Stars' Remake - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Biology - The Nervous System - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- OCR AS BIOLOGY: - Cell Structures - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Evolutionary Biology Research / F. Robin O'Keefe and Julie Meachen / Page Museum - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- What Is a Thyroid In Biology? : Let's Get Medical - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Red Ice Radio - Sofia Smallstorm - Hour 1 - Chemtrails to Pseudo-Life & Synthetic Biology - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- STARNES: Did professor advocate censorship of conservative student newspaper? - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- German Research Foundation approves new priority program in the life sciences - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Announcing BioCoder issue 3 - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Poetry by Linda Bierds, Buddhism and biology - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Digestion - Biology Music Video - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- AS Level Biology- Edexcel/SNAB- Unit 1 Revision Notes - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- The Anatomy Of The Heart - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- #OilerNation Biology Program Q & A Hangout - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Northwestern University researchers on synthetic biology - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology (Vienna) - Video - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- Biology 1B - 2014-04-14 - Video - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- AP Biology Review 3/7: Cell Energy - Video - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- MCB 410: Developmental Biology - Video - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- Dyslexic Advantage - UCSF Symposium - Dr Fumiko Hoeft - Biology of Stealth Dyslexia - Video - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- Life cycle of Silkworm- Insect Molecular Biology Lab, Dr.M.Krishnan, Bharathithasan University. - Video - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- Tracking flu levels with Wikipedia - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- Biology major Katharine Leigh '15 wins Udall scholarship - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- First in the nation: UW-Madison establishes post-doc in feminist biology - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- Biology Project: Predation - Video - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- Report Focussing On Biology Underlining - Video - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- edX | MITx: Quantitative Biology Workshop: 7QBWx About Video - Video - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- Cell Mediated Response (Erdmann's 2B-3 AP Biology) - Video - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- Biology Plantae part 13 (Mosses: structure, life cycle, mosses vs leafy liverwots) CBSE class 11 XI - Video - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- Biology - Photosynthesis - Video - April 19th, 2014 [April 19th, 2014]
- The Genie in Your Genes: Epigenetics and Biology of Intention - Video - April 19th, 2014 [April 19th, 2014]
- Introduction to Synthetic Biology Andrew Hessel - Video - April 19th, 2014 [April 19th, 2014]
- Teacher of Biology - April 21st, 2014 [April 21st, 2014]
- Biology - Osmosis - Video - April 21st, 2014 [April 21st, 2014]
- UW to host first feminist biology post-doc program in nation - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- The Biology Project: Cell Biology - University of Arizona - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- The Biology Corner - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- Rader's BIOLOGY 4 KIDS.COM - Biology basics for everyone! - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- Stanford CF Education Day 2014 Understanding the Biology - Video - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- 9th Grade Biology: Hectic Introduction to the Human Organ Systems pt.1 - Video - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- Honors Biology and Biology Mrs. Ellis - Video - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- Biology professor researches parasites - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- TRANSCRIPTION-Biology - Video - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- 2014 Interdisciplinary Innovation Forum: "Mathematical Biology" - Video - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- This Week in Genome Biology - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]
- Biology - Calvin Cycle - Video - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]
- Systems biology course 2014 Uri Alon - lecture 3: FFL and more - Video - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]
- Systems biology course 2014 Uri Alon - lecture 2: Auto regulation - Video - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]
- Systems biology course 2014 Uri Alon - lecture 1: Basic concepts - Video - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]
- 9th Grade Biology: Hectic Introduction to the Human Organ Systems pt.2 - Video - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]
- Have Atheists Hijacked Biology? - Video - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]