White Conservative Christian Heterosexuals Don't Have To Be Assholes, And Yet....
Too many of them are assholes for it to be a coincidence
Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.
Mark Twain
(thanks to Erin Reed for the inspiration)
I never would’ve thought this could have even been a matter for debate, but evidently it is. It appears some folks believe they have an inalienable right to bully transgender people because…well, because transgender people make them feel all icky and uncomfortable.
Worse, some of these fine, upstanding Americans also believe they have a right to engage in racial discrimination- because being a White Conservative Christian heterosexual gives one the freedom to piss on just about anyone Not Like Them. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Thankfully, our judicial system takes a dim view of that flavor of White supremacy.
A federal judge, Judge Algenon Marbley, ruled over the weekend that the U.S. Constitution likely does not guarantee a "right to bully transgender students" in Ohio. The decision came in response to a lawsuit by Parents Defending Education, an organization that opposes LGBTQ+ rights and has also spoken against policies aimed at preventing racial discrimination. The group has also advocated for book bans related to LGBTQ topics and "critical race theory" in schools. The lawsuit aimed to overturn a policy protecting transgender students in the Olentangy Local School District from harassment based on sexuality and gender identity, part of the district's broader anti-bullying measures.
The policy in question provides protections for transgender students, as well as students from other marginalized groups, from identity-based harassment and bullying.
Suppose the argument is that the only students worthy of protection from bullying are the offspring of White Conservative Christian heterosexuals. That’s a very discriminatory and self-superior case to be made, no?
What is it about transgender students that makes them unworthy of protection from bullying and that, in effect, places a target on their backs? Why should such protections be held to apply only to the offspring of White Conservative Christian heterosexuals who are themselves heterosexual?
Parents Defending Education (PDE) is a misnomer if ever there was one. The only thing PDE is defending is White Conservative Christian heterosexual privilege. But PDE has filed suit, and the group primarily objects to two sections of the student rule book:
Identity-based harassment is banned, with identity-based harassment being “based on race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), disability, age (except as authorized by law), religion, ancestry, or genetic information (collectively, ‘Protected Classes’) that are protected by Federal civil rights law[.]”
Derogatory language is against the rules, “defined as verbal or written comments, jokes, and slurs that are derogatory towards an individual or group based on one or more of the following characteristics: race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation and transgender identity), disability, age, religion, ancestry, or genetic information.”
So is PDE seriously arguing that only White children who identify as heterosexual should be protected from identity-based harassment? Are they OK with other students being thrown to the wolves, knowing how cruel elementary and middle-school students can be to one another?
It does appear by their argument that their case revolves around the contention that the only class deserving of protection from identity-based harassment is White Conservative Christian heterosexuals. Those who fall outside that class don’t and shouldn’t be considered a “protected class.”
Parents who filed a lawsuit through the Parents Defending Education organization objected to these provisions, arguing that students had the right to intentionally and repeatedly misgender their transgender classmates and peers, citing their "sincerely held religious beliefs." They sent emails to school administrators specifically inquiring if students could engage in this behavior. When told it would not be allowed, the parents objected and filed the lawsuit. Their ultimate goal: to overturn the policies protecting transgender students from bullying entirely.
“Sincerely held religious beliefs?” Who does PDE think they’re kidding? In Christianity, no provision or grace is allowed for harassing those children because of their transgender identity. Jesus Christ preached tolerance, acceptance, understanding, grace, and love…among other caring and positive qualities. He never preached against homosexuality or transgender people. Yet far too many of his “followers” believe that their “Christian faith” is predicated upon allowing them to be hateful, bigoted trolls to members of the LGBTQ community.
It’s disgusting and utterly un-Christian. Even as an atheist, I understand that much about Christianity. The Prince of Peace was about love and tolerance, not hatred and discrimination. It would appear the PDE and other members of the American Taliban either never got the memo or chose not to read it because they found it inconvenient.
The judge disagreed with the rationale, noting significant case history protecting people from marginalized classes from harassment and abuse based on their identities. He utilized statistics showing that transgender people are at high risk of harassment and abuse in school. He also pointed to decades of precedent giving schools the right to regulate hate speech that could be disruptive to the education environment and speech that directly attacks other students based on protected characteristics, stating that “the intentional misgendering of other students constitutes verbal bullying.”
Nothing in Judge Marbley’s ruling breaks new ground; it’s not a radical ruling. More than anything, it’s pure common sense and compassion. He’s simply speaking the truth about the rights of schools to regulate hate speech and minimize disruption of their educational environment.
Verbal and physical bullying should never be part of anyone’s school experience. I can speak to this with some authority. I was bullied frequently and often publicly during my 7th- and 8th-grade years. At least now, there’s a growing awareness of bullying and its harmful impact on a learning environment. When I was in junior high school, adults around me knew what was happening, but no one- not a single teacher or administrator so much as lifted a finger to help me.
That PDE is essentially advocating to allow bullying of transgender students is unconscionable. I hope every last one behind their lawsuit will roast in their version of Hell until they’re charcoal dust.
Fortunately, the bastards didn’t prevail (and how are these people even allowed to breed?).
[T]he judge concluded that there is no right to misgender and bully trans students in the US Constitution. He rejected claims by the organization based in the 1st and 14th amendment, noting that 1st amendment rights see significant curtailment when it rises to the level of harassment and bullying in schools. He also noted that the 14th amendment, while interpreted to allow parents to direct the upbringing of their own children, does not give them the right to direct how a public school teaches or disciplines their children. In doing so, the judge denied the motion for a preliminary injunction.
We should be grateful that Judge Marbley ruled that our schools shouldn’t be dog-eat-dog, survival-of-the-fittest environments. Just as in the adult world, children in schools should be expected to live by basic rules of etiquette:
You don’t get to “deadname” transgender students because you don’t like or respect the reality that they’re transgender. They have a name- use it. Respect them as you would expect them to respect you.
Don’t be an asshole. That’s self-explanatory.
Bullying is verboten. Period. End of story. No questions are allowed. Just don’t do it.
Verbal harassment is also beyond the pale. If you wouldn’t want someone to do it to you, don’t do it to them.
Your opinion of someone else is not their reality. They get to live their life in a way that’s genuine and authentic TO THEM. Your opinion of that isn’t worth s**t.
I hope all the adults involved with PDE have a reserved parking space waiting for them in whatever version of Hell they believe in. They richly deserve it.
As an atheist, I don’t believe in their Hell or their God, but neither do I think they have any right to advocate for allowing children to bully other children who are transgender.
That’s about as pathetic as it gets. Adults should be setting an example of kindness and tolerance, not facilitating bullying.
Go to Hell. Go directly to Hell. Do not pass “GO.” Do not collect $200. And may you roast eternally in the Hell you work so hard to scare your children with.
Fundamentalism is the mental disorder, regardless of what it happens to attach itself to. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism; hell, even "science" -- when it becomes "scientism" -- treated as fundamentalist dogmatism is a signifier of an underdeveloped or even damaged mind.