Very rarely does a perfect topic for a concise Top Comments diary present itself to me before the sweat drops start to form on my forehead on Friday evening. This morning, however, one just plopped in my lap, and I'm hoping this won't already be covered on Daily Kos before publication tonight [EDIT: And it was, by Richard Lyon, so check out his diary as well]--but if it is, this is well worth seeing a second time. Follow me below the fold...
But First, A Word From Our Sponsor:
Top Comments recognizes the previous day's Top Mojo and strives to promote each day's outstanding comments through nominations made by Kossacks like you. Please send comments (before 9:30pm ET) by email to topcomments@gmail.com or by our KosMail message board. Just click on the Spinning Top™ to make a submission. Look for the Spinning Top™ to pop up in diaries posts around Daily Kos.
Make sure that you include the direct link to the comment (the URL), which is available by clicking on that comment's date/time. Please let us know your Daily Kos user name if you use email so we can credit you properly. If you send a writeup with the link, we can include that as well. The diarist poster reserves the right to edit all content.
Please come in. You're invited to make yourself at home! Join us beneath the doodle...
|
Here in Houston, our City Council under the leadership of Mayor Annise Parker is in the process of passing an Equal Rights Ordinance. I wrote about the unveiling of that ordinance, along with a little background information, here. It is long, long overdue in a city that remains the only major American city not to have basic civil rights protections for its residents. And it should be uncontroversial. But, of course, it's not, because along with sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, marital status, military status, religion, disability, genetic information, and pregnancy (many of which, yes, would certainly still cause controversy in some corners), it also includes sexual orientation and gender identity. It's a really basic non-discrimination ordinance that covers public accommodations, city contracting, and private employment, and it's already pretty compromised in that it exempts businesses with under 50 employees from the employment protections. But it's a step forward, and it's a lot more than Parker was initially prepared to push for--LGBT and progressive activists pushed her to include private employment at all. But it's still too much for right-wing pastors and likeminded bigots that LGBT people are even mentioned in the ordinance. And there was quite a crowd of bigots outside City Hall on Wednesday when the ordinance was supposed to be voted on.
Regrettably, Parker
completely dropped a trangender-specific paragraph from the ordinance altogether in response to anti-LGBT pressure.
A paragraph specifying that no business open to the public could deny a transgender person entry to the restroom consistent with his or her gender identity had outraged conservatives. Church and Republican political leaders have used the clause to claim the ordinance "provides an opportunity for sexual predators to have access to our families."
Members of the gay, lesbian and transgender community were equally outraged, however, by a clause that would give businesses an out if the defendant had a "good faith belief" that the person's claim of being transgender was disingenuous.
The proposed amendment would remove that paragraph of the expansive ordinance. Transgender people barred access to a restroom still would be able to file a discrimination complaint to the city's Office of Inspector General under the process outlined for all protected characteristics, such as race and veteran status.
And now, after all of that, the final vote
has been delayed two weeks. However, an amendment
was adopted lowering the employment protections threshold for businesses from 50 employees to 15, so that's both good (but not perfect) news and an indication that the ordinance is headed for passage.
Mayor Annise Parker, the first openly lesbian mayor of a major American city, said she had the votes to pass the ordinance Wednesday but hopes to pick up even more before the council’s May 28 meeting. The 12-5 vote in favor of delay reflected not an erosion of support, she said, but the council’s desire to address constituents’ questions.
“There were several council members who fully intend to vote for the item who asked for an opportunity, in the interest of complete transparency and openness on this issue, to have another round of conversations with their various constituent groups,” Parker said. “This has never been about getting something rushed through. It is about getting something right.”
So now, we wait. And the bigots are going to continue to spread fear of the LGBT menace in the meantime, but it's unlikely that they're going to stop this steamroller. We shall see in a couple of weeks, but I think Houston is going to finally join the 21st century on the issue of basic civil rights.
All of that provides some background, but the subject of this diary (which is turning out not to be quite so concise after all) is a video from Wednesday's debate on the ordinance. Bigots are now trying--as you know if you've been paying attention--to hide their anti-LGBT animus, which is no longer popular or socially acceptable, behind "religious freedom." Witness the beauty of Houston pastor Becky Riggle (who is arguing for the right of a business to refuse service to an LGBT person based on "religious beliefs") actually being challenged on this by Council Member Ellen Cohen, who happens to be Jewish. Can a business, asks Cohen, then deny service because one's Jewish faith offends the business owner's "religious beliefs"? Just watch this bigot's tires spin as she is forced to unravel what she really means by "religious beliefs," as well as the full implications of her twisted ideas about "religious freedom." It's really quite fun.
A transcript, because I want everybody to get this:
COHEN: I'm sorry, let me see if I understand exactly. So you're saying if somebody does own a store or something, and I come in as a woman or as a senior or as someone who is of the Jewish faith, let's use that as an example. Suppose I come in...so they have a right to refuse business to me. Is that what you're saying?
RIGGLE: Well, I'm not-- What I'm saying is, is that if something comes against your religious belief, as in the case of a cake maker who wants the transgender or a gay couple wants to come in and have her cake-- [sic...this whole freaking quote is sic]
COHEN: I understand that. But what if someone doesn't believe in my faith?
RIGGLE: I don't have any problem with that. I mean I don't think that's the issue. That's not the issue.
COHEN: I thought you're making the case that if someone owns a facility, they have a right to refuse service to people.
RIGGLE: No. No. No. No. Not at all.
COHEN: They only have a right to refuse gay people?
RIGGLE: No. Not that either. I'm not against even gay people. I'm saying they have the right if they want to, to be able to refuse service if it goes against their religious beliefs.
COHEN: That's what I'm saying. So if I'm asking for service and my faith is something that troubles them, they have a right to refuse me service? [RIGGLE: Yes. Yes.] So you're saying yes, they do have a right to refuse me service as someone of the Jewish faith?
RIGGLE: No. I'm not saying-- Yes, I-- [laughs] Yes, I am saying that, but that is not the issue that we're talking about today.
Got that? Yes, you should be able to discriminate against a Jewish person...wait, no, I just mean gay people...wait, yes...I don't hate gay people...wait, no...I don't hate Jewish people...RELIGIOUS FREEDOM! STOP BULLYING ME!!!
Of course Riggle means businesses should be able to discriminate against Jewish people--and Muslims, and gay people, and transgender people, and whomever the fuck else bigots don't care for. Here, this pastor's bigotry is laid bare for what it is, as is the sheer illogic of allowing every business to discriminate based on "religious beliefs." Kudos to Council Member Cohen for not letting Riggle have the luxury of hiding comfortably behind "religious freedom." When we scratch below the surface of these "religious freedom" arguments that are in increasing abundance, this is what we find: hatred, pure and simple.
TOP MOJO
May 15, 2014
(excluding Tip Jars and first comments)
Got mik!
1) "Constitooshunal Emergencee!!!" by Free Jazz at High Noon — 126
2) Oh yeah, Hillary is the answer. by One Pissed Off Liberal — 112
3) Buh-bye. by ericlewis0 — 88
4) Yeah, they got a real bum rap on Iraq by kovie — 81
5) ... by BOHICA — 80
6) Go Back to Sleep by DocGonzo — 79
7) It's The Million Manchild March by The Termite — 73
8) "All the news that's fit to obfuscate..." by markthshark — 74
9) How about by Ninepatch — 66
10) Finally got me to register by TheRealTylerM — 65
11) The ballot box is broken. by Words In Action — 61
12) No, no. by SouthernLiberalinMD — 59
13) heh heh by joe shikspack — 58
14) The level of hysteria since Obama's election by Ellid — 58
15) Cliven Bundy is 67. Which makes him by gramofsam1 — 56
16) Well, Copeland meets and exceeds my criteria by BoiseBlue — 56
17) The country has lost its collective mind by entlord — 55
18) the implication that voting is the be all, end all by BoiseBlue — 55
19) They are not lying. by mickT — 55
20) If I Can Add This, OPOL by JekyllnHyde — 54
21) Presidenting While Black. n/t by joe pittsburgh — 54
22) Exactly by fcvaguy — 52
23) And we simply trust them to intuit our feelings by BoiseBlue — 53
24) Ah, but did you see his tough guy pose? by JoanMar — 51
25) There is only one team, economically by kovie — 51
26) In truth... by wesmorgan1 — 49
27) It's all about intimidation. by MadRuth — 48
28) Walk Into Any Small to Medium Town's Local by kerplunk — 48
29) "Damn it, kids, I'm defending LIBERTY!" by Crashing Vor — 47
30) Again, really? by SpecialKinFlag — 46
31) Let me get this straight. by Paragryne — 46
|
TOP PHOTOS
May 15, 2014
Enjoy jotter's wonderful PictureQuilt™ below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment that features that photo. Have fun, Kossacks!
|