Toward a More Perfect Union: A Prescriptive Approach — Sexism & LGBT
II. Controversial and Cultural Policies
Culture Wars: Sexism
The Equal Rights Amendment was squelched in the 1980’s by a last-minute effort of the right wing. It needs to be reintroduced and reinvigorated in this era when so many in power are exhibiting sex bias, acceptance of sexual misconduct, and economic sexism.
While women have made many strides even without the ERA, they still earn substantially less than 80% of what their male counterparts earn. They are grievously underrepresented at high levels in almost all industries, including teaching. They are still subject to sexual innuendo, sexual battery, sexual harassment, and sexual blackmail in the workplace. They are too often treated with disdain and as second-class citizens solely because of their gender. They are discouraged from entering occupations in science and technology, and those who do so are all too frequently forced to play a secondary role to their male counterparts.
Accordingly, it is increasingly apparent that we need an ERA amendment to codify and require sexual equality into our laws, and to make it easier to attack sexism where it can be found. A corollary to this would be to have an expectation that a certain proportion of women should be elected to serve in our state and federal legislatures and courts, a proportion that – while not fixed at 50% – would be within a reasonable distance of it, including percentages greater than 50.
Culture Wars: Gender Bias in the LGBT world
One of the pet peeves of the right wing is the fact of same-sex unions, transgender individuals, and gender fluidity. These realities fly in the face of what our culture has – over time – come to accept as “normal” behavior. In actual fact, many cultures – such as numerous Native American ones and others around the world – have accepted people taking on these roles. The point here is that our cultural “norms” are not universally shared and cannot be taken as the only proper ones.
Most of the opposition to gay marriage and related issues comes from people quoting the Bible. The Biblical argument comes not from the teachings of Jesus, but from the Old Testament book of Leviticus. Leviticus forbids at least 76 things, including men “lying with” men (no comments about women), eating of shellfish, failing to include salt in offerings to God, eating fat or blood, lying, touching an unclean animal, eating meat from forbidden animals including pork, drinking alcohol in holy places, letting your hair become unkempt, not allowing women in places of worship until 33 days after the birth of a son and 66 days in the case of a daughter, and so on… you get the idea. Most of these “sins” are ignored by the vast majority of people in our culture, so it raises the question of why many “biblical scholars” are so focused on the men lying with men issue (found in Lev 18:22 and 20:13.) The selective cherry-picking of specific sins for special condemnation is tied to cultural bias and not to the inherent sinfulness of the act. Nor is it reflective of evolving social consciousness that homosexuality has always existed and will do so into the future, regardless of any rules we may apply, and still essentially harmless and non-threatening to the hetero world. (Remember that — until Copernicus and Galileo — the Earth was the center of the universe, but today the church that condemned their heliocentric teachings now accepts them. Things do change.)
If we are to accept condemnation of the male homosexuality simply because it is part of our holy writ, we must logically accept all the other proscriptions. We must also accept the prescription found in Lev 25:35-37: “If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit.” (Obviously, that prescription is observed more in the breach by biblical literalists than otherwise.)
Then we need to consider the “damage” done to society by gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, and “queer” people. There is little, if any, documentation of societal damage or dysfunction due to these behaviors. Even though people in these categories may commit crimes, it is not because of their sexuality, but regardless of it. Research shows that they are far less likely to commit crimes than “normal” people. Children raised in environments with same-sex parents show little social “maladjustment” (using societal norms as the template) and are arguably better adjusted than those harboring prejudicial attitudes toward gay parents. The LGBT community is not out to shape others’ lifestyles, but only seeks to be allowed to live in peace according to their own preferences. Additionally, they are far less likely than heterosexuals to produce children to be “brainwashed” by their behavior.
Where the government comes in is enforcing equal and non-discriminatory treatment toward LGBT people. To a certain extent, this has already occurred in the 2015 supreme court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges which requires all states to honor same-sex marriages, but changing cultural norms is a tougher nut to crack. There are and have been numerous attempts by state legislators to circumvent or overturn that decision, and the government needs to be more active in upholding the supreme court by enacting legislation to punish those who would deny civil rights to the LGBT community. Ideally, there should be an amendment to etch in stone the equal treatment of all regardless of whom they may love. Failing that, permanent legislation to protect these people should be made at the federal level – an enhanced Civil Rights Act for example.
Continued in Part 9 — Abortion, Church & State
Other options:
Return to Part 1 — Prologue
Return to Part 2 — Voting & Election Issues
Return to Part 3 — Gerrymandering & Courts
Return to Part 4 — Congress
Return to Part 5 — President and DOJ
Return to Part 6 — Campaign Financing
Return to Part 7 — Lying and Ethics
Go to Part 10 — Guns
Go to Part 11 — Healthcare & VA
Go to Part 12 — Big Pharma
Go to Part 13 — Environment
Go to Part 14 — Energy
Go to Part 15 — Education
Go to Part 16 — Economics
Go to Part 17 — Unions, Safety Net
Go to Part 18 — Homelessness
Go to Part 19 — Trade, Tariffs
Go to Part 20 — Media
Go to Part 21 — War, National Security
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Above is the eighth of numerous submissions wherein I suggest ways our country, our government, and the world can be made better. I am an old fart in my 70’s and have seen much: the turmoil of the 1960’s; Vietnam (where I served as an infantry officer and was awarded a purple heart and other medals); the anti-Vietnam protests (in which I participated while still in uniform); Watergate, the rise of the right wing attack on the poor and powerless during and after the Reagan years; the continued wars in Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan and pretty much everywhere else; the Clinton years, the invasion of Iraq in 2002 and the never-ending war since, the brief glow of sunshine during the Obama years, and now Trump. While my dog in this fight is getting long in the tooth, I still deeply care about three things: my country, my country’s honor, and the future we leave to our descendants. My personal history, other than military service, includes college teaching, computer support, hospital IT supervision, consulting, and now — in my retirement — substitute teaching.
I make my recommendations in all seriousness, recognizing that most of them are not immediately attainable. Nevertheless, if we elect people who share our values as our representatives at all levels of government, we can accomplish much.