Bathrooms, Biology and Federal Overreach

daily_commentary_05_16_16Last Friday we told you about the federal government’s new guidelines affecting bathroom and locker room policies at schools across America–including Arkansas.

Today our friends at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview have put together a solid commentary on the new guidelines and their implications.

John Stonestreet at the Colson Center writes,

Was everyone who lived before 2015 an unenlightened bigot? Recent statements by this administration may give you that impression. . . . .

[O]n Friday . . . Obama administration officials—specifically the assistant secretary of education for civil rights and the head of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department—directed schools, including “all public schools and most colleges and universities that receive federal funds,” to—as the Washington Post described it—“provide transgender students with access to suitable facilities—including bathrooms and locker rooms—that match their chosen gender identity.”

Schools that fail to comply with this edict from on high are, the officials announced, in violation of Title IX, the federal sexual anti-discrimination act, and would therefore—you guessed it—risk losing federal funding. Comply or you don’t get the money. It’s ideological extortion, not policy making.

You can read Stonestreet’s entire commentary here–or listen to it below.

[audio:http://www.breakpoint.org/images/content/breakpoint/audio/2016/051616_BP.mp3|titles=Bathrooms, Biology and Federal Overreach by John Stonestreet]

Obama Administration Puts Arkansas Children at Risk With New Bathroom Policy

The Obama Administration has issued new guidelines effectively requiring every public school in America–including the schools in communities across Arkansas–to let biological males use girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, and similar facilities, and vice versa.

The guidelines indicate schools that do not let individuals use the sex-specific facilities of their choice will lose public funding.

The new guidelines say, point blank,

“A school may provide separate facilities on the basis of sex, but must allow transgender students access to such facilities consistent with their gender identity. A school may not require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity or to use individual-user facilities when other students are not required to do so.”

In other words, if a biological male who claims to be female wants to use the girls’ locker room, the school cannot stop him.

This is a ridiculous, unnecessary reinterpretation of federal law from the Obama Administration. It puts students at risk and infringes their privacy.

It also guarantees public schools will be hit with lawsuits all across the country. Schools that comply with the new guidelines may face lawsuits from students and families in their districts–as we have already seen in Illinois. Schools that do not comply with the guidelines may face legal action from the federal Department of Education or Department of Justice.

These are terrible guidelines that negatively affect every public school in America and their students.

Below is contact information for Arkansas’ Congressional Delegation, if you would like to contact your senators and congressman to voice your concern about the Obama Administration’s action.

U.S. SENATOR JOHN BOOZMAN

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Little Rock Office:
1401 W. Capitol Ave., Plaza F
Little Rock, AR 72201
Phone: (501) 372-7153
Fax: (501) 372-7163

D.C. Office:
141 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4843
Fax: (202) 228-1371

Click Here to Email U.S. Senator Boozman

U.S. SENATOR TOM COTTON

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Little Rock Office:
11809 Hinson Road
Suite 100
Little Rock, AR 72212

Mailing Address:
PO Box 25216
Little Rock, AR 72221
Phone: (501) 223-9081
Fax: (501) 223-9105

D.C. Office:
124 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2353

Click Here to Email U.S. Senator Cotton

U.S. CONGRESSMAN RICK CRAWFORD (AR DISTRICT 1)

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Jonesboro Office:
2400 Highland Drive, Suite 300
Jonesboro, AR 72401
Phone: (870) 203-0540
Fax: (870) 203-0542

D.C. Office:
1711 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4076
Fax: (202) 225-5602

Click Here to Email Congressman Crawford

U.S. CONGRESSMAN FRENCH HILL (AR DISTRICT 2)

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Little Rock Office:
1501 N. University Ave.
Suite 150
Little Rock, AR 72207
Phone: (501) 324-5941
Fax: (501) 324-6029

D.C. Office:
1229 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2506
Fax: (202) 225-5903

Click Here to Email U.S. Congressman Hill

U.S. CONGRESSMAN STEVE WOMACK (AR DISTRICT 3)

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Rogers Office:
3333 Pinnacle Hills, Suite 120
Rogers, Arkansas 72758
Phone: (479) 464-0446
Fax: (479) 464-0063

D.C. Office:
1119 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4301
Fax: (202) 225-5713

Click Here to Email U.S. Congressman Womack

U.S. CONGRESSMAN BRUCE WESTERMAN (AR DISTRICT 4)

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Hot Springs Office:
101 Reserve St.
Suite 200
Hot Springs, AR 71901
Phone: (501) 609-9796
Fax: (501) 609-9887

D.C. Office:
130 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3772
Fax: (202) 225-1314

Click Here to Email U.S. Congressman Westerman

Kentucky City Hall Bows to Atheists Over Nativity Scene

Even though it’s only May, atheists from Wisconsin are working to prevent a Kentucky town from displaying a Nativity scene this Christmas.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote this week that it has received word Walton, Kentucky, will not be putting a Nativity scene on City Hall property this year, after receiving complaints from the group.

However, it’s worth pointing out the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled Nativity scenes on public property constitutional in the past. In Lynch v. Donnelly the court ruled a Nativity scene on city property did not violate the Establishment Clause, writing, there was “insufficient evidence to establish that the inclusion of the crèche [Nativity scene] is a purposeful or surreptitious effort to express some kind of subtle governmental advocacy of a particular religious message. . . . The crèche [Nativity scene] in the display depicts the historical origins of this traditional event long recognized as a National Holiday [Christmas].”

Just because property is public doesn’t mean Nativity scenes and similar Christmas decorations are off-limits, as courts have affirmed and reaffirmed through the years. And as other courts have noted, the government does not have to put up an anti-Christmas decoration alongside a Christmas decoration in order to comply with the Constitution.