NJ Man Allegedly Videotaped Women in Target Fitting Room

According to news reports, a New Jersey man was recently arrested for allegedly filming women in fitting rooms at a Target store.

You may recall Target unveiled a policy letting men enter women’s restrooms, changing areas, and similar facilities in its stores nearly a year and a half ago.

In response, many people expressed public safety concerns about this policy, and more than 1.5 million people signed a pledge to boycott Target until the policy changes.

This latest incident underscores the need for Target to reverse course and protect the privacy and safety of its customers and employees in its stores.

It also reminds us that states like Arkansas need to protect the privacy and safety of public school students and others when it comes to showers, locker rooms, restrooms, and similar facilities in public schools and other government buildings.

Photo Credit: By Mike Kalasnik from Fort Mill, USA [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Trump Reverses Obama Admin. Policy on Transgender Military Personnel

This morning President Trump issued a statement on Twitter, saying,

After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you

President Trump’s announcement marks a reinstatement of the military’s longstanding policy concerning transgender individuals.

On July 1, 2016, the Obama Administration began allowing openly transgender individuals in the military. Prior to that, transgender individuals were excluded from the U.S. military.

Below is a press release from our colleagues at Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. concerning today’s announcement.

WASHINGTON, DC — Family Research Council (FRC) praised President Trump’s decision today rescinding the Obama era transgender policy. A Rasmussen survey released last month finds “just 23% of likely U.S. voters think the U.S. military’s decision to allow openly transgender people to serve is good for the military.”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, a Marine veteran, released the following statement:

“I applaud President Trump for keeping his promise to return to military priorities — and not continue the social experimentation of the Obama era that has crippled our nation’s military. The military can now focus its efforts on preparing to fight and win wars rather than being used to advance the Obama social agenda.

“President Trump recognizes what the nation’s military leadership and the American people realize, this Obama policy makes no sense.

“The last thing we should be doing is diverting billions of dollars from mission-critical training to something as controversial as gender reassignment surgery. However, the cost to readiness, recruitment, retention, morale and cohesion would have been even greater under the Obama policy. As our nation faces serious national security threats, our troops shouldn’t be forced to endure hours of transgender ‘sensitivity’ classes and politically-correct distractions like this one.

“Now that we are assured that the Defense Department has its fiscal priorities in order, Family Research Council withdraws our opposition to increasing the budget of the Department of Defense through the ‘Make America Secure Appropriations Act’ and looks forward to seeing that legislation pass,” concluded Perkins.

Transgender Policy Could Cost Military Billions Over Ten Years

http://www.frc.org/transgendermilitarycost

U.S. Supreme Court Upends Arkansas Supreme Court’s Good Birth Certificate Ruling

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 26, 2017

LITTLE ROCK, AR – On Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the State of Arkansas must list two “mothers” on a child’s birth certificate if the child’s birth mother is legally married to another woman. The ruling overturned a good decision the Arkansas Supreme Court handed down last December.

Family Council President Jerry Cox issued a statement saying, “The U.S. Supreme Court is asking Arkansas to ignore basic facts about biology. Birth certificates exist to record that a child was born and who the child’s biological parents are presumed to be. As the Arkansas Supreme Court correctly noted last year, no child can have two biological mothers, but the Arkansas Department of Health will now be forced to operate as if that is possible because of this court ruling.”

Cox said the ruling sets a dangerous precedent. “The U.S. Supreme Court is treating the names that appear on birth certificates like some sort of marriage benefit. Birth certificates are issued for the sake of children—not for the sake of adults. They are not simply pieces of paper. They are vital records that need to be accurate and deserve respect. We should not let them become mere political ploys in the ongoing debates about marriage.”

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Photo Credit: By Brian Turner (Flickr: My Trusty Gavel) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.