Periodically, this column will compile and publish — sometimes with and sometimes without further comment — illustrations of the mendacity, idiocy and sheer lunacy that too often find their way into America’s public policy processes.
HUD Won’t Protect Women in Shelters:
Thousands of women are forced to seek safety in shelters operated by religious groups, local governments and charitable organizations, including many who are fleeing abusive husbands, pimps and sex traffickers.
Now add to that list men who are allegedly “transgender women” who insist on staying in shelters intended only to aid women. “Credit” goes to Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge.
Fudge withdrew a proposed rule put forth by her predecessor, Dr. Ben Carson, that would have protected the right of shelters to define “sex” as they choose, thus protecting them against transgender legal assaults.
Here’s Fudge’s rationale for her decision:
“Access to safe, stable housing-and shelter-is a basic necessity. Unfortunately, transgender and gender non-conforming people report more instances of housing instability and homelessness than cis-gender people.
“Today, we are taking a critical step in affirming HUD’s commitment that no person be denied access to housing or other critical services because of their gender identity. HUD is open for business for all.”
What Fudge’s decision means in practice is that no shelter can turn away a transgender man or a man who claims to identify as a woman, no matter if there are concerns about the safety of the women residents, meaning no protection can be afforded for the latter.
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Kate Anderson described the HUD decision as an abandonment of women and girls:
“The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Biden administration has abandoned women and girls under the guise of being ‘inclusive.’ But it’s not ‘inclusive’ to force shelters to violate their faith or impose a blanket federal policy that forces vulnerable women to share space with men who claim a female identity.
“Our Constitution requires government officials to treat religious Americans and faith-based organizations as favorably as everyone else, and HUD’s previous, proposed rule took an important step in that direction. Some of the faith-based organizations we’ve represented in court have faced hostility—and even the threat of closure—by government officials who disagree with their religious beliefs.
“Unfortunately, HUD’s policy reversal promises to multiply those threats and pit the federal government against the shelters and ministries—across the nation—that are effectively and compassionately meeting the needs of our nation’s most vulnerable populations.”
A Stirring Defense of Parental Abortion Notification Rights:
Legislators in Illinois are considering whether to repeal the state’s long-standing law requiring abortion providers to give at least 48 hours notice to a parent of a minor girl seeking to terminate her pregnancy. Repeal would be a horrendous boost to sex traffickers.
Thanks in great part to efforts of Parents for the Protection of Girls, the move in the legislature has stalled for now. The PPG group sent an amazing video to each state legislator with an appeal to keep the law on the books because it is essential to protect young girls against sex traffickers.
The video features Dr. Brook Bello, herself a victim of sex trafficking and multiple abortions due to the lack of a law like the one presently on the books in Illinois. You can view the video here.
The public is with PPG on this issue, according to the group’s spokesman, Mary FioRitto, who is an attorney, scholar and mother of three teen girls.
“March 2021 polling conducted in Illinois by The Tarrance Group, an independent research firm, reports that 72 percent of the state’s voters favor parental notice of abortion,” FioRito said.
“Even 58 percent of voters that self-describe as ‘pro-choice’ wish to see the law retained. Support is higher among voters in minority communities, with more than three out of four people of color favoring parental notice,” she said.
California Students to Chant to Aztec God of Human Sacrifice:
As hard as it is to believe, the California State Board of Education has approved a proposed new Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum that includes an assignment that has students chanting to the Aztec god of human sacrifices.
The Aztecs were brutally murdering countless numbers of captured members of other tribes in Mexico when Spanish explorer Cortez famously arrived and burned his ships prior to leading his Conquistadors in their conquest of the Aztec Empire.
Christopher Rufo — a contributing editor at City Journal and director of the Discovery Institute’s Center on Wealth and Poverty — observes about the curriculum:
“The curriculum recommends that teachers lead their students in a series of indigenous songs, chants, and affirmations, including the ‘In Lak Ech Affirmation,’ which appeals directly to the Aztec gods.
“Students first clap and chant to the god Tezkatlipoka — whom the Aztecs traditionally worshipped with human sacrifice and cannibalism — asking him for the power to be ‘warriors’ for ‘social justice.’”
Rufo notes that the curriculum describes education as a “tool for transformation, social, economic, and political change, and liberation.”
How long before the “oppressed peoples” of California begin sacrificing and eating their “oppressors” when they experience “change” and “liberation” in publicly funded classrooms?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member