UPDATE!
(HOT AIR) Let’s just list this as the next in an ongoing series of reasons why you should be glad that you don’t live in California. (And for those of you who actually do, I don’t have too much pity. You’ve had plenty of warning signals and you should have moved by now.) In the race to lead the nation in identity politics and political correctness taken to the umpteenth degree, California should be surging into the lead. A bill has actually been passed in the State Senate and is now under consideration in the Assembly which would impose criminal penalties – including jail time – if you are found to be addressing a transgender person using pronouns which don’t match the gender they imagine themselves to be.
A bill that passed the California state senate and is now moving through the Assembly could threaten jail time for anyone who refuses to use a transgender person’s preferred pronoun.
The law is currently limited in its effects to nursing homes and intermediate-care facilities, but if passed, those who “willfully and repeatedly” refuse “to use a transgender resident’s preferred name or pronouns” could be slapped with a $1,000 fine and up to one year in prison, according to the California Heath and Safety code. The state senate passed the bill 26-12 at the end of May. Since then, the Assembly Judiciary committee recommended the bill unanimously and the General Assembly held its first hearing on the legislation Wednesday.
(Daily Caller – emphasis Added)
For the moment, this would only apply in nursing homes. (These are locations which are not traditionally known for an overwhelming number of transgender residents.) But legal analysts are already speculating that the prohibition would spread well beyond those confines and do so quickly…………
- [I]t is “pretty unlikely that, if this law is enacted, such prohibitions would be limited just to this [nursing home] scenario,” UCLA First Amendment scholar Eugene Volokh told National Review. (MOONBATTERY)
Original Post…
(Side-note, all seminaries better have a campus in another state ready to go.) In a previous post I spoke to New York having the ability to close and fine businesses (out of business) for not using the pronouns (HERE and HERE). Here, is an example of why government shouldn’t be involved at all with licensing a profession. Here is a reminder of the NY lunacy:
THE DAILY WIRE posts the following on the bill that will surely jail persons in California: “California Proposes JAIL TIME For Using Wrong Gender Pronoun For Senior Citizens”
….“It shall be unlawful for a long-term care facility or facility staff to … willfully and repeatedly fail to use a resident’s preferred name or pronouns after being clearly informed of the preferred name or pronouns,” reads SB 219, called “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Long-Term Care Facility Resident’s Bill of Rights.”
“It imposes fines and jail time on any long-term care employee who refuses to use transgender pronouns. Fines for repeat offenders could be as high as $1,000 and a jail term of up to a year,” reports CBN News.
The bill is sponsored by Equality California and penned by Senator Scott Wiener of San Francisco, notes CBN.
Opponents of the bill (or, people who’ve read the Constitution) are arguing that the compelled speech is an infringement on the First Amendment.
“How can you believe in free speech, but think the government can compel people to use certain pronouns when talking to others?” asks Greg Burt of California Family Council. “Compelled speech is not free speech. Can the government compel a newspaper to use certain pronouns that aren’t even in the dictionary? Of course not, or is that coming next?”
“Those proposing this bill are saying, ‘If you disagree with me about my view of gender, you are discriminating against me,'” he continued. “This is not tolerance. This is not love. This is not mutual respect. True tolerance tolerates people with different views. We need to treat each other with respect, but respect is a two-way street. It is not respectful to threaten people with punishment for having sincerely held beliefs that differ from your own.”
In Canada, such Orwellian measures are already in place. If you refuse to use the pronouns which match a person’s “gender identity,” you could be found guilty of a “hate crime” and face massive fines and possible jail time…… (emphasis added)
CHICKS ON THE RIGHT wryly note:
- Oh California. You so crazy. As you all know, California is the hub of human advancement. The rest of us are so behind the times. We’re old school hayseeds and need to get with the program ASAP.
Canada has been headed towards the same lunacy as well. Also see this Joe Rogan interview of Jordan Peterson.
#LoveisLove is the new Fascist mantra. Think of how fast this whole issue has moved in a decade. So, in ten years I will be in jail for wearing this?
