We’re coming up on the sixth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of same-sex
marriage, which can mean only one thing: I am way overdue in sending a wedding gift to
my friends who got married immediately afterward. Don’t worry, ladies. Those matching iPhone 6s you
registered for are on the way! While the same-sex marriage ruling was a huge win,
the fight for equality did not end there. - Marriage is legal for same-sex couples
in all 50 states. But that couple could lose their respective jobs in 21 states,
be denied housing in 27 states, be denied public accommodations in 25 states.
That is appalling. No one should be punished for their consensual relationships—unless
they refer to sex as “making love.” ‘Cause those sickos should be locked up for life.
There’s no explicit federal law against discrimination based on sexual orientation
or gender identity, and 27 states similarly lack protections. Even when laws are in place,
there are still gaps that allow the hate to seep through. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that
workers can’t be fired for their LGBTQ status... unless they’re among the estimated 1 in 6 American
workers at companies with fewer than 15 employees. Apparently, discrimination is AOK in small doses,
like the way the FDA allows certain amounts of bugs, rodent hair, and poop in your food. My kids
are so picky. They’ll only eat the bugs, rodent hair, and poop if I separate them out on the side.
The court also left open the possibility of LGBTQ rights being superseded by employers’
religious liberty claims, which will likely be the next battleground. This is especially concerning
because many Americans’ employers determine their health care. Employer-sponsored insurance is
already not great, but for religious-based companies, “dental care” probably means a
yard of floss attached to a moving pick-up truck with “John 3:16” painted on the side.
Same-sex couples can be shut out of fertility treatments and grief counseling,
and some employers could leave out LGBTQ families from policies altogether. Workers may be denied
life-saving treatments, and HIV drugs may not be covered at all. Republicans have also taken their
fight to state legislatures, where more than 250 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced this year.
To put that in perspective, more have been signed into law in 2021 than in the last three years
combined. One typically awful example is Arkansas. - Governor Asa Hutchinson has signed a bill into
law that allows doctors to refuse to treat patients because of moral or religious
objections. It gives medical providers the ability to turn away LGBTQ patients.
This very religious law is based on that Bible story where Jesus healed the lepers
“so long as they’re into chicks.” As bad as these states are making life for LGB
people, they’re singling out those in the T category for especially cruel treatment.
- States have introduced 15 bills that limit trans access to bathrooms, locker rooms.
43 allowing refusal of service for religious reasons. And 66 that ban
trans children from participating in sports. - At least ten states introduced bills to make
it harder for transgender minors to get treatment with puberty blockers. Some proposals would have
criminalized doctors who provided such care. - It would also make it, in some states,
child abuse for parents to allow this for their children.
Puberty blockers aren’t a form of abuse. They’re temporary, largely reversible, and no
more dangerous than puberty hiders, the textbooks middle-schoolers use to cover up sudden boners.
The American Academy of Pediatrics supports access to puberty blockers,
and the CDC has found that when trans youth have access to them, their chances
of suicide and mental health problems decline significantly. Unfortunately, health care for
trans kids isn’t the only area where zealots are using so-called “religious liberty” to
harm the children they claim to protect. - There are 11 states that allow for
discrimination based on religious grounds. - The rule will further limit the pool
of loving homes available to America’s 440,000 children living in foster care.
- The first agency that we ever went to, to speak with them about being foster parents or adopting,
point-blank just shut us down. Right after that, we reached out to another agency,
and we got an email stating that they would never allow two men to be parents.
Sounds like some states need to watch a little show called My Two Dads.
For our younger viewers, My Two Dads was a one-hour drama about a loving gay couple
raising a child while running an exotic sweater factory.