The Equality Act opposed by USCCB

[Anomaly]

From Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops

 

The Equality Act discriminates against people of faith and threatens unborn life
Tell your U.S. Congressional members to oppose it

Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. The Equality Act, which is being voted on in the U.S. House of Representatives soon, in many ways does the opposite and needs to be opposed. Instead of respecting differences in beliefs about marriage and sexuality, the Equality Act would discriminate against people of faith.

The Equality Act would:

punish faith-based organizations, such as charities and schools who serve everyone in their communities, simply because of their beliefs;

force girls and women to compete against boys and men for limited opportunities in sports, and to share locker rooms and shower spaces with biological males who identify as women;

risk mandating taxpayers to fund abortions;

force people in everyday life, and especially health care workers, to support gender transition; and

expand what the government considers a “public” place, forcing even some parish halls to host functions that conflict with Catholic beliefs.

Edited February 23, 2021 by Anomaly

[Machine_Washable]

2 hours ago, Anomaly said:

From Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops

 

The Equality Act discriminates against people of faith and threatens unborn life
Tell your U.S. Congressional members to oppose it

Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. The Equality Act, which is being voted on in the U.S. House of Representatives soon, in many ways does the opposite and needs to be opposed. Instead of respecting differences in beliefs about marriage and sexuality, the Equality Act would discriminate against people of faith.

The Equality Act would:

punish faith-based organizations, such as charities and schools who serve everyone in their communities, simply because of their beliefs;

force girls and women to compete against boys and men for limited opportunities in sports, and to share locker rooms and shower spaces with biological males who identify as women;

risk mandating taxpayers to fund abortions;

force people in everyday life, and especially health care workers, to support gender transition; and

expand what the government considers a “public” place, forcing even some parish halls to host functions that conflict with Catholic beliefs.

This is one of those areas where I think Muslims and Catholics have a clear overlay of interests. Some like Sheikh Yusuf of Zaytuna out in California have tried to make some overtures here. But I don't see much opportunity to with the way most of the big Muslim organizations have aligned themselves following the 9/11 attacks. 

[Anomaly]

What I find interesting and conversation worthy is one of the objections made against it:

“force people in everyday life, and especially health care workers, to support gender transition; and”

 

What do PM Catholics think ‘support’ means?

@Machine_Washable  what are your thoughts on how a good Muslim should address transgender issues?

[chrysostom]

26 minutes ago, Anomaly said:

What I find interesting and conversation worthy is one of the objections made against it:

“force people in everyday life, and especially health care workers, to support gender transition; and”

 

What do PM Catholics think ‘support’ means?

For healthcare workers I would assume this means that they would not be protected from litigation, termination, etc - and potentially be subject to prosecution based on the situation - were they to conscientiously object to certain surgeries/decline to prescribe certain medications/etc.

[hakutaku]

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/5/text

Basically all the bill does is insert

Quote

sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity)

into the list of prohibited discrimination criteria in a handful of other laws (e.g. laws about equal access to public accommodations, credit, housing, education, jury selection and employment).

 

The bit that has people up in arms is likely:

Quote

“The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.) shall not provide a claim concerning, or a defense to a claim under, a covered title, or provide a basis for challenging the application or enforcement of a covered title.”.

even though the RFRA already says it is not a license for religious institutions to break the law (which is what they would be doing if they discriminated against a protected class in public accommodations, credit, housing, etc.)

[Machine_Washable]

21 hours ago, Anomaly said:

 

@Machine_Washable  what are your thoughts on how a good Muslim should address transgender issues?

I don’t know, to be honest. There is a very clear Hadith where the Prophet Muhammad  (saw) condemns men who imitate women and vica versa. I don’t know if this applies to gender disphoria. Generally speaking, mental illness reduces moral culpability a great deal in Islam. But I don’t know if that applies to transgender people. The scholars are divided into two man groups that I have see. 1-knee jerk reactionaries who just condemn 2-more thoughtful scholars who are waiting to understand the issue more. Islam is a decentralized religion so there is no Muslim Pope to issue a verdict. We have to wait and see what the scholars say. 
 

Personally, I have no issue showing respect to someone experiencing gender dysphoria.  I would address them with their pronouns. However we have had issue with members of the LGBTQ+ community complaining to administrators about things like gender segregated MSA events or insisting that individuals who are transgender should be able to pray with their assumed gender in the masjid or imposed curriculum in schools that teaches modern gender theory to our kids. These issues I have a big problem with. 
 

I recognize that we live in a secular society and we all have to get along. And if I had kids I would not accept them bullying or being cruel to a child who believes themselves to be another gender. But I would expect to be able to teach my child that we believe differently and I expect Muslim spaces to be allowed to conform to Muslim beliefs about gender.