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natina
02-05-2013, 11:11 AM
. Transgender activists target popular Peabody restaurant — now threatened with loss of license, legal sanctions, for turning away men in dresses. (One man used official Mass. driver’s license identifying him as female!) TAKE ACTION!

It’s the latest in the homosexual movement’s campaign to force their radical agenda on all of society through legal intimidation – with the help of our state government working against us.
A Peabody restaurant is being threatened with loss of their operating license and an expensive lawsuit because the doorman turned away men wearing women’s clothes (including short skirts). One of the men produced a valid Massachusetts driver’s license saying he’s a female – which the Patrick administration now allows as a gift to the homosexual movement. This gave the activists even more ammunition against the restaurant. The restaurant is now being forced by Peabody city officials to “negotiate” with the homosexual and transgender activists or face action by the city and state alcohol licensing boards.
See our report here on Massachusetts giving female drivers’ licenses to men. (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103286502870&s=63&e=001LN1xMp3xTcJ26Ifgaj1EccbG7dVmqBgrDIvnnGxMvyBro Ma_0F81jcfbepToW5KAu4qtlP1XbFXinCWOhn4oI6TU2Oxarom qQg4uzGMbppzHBJMbecSbBQ7uDmDjv4qsmQU7u6LdPsB0B95XS T7if_hI0mHfrBEXhvvb4b4iA2k=)
Capone’s Italian American Restaurant in Peabody, a popular restaurant and bar, was recently targeted by a transgender activist group, apparently to set an example for others. Robert Knowles, a transgender activist from Saugus who wears women’s’ clothes in public and who goes by the name of “Ashley Amber Bottoms”, began bringing a group of men in women’s clothes (who call themselves the “Sisters Group”) to Capone’s after their transgender group meetings.
An interesting footnote: The Sisters Group meets every Friday evening at the Peabody Marriott Hotel, site of the transgender conference in our video showing huge men using the women’s restroom. (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103286502870&s=63&e=001LN1xMp3xTcJf0-LHC02ntOvcjaXot7FXLG4_puBg9_0qTSz8QgtLSoMIh1oQKjl0 lXjhdZs778-boMYcAu9AFzfC64oC4d6WW9l6eAwhGo294YFrijn4W2MpWsnOg ygb6mHsZBXO4cfq52Wg-JUke2KjFGANe6PQUA5FCzfpGf7wyDyJQKLzOg==) They then target a local restaurant for their cross-dresser challenge.
Robert Knowles, a.k.a. “Ashley Amber Bottoms”, an unemployed crane operator from Saugus and transgender activist.http://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen/10b/capones/images/ashley_bottoms2.jpg
It started with restroom issues
After the first few visits, the Capone’s staff asked them to use the men’s restroom instead of the women’s restroom. They agreed to do that. But apparently their presence was causing so much disruption and discomfort to the restaurant’s patrons that when the group came on Jan.29, staff met them at the door and refused to let them in.
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen/10b/capones/images/advocate_photo.jpgThe men of the “Sisters Family” have their own calling card.
The men insisted that they had a legal right to be let in, and one of them showed them the Massachusetts driver’s license stating that he was a female, even though he was clearly a man wearing women’s clothes. As the homosexual newspaper Bay Windows described it:

According to Bottoms, despite the women’s protests, the bouncer wouldn’t relent. “One girl offered to take off her wig to show what she looked like and I told her, ‘No. You shouldn’t have to do that to prove yourself to anybody,’ ” Bottoms said. Another transgender woman offered her license to the doorman, explaining that her DMV picture reflected the way she looks now; her long hair is natural. “The guy looked at us and said, ‘but you’re wearing makeup. I can’t tell,’” Bottoms said. “And I went, ‘you know that’s BS, because girls wear makeup!’ ”
A third member of the social group is legally female, and produced a license to that effect. “And he looked at her and said, ‘Nope, because you’re really a guy.’ “
The men were apparently all prepared to take action. They immediately demanded to know the name of the manager. The next day they filed complaints with the City of Peabody, the District Attorney, various licensing boards, and other public officials, according to news reports.
Hardcore activists. Mr. Knowles (as Ashley Bottoms), left, and friend at the State House for the Transgender Bill Public Hearing on July 14. (MassResistance photo)http://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen/09c/tranny_hearing_0714/testimony_trans/354_two.jpg
The Boston Globe reported it on Feb. 21 (Note that they describe the man with the “legal” female driver’s license as a “woman” but refer to “Bottoms” as “he”):

Knowles, also known as Ashley Amber Bottoms, detailed the alleged snub in a letter to the city’s licensing board earlier this month. He contends that eight members of the group – including a woman – were barred entry by workers at Capone’s on Jan. 29.
“The door staff told me we would not be allowed entrance because of how we were dressed and that men in skirts would not be allowed inside,’’ he wrote in the complaint. . .
Knowles, an unemployed crane operator who dresses like a woman in public, said he had visited Capone’s on three prior occasions with the transgender social group he directs. The group has five chapters in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire.
On Feb. 22, the case went before the Peabody Licensing Board. Over 30 homosexual activists from across the state crowded into the small basement hearing room to intimidate. Because of the possibility of losing their license, the owner of Capone’s had to cut short a vacation in Florida to be there. The transgender group hired a professional “permitting consultant”, C. Whiting Price, to push their agenda at the meeting.
Owner of restaurant (center) surrounded by “Ashley Bottoms” and roomful of angry homosexual and transgender activists at Peabody License Board hearing on Feb. 22.http://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen/10b/capones/images/meeting2.jpg

“Mediation” — homosexual activists’ path to victory by intimidation
At the meeting, Price apparently urged Peabody City Solicitor, John Christopher, and the Chairman of the Peabody Licensing Board, Minas Dakos, to pressure the restaurant’s owner to enter into “mediation” with the transgender group or else face an expensive hearing and possible loss of license, lawsuit, and loss of business.
As one local newspaper reported:

Rice said the end result of mediation could be anything from particular conditions put upon Capone’s, sensitivity training or citywide policy changes to require of all alcohol license holders in regards to gender issues.
That pretty much says it all.
Assistant City Solicitor Brian Barrett is acting as “mediator”. The restaurant was given until April 26 to come to a suitable agreement with the transgender activists, or face formal charges by the city and state authorities.
These are the kinds of brutal tactics being used by the homosexual/transgender movement — working hand in glove with our own government officials to subvert community standards and freedoms of citizens.
Newspaper coverage
The homosexual lobby’s PR machine went to work pretty quickly on this. It’s interesting the slant that various media outlets took, what facts they get right, what they leave out (e.g., the Mass. driver’s license problem), and how often they refer to a man as “she”.

CNHI News Service: Transgender club alleges discrimination (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103286502870&s=63&e=001LN1xMp3xTcIYJ-EnI2Ulnv_GgK1l7h6pTuB2AYzUG6CCmfcoiR20E1OS2e9rxOmF 4QigyYtaTandi6mPoKeJV7ScJEAdKH58uVPIkrQTePOHs9TDS0 Yb9Q==)
(2/10/10) Local news report
Boston Globe: Group accuses Capone’s of bias. (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103286502870&s=63&e=001LN1xMp3xTcITD-L5aPk-nARAcusM12MJh73FrIN34_-5ADSvNL2qYy7SYDX6dXZ46R-JZIRMHLGptV4nAlGC65-_0r9JQquJvDwBPl7tJeybUS7FkWMARzgh1p53AeQZfOVczFSfv 4F2A2sTd_LWuf7pzt8KRcBug9qMEBn6HBZ3-0o5KnOAEFoO8H_GheNd0E7wJIIQNiyiTfIk6MyTB-xKKIRNkNxUJ83C-LXxeUrl4RNy7-ykcEUMxTbBw0KCcN5ruIbwuvGNa3GtDv7h_pqhWfKeDBqRsfyG QR1-wvw=)
(2/21/10) They refer to the man with the Mass. drivers license as a “woman”
The Salem News: Transgender group, restaurant agree to mediation (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103286502870&s=63&e=001LN1xMp3xTcIu8HODYhlIjqEh-5lE-XpuXHjnDA6KxXh1vt3Lma9OHOsadBofZwU625VjWuV8kTguT_l FUZ7O7rg2ykiJJh8qyPUr0aegy80kEecMrI00GI5U580setf0R qL1YRP-r87crKJRruJ4JtucFOPa5D2C)
(2/23/10) Local newspaper report
Boston Examiner: Sisters Family transgender women’s group, Capone’s restaurant enter into mediation (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103286502870&s=63&e=001LN1xMp3xTcJr7zeuAbDsyW4qN-zTO2zjq8N1cRMgBOcbXwg9D3lqAAKgOTMWQn7yiSEKSh700DA3 D85L7JQuQc7DK46tA0UpCm5TH-0XaJRS4ZvSMoew19qq46nTI6N6j-zDjLGQ7CHXKAfcE5eD-TXE01wXKS6R36SYBqOuu2GPEmrqOIVcUuP07hpoC8hNuH9vgWq ZmnTb0lGCzrbJVhkeXDCrj5xdKdnUSyWZIavF2MFIl5eVVcgkm Fygfezkp9CQ4SGZxxr1qj41cQIy6ne-IVgL5pZFyvN-qfWLJ1w=)
(2/23/10) Pro-homosexual news service
Peabody/Lynnfield Weekly News: Transgender Club, Capone’s enter talks (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103286502870&s=63&e=001LN1xMp3xTcIEJB6ZPXHOYxGyZkLN7QMuHJweGxrlNIT00 culZyNWzZM8OsT9GoMoK3PIkl-LmVBWC0eeSClV6vkG7IOE30tpF8mbWFqgxmfR6JaM8R3KkoEMT 5qXiirs0VCpgrV7gy4=)
(2/24/10) Local newspaper report
Bay Windows: Gender Discrimination alleged at Peabody Eatery (3/3/10) (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103286502870&s=63&e=001LN1xMp3xTcKtuf4cfDrjpOcTri1rAWpOzQMBUxQE4ISKj eghKnO-tD2AhWlXVthbsv5HBBp9EmozPYotWDGe8ZoyRZhSxzur1TsqIX 3wVUMdym-lHCJpXk0z48tlE80ogASs_wzylFaidPXkbQeYAljXauAWAIvnA iKq_uKjFP3TiSf68Rs0zDxqfz3WQw1nzWTvNEBP8lA=)
(3/3/10) Homosexual newspaper
The Advocate: Trans group alleges restaurant discriminated (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103286502870&s=63&e=001LN1xMp3xTcImvXKHDBdXoE0Cch2LQH3_kwiw7HzEal534 AH5Z8kN7iX4J-jnrbZjPmwVit8TjUvJgZO5myg_QqJSwRw5VoihuF-qjmJNOZK8ewXyq_lNKDIF99yHzuk57IcxVoX7IXnBRSA02Agl6 3GIngm4VbF5Ulb7ERLmrmEl_lw5talFLhOpyUftsvKRsnobUA0 uLNoiIrw5RTRjPQ==)
(3/4/10) National homosexual magazine
MassResistance blog: “Gender Identity” Discrimination at Peabody Restaurant? (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103286502870&s=63&e=001LN1xMp3xTcJ9lD4PXuprqr4ENSETjvAResRvUxBiI_RC7 SOcaZYKLVpn2pSseIyr6pgZeYF7tudgpTg0frZ1HHnkg6-icS48ZLdqz2PuhzqZAHXf8POct8wgFt3I5O_ywNZ2jkMt1RbFJ ZWcwpNXjouPE2v28VwHMceINtFXx0bgh1VxTZAiAM6u3ihjwWR jhK2fiuM3ONo=)
(3/11/10) Our own no-holds-barred reporting.
Public officials won’t talk, or are hostile
In early February, Peabody Licensing Board Chairman Minas Dakos told a reporter that he did not know what authority, if any, it had to deal with the allegation. But they seemed to have changed their opinion about that since then. MassResistance attempted to call the Peabody Licensing Board for a comment but could only get an answering machine.
On Wednesday, we called the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission to ask them about this kind of situation, what laws the restaurant allegedly broke, the legal jurisdiction of the state commission, and how other restaurants should react in this situation. As soon as we told the person what the subject of our question was, he became quite hostile and refused to give us any information except to direct us to portions of the Commission’s website. Although he admitted that they do have jurisdiction in these matters, when we asked how restaurants should deal with this, he simply said, “we don’t give legal advice” – an odd answer for the group that supposedly tells businesses what to do in order to follow the law. (Unfortunately, this dismissive attitude is very common when state Massachusetts employees discover you have a pro-family point of view.)
Was the restaurant breaking any laws? Is so-called “gender identity” a “protected” class, even though we can’t find that wording in any state laws? Is it a strange kind of “sexual orientation”? The Commission refused to answer any of our questions.
We also tried on numerous occasions to reach Assistant City Solicitor Brian Barrett, who is in charge of mediating the “negotiations,” but he refused to take our calls and did not return messages.
Gender Identity Disorder
The elephant in the middle of the room is the fact that this is transgenderism, cross-dressing, and its related behaviors are advanced symptoms of Gender Identity Disorder, which is recognized by the mental health profession as a sickness that needs to be treated (besides a perversion), not something that must be forced unwillingly on the rest of society by threats of punishment.
Homosexual and transgender movement jumping on board
Not surprisingly, this has become a cause celebre in the homosexual and transgender movement. Even the national homosexual newspaper The Advocate is covering it. They see this kind of threat and intimidation as an important tactic in achieving their goals.
In addition, according to homosexual blogs that we’ve seen, Capone’s has been harassed by homosexual activists, who have also organized a boycott against the restaurant.
And it could get worse
It’s bad enough that a business is being forced to “negotiate” with homosexual activists in order to avoid essentially being shut down. But this could be just the beginning.
The Capone’s employees were lucky. If the Transgender Rights and Hate Crimes bill (H1728) (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103286502870&s=63&e=001LN1xMp3xTcLH4-_7OiHC_BnUYtXYVVGRSsHIBwQL0XXphxVXUvbKE_yTSFaBxQyZ 1ey39YsnvZEVNuKpigOvlP4suZfiE_SiHw1Lyz1F5ZzVScRDwb 631BswksU05HmIA4Q3TW6Q8J8OncTwksc0QrHZaHNO7K4V5zjV vSylRDcvuHoArvSltQ==) passes, they could all get heavy fines and jail time for merely noting a difference, and the restaurant could face major problems. This is exactly what the homosexual and transgender movement wants.
TAKE ACTION!

natina
02-05-2013, 11:11 AM
MASS RESISTANCE — Transgender activists threaten restaurant with legal sanctions, loss of license (http://www.afamichigan.org/2010/04/09/1191/)

April 9, 2010
Dear AFA-Michigan supporter,
We’ve been informing you recently of the latest bizarre twist in homosexual activists’ radical political agenda, demanding that men who claim to believe they’re women be legally recognized by the state as “females”…be allowed to use women’s restrooms, showers, locker and changing rooms, and other public facilities…be allowed to wear wigs, dresses, and makeup to work…and have businesses, public schools, and all other “public accommodations” penalized by law if they refuse to agree to these demands.
Half a dozen cities in Michigan, most recently Kalamazoo, have now passed local ordinances establishing special legal “rights” and protections based expressly on so-called “gender identity,” i.e., cross-dressing. Democrats in the state House of Representatives have introduced legislation to do the same statewide, which has already been passed by the House Judiciary Committee and awaits a vote on the House floor.
This radical agenda temporarily went statewide in 2005, when for a period of three weeks — until pressure from AFA-Michigan forced its reversal — Republican Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land’s office actually approved a policy change under which men who had not had any type of so-called “sex-change” surgery could nonetheless have their driver’s license changed to legally identify them as “females” (and vice versa).
Policy change announced: http://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=13314&section=news
Policy change reversed: http://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=14010
If you want a preview of what you and your family may encounter in public places in Michigan in the future if this agenda is allowed to advance, and the kind of political and regulatory pressure businesses, schools, and other public facilities will face, please read the report below from a traditional family values advocacy organization in Massachusetts.
THEN TAKE ACTION. Please contact your state legislators today and urge them to vote against House Bill 4192, which would add the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to Michigan’s existing civil rights law — morally, legally, and politically equating homosexual behavior and cross-dressing with benign characteristics such as race, creed, color, and sex.
Contact your state representative: http://house.michigan.gov/find_a_rep.asp
Contact your state senator: http://senate.michigan.gov/SenatorInfo/find-your-senator.htm (http://house.michigan.gov/find_a_rep.asp)
Thanks for your support. By God’s grace and your continued support, AFA-Michigan will continue to stand as a roadblock to the advancement of homosexual and “transgender” activists’ radical political agenda in our state.
Respectfully,


ONE NEWS NOW
Tupelo, Mississippi
April 26, 2010
Rep’s kind words encourage family advocate
by Charlie Butts
A congressman has extended encouraging words to initiators of a federal lawsuit against the hate crimes” law.
Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan (http://www.afamichigan.org/), tells OneNewsNow the letter came from Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa).
“We’re gratified to receive Congressman King’s letter,” Glenn comments. “He’s known across the nation as a stalwart defender of religious freedom, of Judeo-Christian values, and so to have someone of his stature commend us for taking a stand against this so-called ‘hate crimes’ law is certainly gratifying.”
The letter was unsolicited, and the AFA-Michigan president goes on to say that the hate crimes law is dangerous to the nation and to people of faith because it forces the courts to become thought police.
“If you talk to homosexual activists, they are very clear [and] very plain about their intent for the use of hate crimes laws,” Glenn notes. “It is to be used against individuals who merely speak out, who dare oppose their public policy agenda.”
Although the U.S. has constitutional protections for speech, Canada’s hate crimes law offers an example of the possible outcome. Several people there have been taken before a human rights commission for speaking against the homosexual lifestyle, one being a youth pastor who was just commenting on what the Bible says about it.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=986382
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MICHIGAN MESSENGER — Kuipers: Anti-bullying legislation stalled bylack of definition (http://www.afamichigan.org/2010/04/21/michigan-messenger-kuipers-anti-bullying-legislation-stalled-bylack-of-definition/)

April 21, 2010
MICHIGAN MESSENGER
Lansing, Michigan
April 19, 2010
Kuipers: Anti-bullying legislation stalled by lack of definition
Lawmaker wants local schools to define bullying instead of state
by Todd A. Heywood
“The (‘anti-bullying’) legislation has been working its way through the legislature for the better part of a decade… the sticking point was whether or not to enumerate, or list, protected categories. Conservative lawmakers had opposed the enumeration because it included sexual orientation and gender identity and/or expression. Rallied by Gary Glenn of the American Family Association of Michigan, conservatives argued the inclusion of those categories would result in forwarding the so-called ‘homosexual agenda.’”
http://michiganmessenger.com/36885/kuipers-state-cant-define-bullying (http://michiganmessenger.com/36885/kuipers-state-cant-define-bullying)
__________________________________________________


WORLD NET DAILY — U.S. congressman backs “hate crimes” lawsuit (http://www.afamichigan.org/2010/04/20/world-net-daily-u-s-congressman-backs-hate-crimes-lawsuit/)

April 20, 2010
“U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, sent an unsolicited letter to a group of Christian activists and pastors to support their efforts in suing Attorney General Eric Holder over the ‘hate crimes’ law that President Obama signed into law late last year. …King sent the letter to Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan, who joined Pastors Levon Yuille, Rene Ouellette and James Combs in filing a lawsuit with the help of the Thomas More Law Center…
Glenn told WND, ‘We’re gratified to receive Congressman King’s letter commending our civil rights lawsuit to overturn a law that — if used like similar ‘hate crime’ laws at the state level and abroad — will eventually threaten religious free speech rights by persecuting pastors and others who merely express disapproval of homosexual behavior and the political agenda that aggressively seeks to legitimize and promote it to our children.’”
——————————


WORLD NET DAILY
Washington, D.C.
April 20, 2010
U.S. congressman backs ‘hate crimes’ lawsuit
Tells pastors law is ‘unprecedented move to criminalize our thoughts’

By Drew Zahn


https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=7f633460a0&view=att&th=1281f20b27a0ffc8&attid=0.1&disp=emb&zw
U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa – U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, sent an unsolicited letter to a group of Christian activists and pastors to support their efforts in suing Attorney General Eric Holder over the “hate crimes” law that President Obama signed into law late last year.
“As a member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, I worked hard to stop this legislation,” King writes. “Like you, I believe this ‘Hate Crimes’ Act is unconstitutional and marks an unprecedented move to regulate and criminalize our thoughts.”
King sent the letter to Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan, who joined Pastors Levon Yuille, Rene Ouellette and James Combs in filing a lawsuit with the help of the Thomas More Law Center (http://www.thomasmore.org/) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan earlier this year.
The complaint contends that the “hate crimes” law violates the plaintiffs’ civil rights, since it opens Christians to being the target of federal investigations, grand juries and even charges for opposing or publicly criticizing the homosexual lifestyle and ‘gay’ activism.
“On account of … the Hate Crimes Act, plaintiffs are targets for government scrutiny, questioning, investigation, surveillance, and other adverse law enforcement actions and thus seek judicial reassurance that they can freely participate in their speech and related religious activities without being investigated or prosecuted by the government or becoming part of official records because of their Christian beliefs,” the lawsuit explains.
“In the complaint, you raise several constitutional and moral questions,” King writes. “Not only will this Act create a class of people that are ‘more equal than others,’ it will hinder your ability to preach the gospel and openly teach biblical principles.
“As a Christian first and a congressman second, I know the conviction that brought you to institute this lawsuit,” King concludes. “I would like to commend you for your courage to challenge the constitutionality of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.”
Glenn told WND, “We’re gratified to receive Congressman King’s letter commending our civil rights lawsuit to overturn a law that — if used like similar ‘hate crime’ laws at the state level and abroad — will eventually threaten religious free speech rights by persecuting pastors and others who merely express disapproval of homosexual behavior and the political agenda that aggressively seeks to legitimize and promote it to our children.”
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include individuals who already have faced accusations by homosexual advocates that they bear responsibility for the actions of others for no other reason than their agreement with biblical condemnations of homosexuality.
The lawsuit cited the death of Andrew Anthos, a 72-year-old Detroit man allegedly the victim of a “hate crime” because of his “sexual orientation.” In that case, the executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force “blamed … Plaintiff Glenn’s ‘homophobic rants’ for causing his death.”
According to the lawsuit, the homosexual activist said, “It is appalling hypocrisy for these forces to pretend that their venomous words and organizing have no connection to the plague of hate violence against gay people, including the murder of Mr. Anthos.”
Anthos also was cited by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., as evidence of the need to extend federal “hate crimes” legislation to include “sexual orientation” as a protected classification.
But the lawsuit said police and a medical examiner determined that Anthos died of natural causes.
The complaint also said, “The former director of policy for the Triangle Foundation, a Michigan-based homosexual lobby group that supported the Hate Crimes Act, publicly stated, ‘We personally believe that the AFA may support the murder of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people.’”
Such statements, combined with the “hate crimes” law that now exists, provide a “tool” of intimidation for federal officials, including Holder, “to abuse their positions of power to stifle political opinion and opposition to the homosexual agenda.”
“It also provides political adversaries with a basis for making official criminal complaints and allegations against opponents of the homosexual agenda, such as plaintiffs, thereby deterring, inhibiting, and chilling the exercise of plaintiffs’ rights to freedom of speech, expressive association, and the free exercise of religion,” the complaint said.
“By preaching God’s Word on homosexuality, plaintiffs and others are engaging in conduct that subjects them to federal questioning, investigation, and prosecution as principals pursuant to [the law] for counseling, commanding, or inducing a federal offense under … the Hate Crimes Act.”
“There is no legitimate law enforcement need for this federal law,” said Richard Thompson, president of the Law Center. “Of the 1.38 million violent crimes reported in the U.S. by the FBI in 2008, only 243 were considered as motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation.
“Moreover, Eric Holder himself testified at a Senate hearing that the states are doing a fine job in this area,” he said.
“This is part of the list of political payoffs to homosexual advocacy groups for support of Barack Obama in the last presidential election. The sole purpose of this law is to criminalize the Bible and use the threat of federal prosecutions and long jail sentences to silence Christians from expressing their biblically-based religious belief that homosexual conduct is a sin. It elevates those persons who engage in deviant sexual behaviors, including pedophiles, to a special protected class of persons as a matter of federal law and policy,” he said.
The Hate Crimes Act was dubbed by its critics as the “Pedophile Protection Act,” after an amendment to explicitly prohibit pedophiles from being protected by the act was defeated by majority Democrats. In fact, during congressional debate, supporters argued that all “philias,” or alternative sexual lifestyles, should be protected.
Robert Muise, the lead attorney on the case, told WND the law also elevates people who “engaged in a certain class of deviant behavior to a protected class as a matter of federal law and policy.”
With some classes of people given more “rights,” others naturally have “fewer,” he said. And that’s where Christians are targeted. He noted that in an earlier version of what eventually became law under Obama was a proposed amendment referring to reading or citing biblical passages
“In 2007, when Congress was considering similar hate crimes legislation, a motion was made before the Committee on Rules in the House of Representatives to clarify that the printing (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=143513#), distribution, or public reading of the Bible was not prohibited by any provision of the proposed bill. The motion was defeated.”
Contacted by WND, Holder’s office declined to comment on the case.
The law was promoted by its advocates as cracking down on “bias” crimes motivated by a person’s “actual or perceived” “sexual orientation” or “gender identity”
Yiulle is the pastor of The Bible Church in Michigan and national director of the National Black Pro-Life Congress. He hosts a radio program and “is often warned by his Canadian listeners that he will prosecuted under the new U.S. hate crimes law for his public ministry.”
Ouellette is pastor of First Baptist in Bridgeport, Mich., with about 7,000 members, and the author of five books.
Combs is lead pastor of Faith Church, The Point Church, The Rock Church and The River Church, with about 10,000 members.
The civil rights violations created by the “hate crimes” law involve freedom of speech, expressive association, free exercise of religion, the equal protection guarantee and other provisions of the First, Fifth and 10th Amendments as well as Commerce Clause, the case said.
“This new federal law promotes two Orwellian concepts. It creates a special class of persons who are ‘more equal than others’ based on nothing more than deviant, sexual behavior. And it creates ‘thought crimes’ by criminalizing certain ideas, beliefs, and opinions, and the involvement of such ideas, beliefs, and opinions in a crime will make it deserving of federal prosecution,” Muise said.
“Consequently, government officials are claiming the power to decide which thoughts are criminal under federal law and which are not.”
Obama signed the “Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act” in October 2009 after Democrats strategically attached it to a “must-pass” $680 billion defense-appropriations bill.
The law cracks down on any acts that could be linked to criticism of homosexuality or even the “perception” of homosexuality. As Congress debated it, there were assurances it would not be used to crack down on speech.
Days after Obama signed it, in response, pastors and other Christian leaders gathered to read from the Bible at a rally organized with the help of Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Coalition (http://www.christianadc.org/).
Former Navy Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt of PrayInJesusName.org (http://www.prayinjesusname.org/) read from Romans: “And they that commit such things are worthy of death.”
“The government has to invade my thoughts to decide what my motive was in quoting the Bible,” Klingenschmitt explained. “I can be prosecuted if the government thinks my motive was wrong.”
The rally took place in front of the Holder’s offices. He supported the bill although he explained it does not protect all people equally. He is charged with enforcing the law.
Obama boasted of the “hate crimes” bill when he signed it into law.
“After more than a decade, we’ve passed inclusive hate-crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray or who they are,” he said.
Some of the rally in opposition to the law was captured by Christian Broadcasting Network on video:
“If this law is used to silence me or any of these preachers for speaking the truth, then we will be forced to conscientiously defy it,” Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America, declared. “That is my calling as a Christian and my right as an American citizen.”
Janet Porter of Faith2Action called it a “sad day for America.”
“While a small minority of homosexual activists are celebrating, thousands of pastors, priests and rabbis are lamenting their loss of First Amendment freedoms. I for one refuse to bow before this unjust and unconstitutional law, and I intend to continue to preach the whole counsel of God as revealed in the Scriptures,” she wrote.
“But this law doesn’t just affect pastors; it will criminalize the beliefs of millions of ordinary people who may now be afraid to speak even their pro-marriage positions lest it spark a federal ‘hate crime’ investigation,” Porter wrote.
Cass noted in the U.K., a senior citizen was accused of “hate crimes” for writing a letter objecting to a pro-homosexual festival:
“This is the way it gets implemented in all the other countries,” Cass said. “Christians are singled out for prosecution, with threats, imprisonment and fines simply for refusing to stop doing what Christ commands: proclaiming the truth.”
“[These cases] are a good precursor of where this goes,” he warned.
The bill signed by Obama was opposed by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which called it a “menace” to civil liberties. The commission argued the law allows federal authorities to bring charges against individuals even if they’ve already been cleared in a state court.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=143513 (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=143513)
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FOX NEWS — Maine commission moves to ban gender specific bathrooms, sports teams in schools (http://www.afamichigan.org/2010/04/09/fox-news-maine-commission-moves-to-ban-gender-specific-bathrooms-sports-teams-in-schools/)

April 9, 2010
Massachusetts, then Maine, then Michigan?
Please urge your state legislators to oppose House Bill 4192, which — by prohibiting “discrimination” based on so-called “gender identity” — would impose on our entire state this same bizarre attack on reality.
Contact your state representative: http://house.michigan.gov/find_a_rep.asp
Contact your state senator: http://senate.michigan.gov/SenatorInfo/find-your-senator.htm
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“‘When we separate biology it gets very confusing for everyone,’ Mike Heath, president of the American Family Association of New England, told FoxNews.com. ‘Now we’re talking about bathrooms where ladies will entertain the possibility of men being in the restroom with them, and every woman I’ve talked to has indicated that they wouldn’t be comfortable with that.’ With the law affecting schools ranging from nursery level to post-doctorate studies, Heath says he’s concerned with the ramifications of opening up ‘this can of worms,’ especially when it comes to younger students. ‘I get a little more upset with the topic when it touches on young children and what they’re going to have to think about and process,’ he said.
Critics seem especially concerned about the mixing of genders in bathrooms and locker rooms. The commission’s proposal reads: ‘Transgender students must be allowed access to the bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity or expression or, if they prefer, to existing single-stall bathrooms.’”
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FOX NEWS
New York, New York
April 9, 2010
Maine commission moves to ban gender
specific bathrooms, sports teams in schools
The Maine Human Rights Commissions is taking heat over a proposal to ban schools from enforcing gender divisions in sports teams, school organizations, bathrooms and locker rooms, saying forcing a student into a particular room or group because of their biological gender amounts to discrimination.
by Diane Macedo, FOXNews.com
AUGUSTA, Maine — The little girls’ room won’t be just for little girls anymore, if the Maine Human Rights Commission has its way.
The commission is taking heat over a controversial proposal to ban schools from enforcing gender divisions in sports teams, school organizations, bathrooms and locker rooms. It says forcing a student into a particular room or group because of his or her biological gender amounts to discrimination.
The issue came to light last year when the commission ruled that, under the Maine Human Rights Act, a school had discriminated against a 12-year-old transgender boy by denying him access to the girls’ bathroom.
Now the commission aims to issue guidelines on how schools should deal with similar situations in the future. It would make Maine the first state to implement such guidelines for schools as young as preschool and nursery — and even some private schools.
But not everyone in the state is on board with the current proposal. (http://projects/pdf/2-08-2010_Draft_MHRC_Sexual_Orientation_Guidance.pdf)
Some school districts and organizations have criticized the commission for making its initial ruling without getting enough input from conservative groups, and then for coming up with proposed guidelines in what some described as closed-door sessions.
“The conservative side was never brought in on the discussion in the first place, if you look at who gave testimony, written testimony, etc., in the beginning,” Rev. Bob Celeste of Harrison told FoxNews.com. “When you only bring one side in, you’re not looking for an honest debate. You’re looking for an agenda.”
Once it came time to vote on the guidelines, the commission again came under fire for not doing enough to inform Mainers of the vote, and for not allowing the public to speak at the hearing where it was held.
“We found out about this hearing by accident. We were never informed of it,” said Celeste, who was the first person to speak out at the March hearing.
“When I went to the hearing I expected to ask, ‘Why are they doing this?’ And they said that they weren’t going to have public hearings,” he said. “I said ‘Mr. Chairman, it’s getting late, when are we going to be able to ask questions?’ and he said, ‘You can’t.’”
Celeste says he then walked out of the meeting, but other outraged citizens got very vocal after his departure and apparently persuaded the commission to postpone the vote.
Now those critics are looking to get their voices heard again at a public hearing on the issue next month.
“When we separate biology it gets very confusing for everyone,” Mike Heath, president of the American Family Association of New England, told FoxNews.com. “Now we’re talking about bathrooms where ladies will entertain the possibility of men being in the restroom with them, and every woman I’ve talked to has indicated that they wouldn’t be comfortable with that.”
With the law affecting schools ranging from nursery level to post-doctorate studies, Heath says he’s concerned with the ramifications of opening up “this can of worms,” especially when it comes to younger students.
“I get a little more upset with the topic when it touches on young children and what they’re going to have to think about and process,” he said.
Critics seem especially concerned about the mixing of genders in bathrooms and locker rooms. The commission’s proposal reads: “Transgender students must be allowed access to the bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity or expression or, if they prefer, to existing single-stall bathrooms.”
“There’s not a whole lot of places a girl can expect privacy, but the bathroom should be one of them,” said Celeste. “And there’s not a whole lot of places a boy expects privacy, but the bathroom should be one of them. Married couples close the door when they go to the bathroom.”
Ken Trump, President of National School Safety and Security Services, says the guidelines set out in the commission’s draft brochure pose some serious safety issues as well.
“If my kid walks into a girls’ bathroom and sees a man in there, the child is going to instinctively feel that something’s wrong. If you create an entirely new climate where anything goes, you’re going to create increased confusion, and those with ill intentions could take advantage of that confusion and decreased ability to make a distinction,” Trump told FoxNews.com.
“The reality is, every day we’re seeing more and more cases of exploitation of children and others, and this would be creating an environment where the risk is increased for that exploitation.”
Because the commission suggests that people won’t be obligated to supply medical documentation that proves they are transgender, Trump says the policy also paves the way for increased sexual activity on school grounds – both consensual and non-consensual.
“Educators at the middle school level struggle every day in trying to keep student hormonal issues under control so that the focus can be on education,” he said. “We certainly don’t need to create an environment to accelerate and exacerbate the issue and further the experimentation, the inappropriate comments, inappropriate touching, groping, grabbing, sexual assaults and in some cases, rapes in schools.”
Karen Kemble, the Director of Equal Opportunity for the University of Maine, says the university has not taken a position for or against the proposed guidelines, but she shared concerns over some of them, including schools’ inability to ask for “proof” of sexual orientation.
“This would leave the institution without any way to determine the bona fide nature of the gender identity or expression,” Kemble said in a letter to the commission. (http://projects/pdf/lt_john_re_guidance.pdf)
“It is routine practice to seek documentation of non-obvious disabilities in the event of an accommodation request. Even in the case of religious accommodations, an employer may sometimes seek additional information regarding either the religious nature of the request or the sincerity of a particular belief,” she added.
As an NCAA institution, Kemble says the University of Maine system could also face many hurdles when it comes to incorporating the guidelines into its athletic program.
“Some of the issues that we face are that the NCAA has rules that if we, for example, allowed a transgender student to participate in gender-segregated sport, then that may raise concerns about fairness and also may spark action by the NCAA, she said.
“We certainly want to have a welcoming environment and are doing everything we can to support the right to gender identity and gender expression,” she added.
John Gause, counsel for the Maine Human Rights Commission, told FoxNews.com that the commission is still in the process of developing guidelines on how the Maine Human Rights Act “applies in the context of sexual orientation in schools and colleges.”
“A date and location for the public comment session will be finalized in the near future,” he wrote in an e-mail.
The commission said more information on the public hearing will be posted on its web site once those details are finalized.
Neither Gause nor the commission’s executive director, Pat Ryan, returned follow-up e-mails and phone calls seeking a response to concerns raised over the guidelines.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/08/maine-commission-moves-ban-gender-specific-school-bathrooms-teams/
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BellaBellucci
02-05-2013, 12:33 PM
It's funny that the entire case in Peabody seems to rest on the allegation that mainstream society is being forced to accept a 'perversion' in the rest room, and even though that could be argued in the cases of the crossdressers, it cannot be in the case of the TS. 'Gender Identity Disorder' is being depathologized in the DSM-5. It will henceforth be referred to as 'Gender Dysphoria.' Society doesn't have to like it, but it's not a sickness.

~BB~

natina
02-07-2013, 07:26 AM
undue burden
could prevent that eatery from having to accommodate them

http://www.nolo.com/dictionary/undue-burden-term.html

http://definitions.uslegal.com/u/undue-burden-test/