(WARNING: This diary is not responsible for head, back, and neck injuries as a result of this motion, don't read this diary while operating a vehicle or heavy machinery.)
That's right, I brought out the scare quotes. When the Ministry of Truth makes discrimination synonymous with freedom, you know it's going to be a long winter. I considered using a colonic title that began with "Idaho Taliban?" but some of the good people of Idaho are worried about drawing negative attention to the state as a whole. The rain falls on the just and unjust alike. I was just talking with someone about events in Idaho this past week, and they likened it to the early days of the Civil Rights movement in the deep South. Bad conditions are so entrenched that things may not change, or may change far too slowly for many people to benefit, without outside attention. That, and the political-religious right (and in the Gem State, those are inextricably welded at the hip) are getting help from powerful organizations and individuals on the 'outside.' Mayor Brian Blad of the town of Pocatello was reportedly visited by legal counsel from the Heritage Foundation last April, on the day the city council was voting on it's current anti-discrimination ordinance, and was coached on how to block it before the council's vote.
It helps to know that virtually everything non-local in Idaho is referred to as from the 'outside world'--this bit of mind twisting has a way of making people think they're never going to get the positive changes many of the rest of us take for granted. A lot of times when I talk to people in other places about what's going on in the state, they can hardly believe what's happening. It elicits responses like "Don't they know its 2014?", a very sane reaction that sometimes unintentionally puts a damper on communication and change. This false inside-outside opposition that's been ground into many Idahoans has a chilling effect on communication. Businesses and institutions that have been co-opted broadcast to people on the street that they can't share troubles away from home or it will shut down the economy, and this enables the lunacy to continue. Labor laws are weak and people fear for their jobs. And many, like LGBTQ folks in Pocatello, also fear for their personal safety. There's more...
I said it's going to be a long winter, and winter has come to the Gem State. In a triple onslaught on LGBTQ rights last week, first, 44 Add the Words protesters were arrested in Boise on Monday. On Thursday, without discussion or debate, the Pocatello city council voted to put the city's current anti-discrimination ordinance up for referendum vote in May. If this has you bothered, the third offense could have you pulling out your hair. (Alert: It may leave your mouth agape, or give you what an acquaintance calls the double head snap--so offensive to good sense that when you first see it, it barely registers. When it does, your head whips back for a second look, and well… I think you've got the picture. This diary is not responsible for head, back, and neck injuries as a result of reading it, don't read while operating a vehicle or heavy machinery, etc.)
Boise State Public Radio reports that this past Wednesday, the Idaho House State Affairs Committee voted 11-5 to make a bad law even worse. Fourteen years ago, the state passed a law to protect religious people from being sued by the government for refusing to serve customers they believe violate their faith. I haven't done the research, but I strongly suspect this was to enable doctors to refuse abortions. But it's now been twisted to the claim that it authorizes discrimination of LGBTQ people if done out of a hazily-defined sense of 'religious conviction' (in employment, housing, and public accommodations--i.e., barring use of toilets).
Can you feel the snow yet? It gets worse.
The committee's vote will send a bill to the house floor, which if passed, would protect discriminators from being sued even by individuals. All those who voted in favor were Republicans. Two Republicans joined 3 Democratic representatives in opposing it.
I have to say that was not easy (and that is not tongue-in-cheek). Thank you opposing GOPers! After passage of the Pocatello city ordinance last June, out of 2 council members who voted in favor that were later up for re-election, 1 was defeated by a newcomer and the other won by only a slim margin. The current situation is only going to change by standing up to bigotry and intolerance despite the short-term costs. The most effective critics are going to be those associated--fairly or not--with the current stance in the state house. Get out in support of those who are standing up for you. The inside-outside thing is a Sith mind trick that results in apathy. Be careful, but don't stop fighting the good fight.
Warning: Here comes the hail storm.
This measure, introduced by (mis)representative Lynn Luker, is opposed by nearly everyone. Idaho Episcopalian church leaders, gay rights activists, you name it. They fear that it will enshrine discrimination in law. Everyone I've talked to, inside Idaho or out, agrees. Two supporters of Luker's measure were allowed to speak at the hearing. The most visible is conservative activist-lobbyist Julie Lynde, director of the 'Cornerstone Family Council'. Now I can't resist the scare quotes, and it is scary. Most people in Idaho get creeped out by the pseudo-Masonic connotations of that name--no offense intended to good brothers of the temple out there, but you gotta know when the wingnuts are misrepresentin'. Lynde said this will close a loophole making religious freedoms vulnerable.
Bad law made worse- check.
The majority don't want it and they turned out for the hearing to say so- check.
Religious freedom equated with bigotry and intolerance- check.
Aspirin and compress, please.
LGBTQ people are being denied the moral imperative that their natural rights be represented and protected. This has to stop. After the 44 were arrested in Boise last Monday, a Moveon.org petition was started to let Idaho legislators know just how much gay and transgender Idahoans and their supporters in the state and the rest of the country want the Four Words "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" added to Idaho’s Human Rights Act without further delay. As of this minute, it has 7539 signatures. If you haven't signed it, please do so today.
1:59 PM PT: The language about Blad being visited by counsel from the Heritage Foundation has had "reportedly" added, with the link to the source. A good authority with Add the Words tells me it was actually "[a]n attorney from the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s American Religious Freedom Program," who met all day with the mayor, the city council, and conservative church representatives on the day of the first vote in Pocatello.
Wed Feb 12, 2014 at 1:15 PM PT: Add the Words Moveon.org petition now has 8048 signatures.