{"id":265,"date":"2024-05-07T12:40:38","date_gmt":"2024-05-07T12:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deborah-ballard.com\/wp1\/?p=265"},"modified":"2024-05-07T12:43:47","modified_gmt":"2024-05-07T12:43:47","slug":"bill-of-rights-lgbt-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/deborah-ballard.com\/wp1\/2024\/05\/07\/bill-of-rights-lgbt-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill of Rights & LGBT Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"Gay
Religious Freedom?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Bill of Rights and LGBT Rights.<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Christian Conservatives and most Republicans want to revoke the rights of LGBT people.  These are the constitutional rights guaranteed to ALL Persons in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Amendment: Freedom of Religion, Speech, and the Press<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christian Conservative Republicans want to rewrite this to mean “Congress should make no law restricting religion and outlawing criminal activities when justified by “Deep Religious Beliefs.” furthermore, they want to change this to “Only Christianity shall be protected. Not Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This group also wants to decide WHO has freedom of speech and the press.\u00a0 They want Christians, racists, sexists, bigots, gay-bashers, tranny-bashers, and Latino-bashers to have unrestricted free speech even when it leads to the deaths of dozens or even hundreds when followers use their “Christian” faith as the basis for assault, theft, fraud, and even murder.\u00a0 They also want to limit freedom of speech through artistic expression.\u00a0 A woman can wear a pretty dress or leggings, or baggy pants, but a transgender woman wearing a dress should be stoned to death?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also seem to think that only CERTAIN people should be allowed to assemble.\u00a0 If the KKK and Aryan Nation Nazis want to march, brandishing deadly weapons, that should be permitted, but if Anti-Fascists (ANTIFA) want to stage a counter-demonstration, Trump and conservatives want them arrested on the spot.\u00a0 If they engage in vandalism, they should be arrested and prosecuted, but only those committing the act, not the entire group, simply because they oppose the racists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for petitions, that has become a joke.  If 90% of the people said we want the Affordable Health Care Plan, Republicans would kill it anyway, because it’s “Obamacare” and anything Obama did must be evil, because why?.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Amendment: The Right to Bear Arms<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conservatives seem to have completely erased the who concept of a well-regulated militia. Most rural towns couldn’t afford full-time law enforcement, so when crimes were committed, the county sherrif would deputize a posse that would attempt to identify, capture, and detain the man, bringing him to the jail, where he would be tried if at all possible. Justice Scalia effectively erased that notion of a “Well Regulated Militia,” arguing that ANYONE had the right to own ANY gun or weapon they wanted, REGARDLESS of their mental health, history of drug abuse, and even criminal record.\u00a0 He barely left the option of denying guns to felons and implied that this was only while they were on parole.

Meanwhile, Christian Conservatives are demanding that the most non-lethal, non-threatening, and least intrusive defensive weapon be denied to transgender women.\u00a0 I’m speaking of camouflage, the ability to blend in with their environment, and their ability to be safe by not\u00a0drawing\u00a0the attention of predators to themselves.\u00a0 Many states and localities have passed or attempted to pass “Bathroom Bills” designed to FORCE transgender women to draw as much attention to themselves as possible by walking\u00a0into\u00a0the men’s restroom wearing a skirt, heels, and naturally grown 38D breasts.\u00a0 They might as well be painted with a sign that says,”I’m a guy in a dress; come and beat the life out of me as quickly as possible.”
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amendment 3 
– The Housing of Soldiers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not strictly LGBT, but it seems that laws forbidding or blocking abortion could be construed as a violation of the Third Amendment if being forced to quarter a child.\u00a0 The primary purpose for expanding the population is to provide and replenish the supply of available soldiers.\u00a0 Women were caregivers and breeding stock for the next generation of soldiers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Amendment 4 
– Protection from Unreasonable Searches and Seizures<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The right of the people to be\u00a0secure\u00a0in their\u00a0persons, houses, papers, and\u00a0effects\u00a0against\u00a0unreasonable\u00a0searches\u00a0and seizures shall\u00a0not be\u00a0violated, and no\u00a0warrants\u00a0shall\u00a0be issued\u00a0but\u00a0upon\u00a0probable cause, supported by\u00a0oath\u00a0or\u00a0affirmation, and particularly describing\u00a0the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the most offensive of violations against the LGBTQ community.\u00a0 We are all supposed to be safe and secure in our persons.\u00a0 Yet many transgender bathroom bills and birth certificate laws require providing proof of the most private part of our persons of all, our genitalia.\u00a0 \u00a0Anyone can see from across the room that I have 38D breasts, enhanced with a push-up bra to be proportional to my large chest and belly.\u00a0 Yet bathroom bills have resulted in women being dragged out of bathroom stalls while still peeing so that a man who unlocked the stall with a quarter can “inspect” the genitalia to make sure that she has the correct labia, vulva, and clitoral hood.\u00a0 The most offensive part of all is that nearly all of the women sexually assaulted in this way were cisgender women, not transgender women.

To change your birth certificate in most states, you have to have a doctor certify that he has performed vaginoplasty and labiaplasty before they will allow you to change to female.\u00a0 Some states even want a state doctor to INSPECT the surgery.\u00a0 Keep in mind that there is no court order, no search warrant, no probable cause, and no justification required to demand all of the most intimate details of the procedure, even photographs.\u00a0 Seems like Christian Conservatives are just perverts who want to gawk at surgically created vaginas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that isn’t bad enough, many “Bathroom Bills” also demand that a transgender woman have a copy of her birth certificate and be prepared to show it at the request of any officer who wants to inspect it.  I can show him my driver’s license, US Passport, and other official documents that say I’m a girl, but those aren’t good enough if you are suspected of being transgender.  Again, there is no court order involved, not even probable cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amendment 5 
– Protection of Rights to Life, Liberty, and Property<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No person shall be\u00a0held to answer for\u00a0a\u00a0capital\u00a0or otherwise\u00a0infamous crime\u00a0unless on a\u00a0presentment or indictment\u00a0of a\u00a0grand jury, except in\u00a0cases\u00a0arising\u00a0in the\u00a0land or naval forces or in the\u00a0militia, when in actual service in time of war or\u00a0public\u00a0danger; nor shall any person be\u00a0subject\u00a0for the same\u00a0offense\u00a0to be twice put\u00a0in jeopardy of\u00a0life or\u00a0limb; nor shall be\u00a0compelled\u00a0in any criminal case to be a\u00a0witness\u00a0against himself, nor\u00a0be deprived of\u00a0life, liberty, or property without\u00a0due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without\u00a0just compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the most obvious and frequently violated right.\u00a0 Transgender women and LGBT people have been routinely arrested, detained, abused, raped, and even tortured merely for the “Crime” of existing.\u00a0 A transgender woman in a bathroom who menaces a woman, touches a woman in any way, makes threatening comments, or any other direct attempt to assault a woman verbally or physically can face the most severe of sentences, often excessive compared to what a heterosexual, cisgender man would get if he did the exact same thing to a woman in a bar or a church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big violation here is that they are making it a criminal act to use the bathroom.\u00a0 It really doesn’t matter which bathroom is used.\u00a0 If a transgender woman uses the men’s bathroom, she’s being lewd and lascivious and could be charged with indecent exposure if she were willing and able to go standing up.\u00a0 On the other hand, if she uses the women’s bathroom, she could be arrested for just going to pee, wiping herself, and washing her hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transgender women can be detained in jail, fined up to a couple of thousand dollars, and even assaulted by law enforcement officers, with no due process at all.\u00a0 What makes this even worse is that all of this can happen to any woman.\u00a0 \u00a0Because she was too pretty, because she was too plain, because she wore baggy pants a sports jersey and a baseball cap, because her hair was too short, because she “looked like a drag queen”, or because a pervy guard just wanted to grope and gawk.\u00a0 Of course, being forced to drop your drawers or produce your birth certificate could be considered forced self-incrimination as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forced outing of transgender women HAS led to murders, severe assaults, kidnapping, and rape – simply because a law enforcement officer “Outed” a transgender girl who was living in stealth.\u00a0 Transgender people have lost jobs, homes, wives, children, visitation rights, leases, even had their homes damaged or destroyed, simply because some vigilante “thought you should know”.\u00a0 The law is supposed to protect individuals from other individuals or organizations that violate the due process and take life, liberty, and property without due process.

There have even been cases where a Conservative Christian parent has had their own child kidnapped, raped, tortured, and stripped of everything they own, based on “Religious Liberty”.\u00a0 Children are not property and are protected by the same Bill of Rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Amendment 6 
– Rights of Accused Persons in Criminal Cases<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LGBTQ\u00a0people are often forced to deal with people who act as judge, jury, and executioner.\u00a0 There is no impartial jury, just a homophobe who takes the law into his own hands.\u00a0 Preachers call for the murder of LGBT people, and their followers execute those orders.\u00a0 Fortunately, the number of actual murders is relatively low, but 30-40 transgender people are murdered every year, and their assailants often get trivial sentences because the victim was transgender and the perpetrators are “Christians.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In schools all over the country, LGBT kids get bullied, physically assaulted, and sexually assaulted, yet there is no trial, no impartial jury, no evidence, no sworn testimony, not even witnesses for the defendant.\u00a0 No, based on the RUMOR that someone is a “Sissy” or “Faggot”, these religious fanatics will punch, kick, beat with sticks, bats,\u00a0and even cause injuries so severe that extended hospitalization is required, all based on the RUMOR.\u00a0 Often, the “defendant” has made no attempt to seduce a member of the same sex, has made no announcement that they are transgender, or even that they want to LOOK like a girl.\u00a0 They may be condemned simply by a gesture, a laugh, or being in the wrong bathroom at the wrong time.\u00a0 In too many cases, their ACCUSERS have issues ranging from their own homosexuality to being victims of domestic abuse or sexual abuse, but being good “Christians,” they aren’t allowed to talk about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amendment 7 
– Rights in Civil Cases<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States than according to the rules of the common law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a big one.\u00a0 In some courts, all a plaintiff has to do is MENTION that the defendant is gay or effeminate, and they can get a much more favorable judgment from the Judge and the Jury.\u00a0 The judge can even instruct the jury to disregard the remark, but they can’t “un-hear” it.\u00a0 If there are enough “Christians” or other bigots on the jury, even an overwhelming case can lead to the wrong verdict or minimal damages.\u00a0 This has happened frequently in wrongful termination employment cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amendment 8 
– Excessive Bail, Fines, and Punishments Forbidden<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially in early transition, transgender women generally don’t carry extra credit cards with them because they are afraid to use them.\u00a0 They can get money from an ATM, but even then, they normally don’t carry large amounts of currency.\u00a0 If a transgender girl gets arrested because the officer thinks she looks like a hooker, or because she used the wrong bathroom, or because she caused a disturbance by offending some bigots who called the police, she gets carted off to jail.\u00a0 After removing everything that could be used as a woman or for suicide (heels, belts, necklaces, pantyhose, stockings, garter belts…), she is put in a holding cell with a dozen or more men.\u00a0 Often, the guards simply leave for a little while, an hour or so.\u00a0 Long enough for every man in the cell to rape and sodomize her anally and orally.\u00a0 Since she looks like a pretty girl, nobody wants to miss out, and any experiences of shame and guilt afterward trigger acts of extreme violence.\u00a0 So they put the injured, bleeding, helpless woman into solitary confinement so she can’t tell anyone what has happened to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many transgender women convicted of minor drug possession charges have been put into maximum security men’s prison even though they have a full set of naturally grown breasts.\u00a0 Even though they have been chemically or physically castrated and would willingly have themselves castrated to be moved to the women’s prison (as has been done with eunuchs for thousands of years), the state insists that they have a surgery that costs $20,000 or more and the state refuses to allow anyone to perform this surgery.\u00a0 I would consider being raped 2-3 times a day by a dozen men for 5-10 years to be CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT!\u00a0 Yet the current courts and many states don’t seem to think so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Amendment 9 
– Other Rights Kept by the People<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is often considered a loophole by conservatives who seem to think that they should have the right to everything from owning people they can whip at will, to raping their own wives, molesting their own children, to dumping toxic waste into the drinking water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet when LGBT people claim the most basic civil rights guaranteed to men, women, and children of all races and creeds, they are told that these rights don’t apply to them because they don’t dress right or because they kissed the wrong person.\u00a0 A woman can have her job protected from sex-based discrimination by being fired because they want to put a man in her position, but if they find out that she kisses girls, they can fire her even if there is nobody to fill her job, and even if it would take 3 men to fill her shoes.

The latest special right being claimed by Christian Conservatives is “Religious Liberty”.\u00a0 They believe that they have the right to use their religious beliefs to persecute gays, transsexuals, Muslims, Women, Mexicans, Asians, Indians, Native Americans, people with disabilities, and other “abominations”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Amendment 10 
– Undelegated Powers Kept by the States and the People<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A final gambit being played by the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, is to claim that these are “State’s Rights.”\u00a0 Yet the 14th Amendment forbids the state from abridging the rights guaranteed by the Constitution.\u00a0 In other words, just because a transgender girl goes to Tennessee doesn’t mean she loses her rights to safety, security, privacy, due process, and fair and reasonable punishment if convicted of an actual crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that the “Religious Right” has decided to completely rewrite the Constitution without telling anybody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Bill of Rights and LGBT Rights. Christian Conservatives and most Republicans want to revoke the rights of LGBT people.  These are the constitutional rights guaranteed to ALL Persons in the United States. First Amendment: Freedom of Religion, Speech, and the Press Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,1],"tags":[23,25,24,26],"class_list":["post-265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lgbtq-issues","category-uncategorized","tag-lgbt","tag-lgbt-rights","tag-lgbtq","tag-religious-freedom"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/deborah-ballard.com\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/deborah-ballard.com\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/deborah-ballard.com\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deborah-ballard.com\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deborah-ballard.com\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/deborah-ballard.com\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267,"href":"http:\/\/deborah-ballard.com\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions\/267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/deborah-ballard.com\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deborah-ballard.com\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deborah-ballard.com\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}