The horrors of the GOP platform

by Sara Ritsch
Editorial

The year 2016 has been one of the most traumatic the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community has seen in years.

The attack on transgender individuals by limiting their bathroom and locker room access, the Orlando shooting at Pulse nightclub, the threats to same-sex marriage and the outing of so many gender identities have hit the community right at its core.

Finally, through coded language, religious exemptions and freedom of speech, that same discrimination has soaked through the pages of the Republican National Committee’s platform for the 2016 election.

Advocating strongly against abortion and single parenting while simultaneously opposing gay marriage is stated through their assertion of religious liberty for businesses and state governments. The GOP platform states:

“We assert every citizen’s right to apply religious values to public policy and the right of faith-based organizations to participate fully in public programs without renouncing their beliefs, removing religious symbols, or submitting to government-imposed hiring practices. We oppose government discrimination against businesses due to religious views.”

Here, the Republican platform clearly says businesses should maintain their right to discriminate and withhold services.

“We support the First Amendment right of freedom of association of the Boy Scouts of America and other service organizations whose values are under assault and condemn the State blacklisting of religious groups which decline to arrange adoptions by same-sex couples.

“We condemn the hate campaigns, threats of violence, and vandalism by proponents of same-sex marriage against advocates of traditional marriage and call for a federal investigation into attempts to deny religious believers their civil rights.”

This rhetoric heavily implies that the LGBT community and our allies oppose civil rights and religious liberty, setting our community up at the oppressors, not as the oppressed.

The court-ordered redefinition of marriage is appalling to the GOP, as stated in their platform as “dangerous” and a “serious threat”. The platform states, “This [redefinition of marriage] is more than a matter of warring legal concepts and ideals. It is an assault on the foundations of our society, challenging the institution which, for thousands of years in virtually every civilization, has been entrusted with the rearing of children and the transmission of cultural values.”

The platform continues, highlighting the enactment of the Defense of Marriage Act, which may affirm the right of States and the federal government not to recognize same-sex relationships licensed in other jurisdictions, further limiting the LGBT scope of freedoms.

“The current Administration’s open defiance of this constitutional principle—in its handling of immigration cases, in federal personnel benefits, in allowing a same-sex marriage at a military base, and in refusing to defend DOMA in the courts— makes a mockery of the President’s inaugural oath,” the platform states. “We reaffirm our support for a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. We applaud the citizens of the majority of States which have enshrined in their constitutions the traditional concept of marriage, and we support the campaigns underway in several other States to do so.”

Coded language distracts the average reader from the subject of conversion therapy. But in the statement by the platform, full rights are advocated for parents who may insist on reparative counseling for children with alternative gender identities or sexual orientations. It reads, “We...support the right of parents to consent to medical treatment for their children, including mental health treatment, drug treatment, and treatment involving pregnancy, contraceptives and abortion.”

But the American Academy of Pediatrics has spoken. Their idea of conversion therapy is alternative to that of the GOP:

“Therapy directed specifically at changing sexual orientation is contraindicated, since it can provoke guilt and anxiety while having little or no potential for achieving changes in orientation.”

The American Medical Association has also released a statement opposing reparative or conversion therapy, as has the American Counseling Association, whose Ethics Committee suggests that ethical counselors avoid it at all costs and, if they intend to follow through anyway, fully inform clients of “the unproven nature of the treatment and the potential risks,” taking “steps to minimize harm to clients.”

However, the GOP platform continues, stating that all medical professionals should be able to deny their services to anyone according to their religious beliefs.

“No healthcare professional or organization should ever be required to perform, provide for, withhold, or refer for a medical service against their conscience,” it reads. “We support the ability of all organizations to provide, purchase, or enroll in healthcare coverage consistent with their religious, moral or ethical convictions without discrimination or penalty.”

This GOP platform is being called the most anti-LGBTQ in history. And to this, I think our community would majorly respond with a resounding “Fuck that.”

The Gayly - 7/13/2016 @ 4:10 p.m. CDT