Parents: The safety and privacy of your children is in great peril!
On Friday, May 13, the Obama administration issued orders calling for all public schools and universities to permit transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms corresponding to their gender identity instead of their biological sex. This lawless directive – which came in a letter signed by officials with the Departments of Education and Justice — does not have the authority of law –but does contain an implicit threat: schools that do not abide by the Obama administration orders could face lawsuits or loss of federal funds under Title IX.
The Obama Administration has once again overstepped legal boundaries by redefining the scope and reach of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Obama administration has deemed “sex” an elastic term, and regards “gender” (how one feels) synonymous with “sex” (biology), and is now aggressively embedding “gender” as a part of federal policy, including Title IX funding. Lawmakers who drafted Titles VII and Title IX never even considered that the term “sex” would be anything other than biological sex. With this directive, Obama is slapping the heavy hand of government on local schools. He is using our children as pawns to accomplish his goals of social reengineering
The absurdity of girls and boys having to share the same bathrooms, lockers and showers did not go unnoticed by the ultra-left Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Writing for the Washington Post, Ginsburg acknowledges, “Separate places to disrobe, sleep, perform personal bodily functions are permitted, in some situations required, by regard for individual privacy.”
As the State Director for Concerned Women for America of Hawaii I am gravely concerned about how this dictatorial order will impact the privacy and safety of Hawaii students. I know that there are not enough adults in a school building to supervise restrooms and locker rooms. No one will be able to fully protect your children.
Consider what is happening in Palatine, Illinois. In late 2015, a Palatine high school caved to the threats of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to strip federal funding if the school did not allow a transgender boy to have full access to the girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms and showers. Because the school acquiesced to the federal government, 51 families have filed a federal lawsuit against the ED attempting to reverse the policy. The impact this policy is having on the girls who attend this high school is heart wrenching. According to the lawsuit, “Every day these girls go to school, they experience embarrassment, humiliation, anxiety, fear, apprehension, stress, degradation, and loss of dignity because they will have to use the locker room and restroom with a biological male. They are afraid of being seen by, and being forced to share intimate spaces with a male while they are in various states of undress. These girls are also afraid they will have to see a male in a state of undress.”
So far, governors and state leaders in twelve states have begun to push back against this outrageous and incredibly dangerous order. HAWAII IS NOT ON THE LIST. At the time of this writing, no one from the Hawaii government or DOE has made any statement. Gov. David Y. Ige and Attorney General David M. Louie, and the 11 State Board of Education members have remained silent. And to be silent is to be complicit. Local school systems are responding by saying they will have to read over the order to determine how they will respond. What is there to “think about?” They just need to shred the document.
Please take action.
1. It is imperative that our state leaders hear from us TODAY. Would you call the following people and urge them to refuse to comply with the Obama directive, even if it means losing federal dollars or the threat of a lawsuit? We cannot sacrifice our children and grandchildren on the altar of the money.
Gov. David Y. Ige
Click here to email.
Attorney General Douglas E. Chin
808-586-1500 and/or click here to email.
State Department of Education Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi
808-586-3314 and/or click here to email. Address your comments to Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi.
State Board of Education Chairman Lance A. Mizumoto
808-586-3334 and/or click here to email.
2. Contact both your local school superintendent and school board member. Show up at the next regularly scheduled board meeting and speak in opposition to the Obama directive.
Please pray that our leaders will have the courage to resist manipulation, pressure and the fear of man. Proverbs 29:25 tells us, “The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.” 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
Valuable resource: Male and Female Identity in a Sexually Confused World
Aligning ourselves with God’s plan for man and woman is the solution side of the problem. Let us pray deeply for the ability to live into our male and female identity with more fullness, that we might offer a restorative picture for all of the world. Read more here.