Terry Kemple On Wrong Side of 14 Amendment

The Tampa City Council will take it's final vote on, if transgender people should be protected from decrimination. On November 5, the Council held a preliminarily on transgender protection. The Council voted unanimously in favor. Longtime Pushing Rope reader (and punching bag) Terry Kemple sent out a mass email claiming the ordinance would violate religious rights.

Please stop this assault on Christian values! Do this whether you live in the city or outside the city. If you don’t, here are just a few of the things that will happen. 1. People who dress like the opposite sex will be allowed into the restroom of the gender they feel like today. 2. Sexual predators will be able to take advantage of the law to go into the other sex’s restroom. 3. Regardless of their religious beliefs, rental property owners will be forced to rent to cross dressers. 4. Regardless of their religious beliefs, business owners will be forced to hire and/or retain cross dressers. 5. These special privileges will be granted because of a person’s aberrant sexual behavior. These are not hypothetical! Example after example exists of this discrimination against people of faith! If the City Council hears a loud voice from the Church they’ll think twice and we may actually defeat this proposal. If they don’t hear from us be ready to lose a few more of the religious freedoms our country was established to protect. Please contact City Council members and ask your Pastor to tell the congregation to contact them as well.

Gay people are sex predators is the oldest lie the Christian Right dish out. Kemple is literally saying that his religious beliefs require him to use Jim Crow-style oppression on transgender people. Kemple wants people to continue to not provide housing or jobs to gay and transgender people. Kemple is arguing discriminatory practices are required forms of religious expression.

To make matters clear: the ordinance does not close down churches or force Mr. Kemple to give up his freedom of expression. The First amendment protects Kemple's speech and religious views. Kemple should read the 14 amendment.

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

This passage is known as the Equal Protection Clause. the 14 amendment was instrumental in ending the Jim Crow laws. Strauder v. West Virginia allowed blacks to serve on juries. Brown v. Board of Education ended racial segregation in learning institutions. Due process was cited in Lawrence v. Texas. The decision ended Texas' law against same sex sexual intercourse. Christian conservative arguments that gay and transgender rights are not a civil rights issue is not founded in reality.

Since Kemple is sending a mass email out, I thought ask readers to message Kemple on Facebook. Feel free to let Kemple know how you feel about his opposition to the ordinance for transgender protection.