Colorado governor okays open bathrooms

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter has signed a bill that has shocked many of the state's residents.

The bill adds transgendered people to the list included in the state's non-discrimination law. That means businesses will be required to hire transgendered people, even if they are owned and operated by Christians who oppose the lifestyle on moral grounds. Focus on the Family spokesman Bruce Hausknecht was asked what impact that will have on churches and ministries such as his.

"One of our state legislators demanded and got an amendment that would exempt from the definition of public accommodation a church, a synagogue, a mosque, or any other facility that is primarily used for religious purposes," he explains.

But he says it is not certain ministries other than churches would be left untouched. Hausknecht also notes that the bill creates an opportunity for sexual predators to visit the restroom of their choice to find a victim.

"What this bill now does do is allow men to go into women's restrooms and locker rooms and vice versa because we are told that we cannot discriminate against someone with a transgender status," he warns.

Colorado lawmakers also slapped voters in the face with a provision that prohibits a public referendum or petition drive to overturn the law. Hausknecht says the only choice Colorado voters have now is to send people to the legislature that will act to reverse the law.

the reason of leave the office:

"resign by the reason of insanity"

Now let's see if the Colorado people have a spine and do the right thing....

I don't understand this one at all.  Parents already worry about their children when they use a public restroom, now there's more to worry about.

If it's such a concern, just make another bathroom with a ? on it for the confused folks to use.  That way, nobody has to be bothered with them or worry about their children coming into contact with them.

I wonder what the reaction to this is going to be in CO.

Anyone hear from Rep. Tancredo (R-Co) on this matter? I'm sure he's beside himself about this...... 

Ritter has been a thorn in Coloradians sides for some time now:

I hadn't heard of this till I read this thread so I went to the net, read the actual law, read the exclusions passed by the legislature, which Ritter signed (an amendment to SB200 excludes church & school facilities from the list of 20 'public accommodations' GLBT beings may enter & use); and in related legislation, Ritter vetoed a bill passed by both houses of the Colorado legislature that would have made starting petitions, getting them signed (by either volunteer or paid signture gatherers), and submitting them for signature verification more difficult.

The new law does not prohibit citizen action through the petition...it can't, Colorado has the petition guarantee to all its residents built into its constitution.

I'm no fan of the fruits & nuts population in America but here are hard facts:

98% of sexual attacks on children are committed by heterosexual adults (of that number, about 80% by men and 20% by women -- usually in the form of statutory rape of minor boys).

GLBT beings comprise less than 5% of the US population but appear to cluster in tolerant areas such as Atlanta, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and Manhattan, NYC. While there are some just about everywhere they present social costs and political problems primarily in their cluster areas.

For myself, I don't accept the comparison they try to make between their perversion of biological function and civil rights-race issues. While they may or may not have any choice in their preferences they certainly have behavioral choices available to them...that they, in general, choose to live the most licentious life imaginable is what makes their style of living a perverted and degenerate life system. Put bluntly, if they kept their zippers up and their skirts down, and practiced even a modicum of decorum in their public behaviors, no one should care who they are or what they do. Their agenda, however, is to shock, affront and litigate us into acceptance of their life system. What they don't understand is that it's irrelevant whether we accept them or not...they are what they are...and so long as they 'keep it at home' as most of us do, we shouldn't care whether they exist or not. Judge them based on their behavior, not their inclinations.

You won't like this but Ritter's approach to governing seems to be very libertarian (small L)...some of you may conclude that he is a libertine but I think you'd be wrong making that assessment.

Based on my reading of the law, the amendment and exceptions to the law, the media coverage of the debates running up to its signing, and comments of the political actors on both sides of the issue I can only conclude that the reaction by certain factions within our conservative community have been hysterical and have created a tempest in a teapot.

Remember, if one segment of the society can be discriminated against, any segment can be -- including those of us in the conservative movement. 

jColes,

You miss one major point here. What would you do if your daughter told you that a man was in her bathroom at school? Yea the man be transgender, but his male parts dominate his female stuff....

I would hit the ceiling if my daughter came home with this story!! 

I would not want my school aged kids to be exposed to this. They have enough problems growing up.

They don't need to know the differences between Dave (Mary's husband), Dave ( Bruce's lover), Dave (who is half way through a sex change), and Dave (who doesn't know what the heck he is)!!! 

Rayj00 -- churches and schools are not included as 'public accommodations' under the amendment Gov. Ritter signed...if some fruitcake of the wrong gender (or mixed genders?) goes into the room where you child is taking care of her business and is not attended by a parent or legal guardian...then you have a monster legal case against the schools; and you can probably press both civil and criminal charges...I didn't miss the issue, you didn't read carefully enough.  No shot intended at you...I understand how emotional an issue this is, but reason and rule of law have to prevail -- not emotion.

ConcernedMom...you've mixed your metaphors...these are not in-kind issues. And are you aware that these fruitcakes are already using public accommodations...the upside of this whole mess is that restrooms belonging to churches and public/private schools are not among the places where GLBT beings may legally enter. That's a level of protection children and people of faith have not enjoyed up to this point...of course, we're not likely to find many of the fruits & nuts people at the church, temple or synagog (or synagogue, if you prefer) you attend...

elaina...how would you know? Can you spot them now when they're in the restroom at the mall with you? ...or at the movie theater? ...or your favorite restaurant? Come on, kid...use your head...think about it...how can one tell, especially if, as I understand it, women's restrooms have stalls with doors? 

I guess you gave the clue as to how to recognize them yourself, they look like fruitcakes.  Come on, jC, use your head.  I am really, really good at picking out homosexuals as well.  I have a 90% success rate. 

Really, Elaina, you can spot them? A few are obvious but there were many in the workplace whom neither anyone in the office nor I knew were gay until some event arose which outed them...I judge people by their performance, the public behaviors and their contribution to whatever group I'm in...

Do you go into a public restroom or other public accommodation, scope the place out for queers and if you see any, you wait outside until they're gone before entering? I doubt it...and why should anyone care what anyone else is in his or her or its orientation so long as the being isn't bothering you? Do fagettes make many passes at you elaina?

One of my children had a teacher whom we suspected of being gay. We talked with our son every day about the class, what was said and done...we visited the classroom often as 'volunteers' so we could check on this character...and we had our friends who had kids in the same class do the same...turns out the guy was just effeminate, but hetero...if you suspect that some teacher is preaching the homo agenda, get involved and have a stop put to it...If a school district is teaching that faggery is an acceptable life system alternative, sue the pants off them...but those beings are people too, Americans too...so long as they're not 'recruiting' or otherwise breaking the law then how dare we discriminate against their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness while in the public domain...I don't want to know what they do in private and if they bring their private behavior into the public domain, such as gay pride parades, I turn away in disgust. And may the gods help the queer who ever tries to lay a hand on me for perverted purposes because I will show no mercy. But after 62 years of not being approached by a fag, I guess there's not much to worry about in my old age.