2016: More of the Same?

2016 | Week of January 11 | #1132

“Hi, Julaine. I’m a school board member in a school district in Wisconsin, and I need some help. Our administration is pushing our school board to pass a student equality law that specifically includes students who say they are transgendered. I got this tabled once, but it’s coming back. What can I do? I don’t want to have our board pass a policy that allows boys to use the girls’ restrooms and locker rooms and vice versa.”

“Well, first let me say I’m not surprised. We know school districts all across the state are considering such policies. Second, I want to thank you for running for—and getting elected to–the school board in your community and for standing up for the privacy rights of all students, not just a select few.  Without you on the board, I’m sure this would be a done deal. On behalf of all the people you represent and the students whose best interest you are called upon to see to, thank you. While most of them don’t know it, you are standing in the gap for them. Now, here’s what I recommend…”

That’s pretty much a verbatim rendition of a phone call I had recently while driving into Madison. I get phone calls such as that fairly frequently. They are vivid reminders of a couple of things: first, they remind me we need good people—by that I mean true Christians with excellent character, courage, intellect and insight to run for office—and to get elected to office—at every level of government. People who don’t have strong core principles, rooted and grounded in solid Judeo-Christian beliefs and teachings and preferably rooted in God’s Word, do not have what they need to consistently stand up for and to actually promote and defend bedrock conservative values. Rather than run towards those issues; they’ll do everything they can to avoid them. If we keep electing these types of folks, we’ll keep getting more of the same.

My second reminder from such phone calls is that those pushing this dangerous and discriminatory transgender agenda do not sleep and will relentlessly pursue what they want. They won’t accept no. Using every means they can, but especially appealing to a twisted view of “fairness” and “equality,” they will wear down elected officials at every level of government so they eventually cave because these officials feel threatened and cornered, even when common sense and the law tell them differently.

Actually, we are dealing with the confluence of these two vivid reminders right now in our state legislature. The Student Privacy Protection Bill, Assembly Bill 469, is a reasonable bill designed to truly protect the privacy rights of all students. It requires school districts to designate restrooms and changing rooms according to a single sex and further requires that students use the facilities that correspond to their biologic sex. The bill provides reasonable accommodations for students who wish to request such. If a student or parent makes such a request to the school administration, then the school must provide either a single-occupancy facility or a multi-occupancy gender neutral facility where the individual stalls are solid from floor to ceiling and include a locking door.

Given that the Assembly Education Committee has 11 Republicans on it and only 5 Democrats, one would reasonably think this bill should at least pass at the committee level.  But I know for a fact that it’s going to be very difficult to get the 9 votes needed to get this bill out of committee and to the full Assembly. Interestingly, one of the Republicans on this committee represents the school board member who called me and the school district itself. I had to tell the school board member that I was quite sure we couldn’t count on his representative to vote for this bill.

That takes us full circle.  If we are going to pass bills that are truly protective of all students and not give special rights and protections to certain groups of students, if we are going to pass proposals that protect human life from conception through natural death, if we are going to promote legislation that strengthens, preserves and promotes marriage, family and religious freedom, we must elect people whose character can withstand the assault. It will be relentless; it will take different forms. Only people who have true convictions and the character to stand for those convictions, as well as the savvy to smartly do so in the face of fierce opposition will not fold. In this election year, at all levels of government, may God give us candidates with the courage of their convictions and may He protect us from more of the same.

This is Julaine Appling for Wisconsin Family Council reminding you the prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

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