What’s misgendering? Folks in New York City may want to look it up, seeing as local officials plan on fining people $125,000-$250,000 for perpetrating it. Welcome to the latest chapter in the wild world of politically correct legislating! In the race for the most outrageous laws of the New Year, the Big Apple surged ahead with its supposed “anti-discrimination” measure. Under it, the city is severely punishing individuals, employers, and businesses for addressing a transgender by the wrong pronoun (which includes bizarre configurations like “ze” and “hir”) or refusing to let them take advantage of “single-sex facilities or programs.”
In matters of hiring, housing, and public accommodation, gender is defined solely by the individual -- not by biology or medical and legal documents. And here’s the kicker: people can be charged “whether or not the [transgender] has legally changed their name.” “Some people, including, for example, customers, other program participants, tenants, or employees, may object to sharing a facility or participating in a program with a transgender or gender non-conforming person,” the Commission predicts. “Such objections are not a lawful reason to deny access to that transgender or gender non-conforming individual.”
For example, if a company’s dress code forbids men from wearing wigs and make-up, it could be fined a quarter of a million dollars – regardless of whether the rules are important to the business’s safety or day-to-day operations. As if that weren’t burdensome enough, company health plans will also have to include coverage for expensive “gender-affirming” care like voice training, hormones, and surgery. The eye-popping edict is the product of the city’s radical Commission on Human Rights, which apparently believes it’s necessary to trample the rights of 8.4 million Big Apple residents to placate a vocal handful.
If Americans wondered where the road of the bathroom bills lead, this is it. Once extreme LGBT lobbyists have their foot in the doors of local legislatures, there’s no end to the government’s power to punish freedom and common sense. Imagine subjecting a church pre-school or religious charity to these rules! A finding of noncompliance could financially destroy them. Make no mistake -- this is a harbinger of things to come if Americans don’t follow in Houston’s steps and make their voices heard!
