California’s Preferred Pronouns Are Free/Speech
by Joshua Arnold, Family Research Council:
There was no “he said, she said” in the unanimous decision issued by California’s Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The three-judge panel unanimously ruled that a law requiring nursing home staff to address residents by their preferred pronouns violated free speech. The opinion calls the provision a “content-based restriction on speech,” that permits some viewpoints while suppressing others. A California state court unanimously defeating such a draconian transgender mandate gives powerful evidence that liberty may not be quite dead out on the Left coast. The law was uniquely egregious because of its enforcement. Repeat offenders could face criminal charges and fines as high as $1,000 or up to a year in prison.
This law is a case study in the progressive isolation of California. California State Senator Scott Wiener, who authored the bill, was genuinely surprised when the bill drew criticism from Christian groups, apparently unaware that anyone would find it objectionable. Even though it had been cleared for passage in the state legislature, where Democrats hold supermajorities in both houses, Wiener withdrew the bill and met with its critics. Evidently, he found their arguments unconvincing and reintroduced the bill in 2017. It passed the California Assembly 55-19 and the California Senate 27-12.
To Leftists, there is no reason against using someone’s preferred pronouns. They deny absolute truth, maintaining each person determines the truth for himself. From this perspective, it is unacceptable to foist your personal beliefs about truth on someone else; refusing to identify someone by that person’s preferred pronouns is a manifestation of stubborn intolerance. Doing so becomes a just target for outrage, cancellation, and ostracism. This perspective is wrong. It collapses upon its own standards. When such relativists accuse others of intolerance based on their own personal understanding of truth, they commit the same error they are condemning.
Please right-click links to open in a new window.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
