#ncga: Stam rebuts, rebukes ACC & NCAA on HB2
Retiring state Rep. Paul “Skip” Stam joins NCGOP communications guru Kami Mueller as the most effective defenders thus far of HB2 against the leftist onslaught. Stam, an attorney by trade, delivered this verbal spanking via a news release linked to his personal web site:
Citing a commitment to “fairness and inclusion,” the NCAA announced September 12 that it will move seven championship events out of North Carolina during the 2016-17 school year. The hypocrisy of the NCAA’s “commitment” is breathtaking. The organization selectively boycotts North Carolina for policies it claims are unique to our state–but actually are common throughout the nation–and for daring to disagree with a sweeping federal mandate by the Obama Administration–a mandate that is currently being challenged in court by 24 other states. The NCAA is in violation itself of the civil rights provision of Title IX as interpreted by the Obama Administration.[…]
Um …. BOOM!
The speaker pro tem was just getting started:
FACT #1: The NCAA claims that the “dynamic” in North Carolina is different from other states. But North Carolina state law on discrimination is the same or very similar to that of 28 other states and the statutory law of the Federal government. […] Proponents of the Charlotte type discrimination ordinance say it has been enacted in 200 cities nationwide. Their leader, Rep. Chris Sgro, says it is 100 cities. Whether it is 100 or 200 means that about 10,000 other cities and towns nationwide do not have a similar ordinance. How many NCAA events, members or fans are located in these 10,000 other cities and towns?
FACT #2: North Carolina has been joined by 24 other states in challenging President Obama’s bizarre interpretation of the word “sex” in Title IX (education funding) relating to “discrimination.” The first was North Carolina Governor McCrory and Secretary Perry v. U.S. Department of Justice. Twenty-three other states have joined the battle. In addition, G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board of Virginia is on appeal in the US Supreme Court, and deals with the same issue. The U.S. Supreme Court decided 5-3 NOT to allow the President’s interpretation to go into effect pending final decision.
[…]FACT #3: LGBT persons have the same rights in North Carolina that the rest of us do. Let me explain in detail: What is discrimination? American citizens who are North Carolina residents have a full panoply of rights that come from the United States Constitution, United States Statutes, the North Carolina State Constitution (particularly Article I of the Declaration of Rights), state statutes and local ordinances. These rights are available in full to almost everyone.
Article I Section I of the North Carolina Constitution provides as follows: The equality and rights of persons. We hold it to be self-evident that all persons are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, the enjoyment of the fruits of their own labor, and the pursuit of happiness.
There are exceptions. Aliens do not have the right to vote, whether here legally or illegally. Children do not have the right to enter into most contracts nor the right to vote nor the right to buy alcohol. Those who by mental disease are not able to conduct their own affairs may be declared incompetent by a Court. Their rights are protected and enhanced by the appointment of a Guardian. Convicted criminals lose some of their rights. Even convicted criminals have the right in most circumstances to not undress or use the bathroom in the presence of a person of the opposite sex.
Stam points out that this sop to the radical homosexual movement by the NCAA may have the unintended consequence of forever damaging women’s sports:
[…] : On May 13, 2016, the United States Departments of Justice and Education issued a joint letter explaining a school’s obligation under Title IX regarding transgender students.3 It came with an implicit threat of denial of Title IX funding. Almost all, if not all, NCAA member institutions receive Title IX funding.
The Problem The letter claimed to rely on Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The letter stated that: “[g]ender identity refers to an individual’s internal sense of gender. A person’s gender identity may be different from or the same as the person’s sex assigned at birth…Under Title IX, a school must treat students consistent with their gender identity even if their education records or identification documents indicate a different sex…Under Title IX, there is no medical diagnosis or treatment requirement that students must meet as a prerequisite to being treated consistent with their gender identity.” (emphasis added)[…]
NCAA “MIXED TEAM STATUS” POLICIES
1. A trans male (Female to Male) student-athlete who has received a medical exception for treatment with testosterone for diagnosed Gender Identity Disorder or gender dysphoria and/or Transsexualism, for purposes of NCAA competition may compete on a men’s team, but is no longer eligible to compete on a women’s team without changing that team status to a mixed team.
2. A trans female (Male to Female) student-athlete being treated with testosterone suppression medication for Gender Identity Disorder or gender dysphor
ia and/or Transsexualism, for the purposes of NCAA competition may continue to compete on a men’s team but may not compete on a women’s team without changing it to a mixed team status until completing one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment.19 If either of the above occurred, colleges and universities would see a decrease in the number of women’s collegiate sports teams. Once a team is changed to “mixed-team status,” that team is no longer able to compete against females nor is that team classified as a female team.
Title IX requires that, “[N]o person shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any academic, extracurricular, research, occupational training, or other education program or activity operated by a recipient which receives Federal financial assistance.” Title IX requires that schools treat females and males equally with respect to participation, opportunities, athletics scholarships and treatment of male and female teams. Title IX athletic regulations were extensively debated by Congress and became law in June of 1975, giving high schools and colleges three years and elementary schools one year to comply.
[…] If the letter of advice from the Department of Justice and Department of Education is converted into a law by the Federal Courts then the days are numbered for collegiate, high school and professional women’s sports. Title IX was conceived as a boon to women in sports but will now be used as a weapon against them.
FACT #5: The NCAA also claimed to have made its decision because “North Carolina law provides legal protections for government officials to refuse services to the LGBT community” – a vague reference to SB 2/S.L. 2015-75. In the litigation over that law not a single LGBT person has cited one instance of being denied service. In fact, the law provides how marriage services are provided to everyone legally entitled to marry. The NCAA has no reference to any other concern or issue on that point.
FACT #6: The NCAA cites as a reason for its decision that 5 states (and some cities) prohibit travel to North Carolina. That would be a reason to sanction those states and cities. To sanction North Carolina for that reason gives power to the “heckler’s veto.”
CONCLUSION
If the NCAA wants to solidify its commitment to “fairness and inclusion” and restrict its activities to states that meet its litmus test for an “inclusive atmosphere,” it should expand its deliberations to include the 24 states suing the Obama Administration and the overlapping 28 states with policies similar to North Carolina’s, while also turning the spotlight on its own policies regarding women in athletics. Soon it will no longer be the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Cries from a sinking ship.
I personally am proud of and stand with those that are willing to ” fight like the 3rd monkey on the ramp to Noah’S Arc.” Those that cave to such political hogwash are unequivocally the “deplorables”.
Browny Douglas
This is an excellent statement by Rep. Stam. The UNC Board of Governors should immediately vote to pull both NC State and UNC-CH out of the ACC until the conference reverses its nonsensical position.
The presidents of those two universities were in on making this outrageously political decision. They should be summarily fired.
The General Assembly should also revoke the ACC’s tax exempt status for NC taxation. If it wants to play despicable far left politics like this, it should reap what it sows.
Not only that….we need to demand how NC State and UNC CH voted when it came to the decision to move. If they voted yes, then they need to fire all the athletic administration. Clean house as repercussion to the vote for whacko political correctness.
A mental disorder (although the perversion bullies have gained control of the medical and psychiatric societies and coerced them into removing it from the list) should not be treated as a constutional right. Those people need counseling and therapy, not surgery. We did not tell private companies they had to adopt any particular policy on this matter. We simply told Charlotte and the rest of our municipalities that they couldn’t impose any such policies on private companies, either. I’m not backing down from that. Those who want to pressure me to do so can go pound sand.
Larry, there are two types of Republicans, special interest Republicans (and it would be easy to name quite a number of those in the House) and ”we the people” Republicans, and you have always been in the latter category, much to your credit.
Now, on HB2, we are seeing that divide in the party. A special interest is having some of their members have some problems due to corporate bullying in a few parts of the state, but most of the members of this special interest – the restaurant and lodging association – are not in those handful of areas impacted. Nonetheless, this statewide special interest group jumps into action for those few locations. Appallingly, we have too many special interest Republican elected officials who want to throw over We the People and the privacy of our women and children for these few special interests. McCrory has totally painted himself as a special interest Republican, as have a number of legislators. We need to send the special interest Republicans home and rebuild with We the People Republicans. Over 2/3rds of the people in the state support the Bathroom Bill, but those people may get thrown under the bus for a few whiny special interests. No political party should work like that.
I am sorry for these folks that the corporate bullies have victimized them, but the people should not have to suffer for it. A better solution would be to create a right of civil lawsuit for anyone damaged collaterally by a politically or ideologically motivated boycott. Then let the hotels and restaurants sue the ACC for their losses. Make the ACC pay for their intrusion into politics in the pocketbook.
With each additional commentary from Rep. Stam on this (or any other) topic, I become further disappointed in his imminent retirement. Perhaps he will stay “engaged” by some other means in his support for the American Way of Life we all recall fondly from days gone by.
I’m not sure these Democrats ever understood it. Certainly not this generation, and probably not the last one, either.
It looks like there is a serious effort to sell out on HB2 and have McCrory call a special session of the legislature to do so. The Christian Action League has sent out a memo on it, and RedState and Beaufort Observer are both reporting it.
If McCrory does that, he is political roadkill, and he is likely to drag other Republicans down with him.
10/4 on the political roadkill !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Browny Douglas
Dear Rep. Pittman—you appoint the UNC Board of Governors; what are you going to do about NC State and UNC-CH? Talk is cheap.
I hope McCrory is not forced to back down. It is bad enough that they slapped down our voter ID in the federal Courts when the rest of the countries in the world have voter ID of some form or another.
He is not being forced to back down. If he has a yellow streak and waves a white flag, that is of his own making and he should be judged on that at election time. So should any legislators who vote to screw us.
Jesse Helms used to say that the only things you find in the middle of the road are yellow stripes and dead skunks. He hit the nail on the head.
The electoral ambitions of McCrory and Republicans in the General Assembly depend on the support of their anti-LGBT base. In an act of political malpractice that panders to the worst instincts of this base vis a vis HB2, they suceeded in slashing the rate of restroom assaults by Transgendered North Carolinians from zero to zero. The unintended consequence being the loss of billions of dollars and pariah state status. Furthermore, the freedom to deny equal access to employment, education, housing and commerce because of one’s sexual orientation is discrimination codified into law against a minority class of citizens who are entitled to the same rights as anyone else.
A mere behavior should NEVER be the basis of a protected class. Gender denial should never be the basis of a protected class. A boy who thinks he is a girl is just as nutty as a boy who thinks he is Napolean.
This is an issue of bathroom and locker room privacy. Grown men should NOT be allowed into the locker rooms and rest rooms with women and girls, and their mental health problems simply do not justify it. The main leader behind the Charlotte anti-privacy ordinance was a convicted child molester and that speaks volumes.
Forcing public policy by extortion and blackmail like the corporate bullies are trying to do should be criminalized and the leaders of those organizations should be prosecuted. It is really no different than any other type of extortion or blackmail.
Politicians who knuckle under to extortion and blackmail are totally unfit for public office. McCrory is revealing himself as a cowardly surrender monkey and has probably just destroyed his chance of winning reelection.