A measure that would make gender identity and sexual orientation protected characteristics and infringe upon religious freedom and the rights of women, received a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, spent over three hours listening to testimony of the leftist Equality Act, being pushed by Joe Biden and Democrats. The House has already passed its version of the legislation.
“This bill is about mandating that biological males should be allowed to compete in girls sports and women's sports effectively repealing Title IX,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said during the hearing. “ This bill is about suing pastors and churches if they teach biblical teachings on sexuality and morality. This bill is about suing you, an individual citizen, if you dare speak and disagree with their mandated orthodoxy. This bill is about power and this bill is dangerous.”
“The Equality Act thus cements into law an ideological belief that identity is self-defined regardless of the sex body,” Mary Rice Hasson, of the Washington-based Ethics and Public Policy Center testified before the committee.
“It suppresses opposing beliefs and punishes those who dissent. But sex does matter. Only females experience female puberty, pregnancy, birth and menopause. That's biology, and no one can self define into or out of biological reality. Biology also makes females uniquely vulnerable when safety and privacy are compromised by enshrining gender identity as a protected category.”
Abigail Shrier, an independent journalist and author of a book examining transgender issues, explained to the committee the damage the measure would have on female athletes.
“Members of the committee, if your daughter or granddaughter was the top high school tennis player in her state and then five biological boys suddenly decided at the age of 17 to identify as female, should she drop overnight to number six, should she lose her college scholarship to a male bodied athlete who would never have qualified on the boys team? Does that strike any member of this committee as fair or just?” Shrier asked.
During the hearing those on the left maintained the ‘Equality Act’ would simply prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, but Shrier argued the measure would do much more.
“By enshrining gender identity as a protected category, this bill would make it impossible ever to legally distinguish between a woman and a biological male who claims a female identity for whatever amount of time and for whatever reason or purpose.”
For more highlights, watch the video above.