Heron "see pinned tweet" Greenesmith, Esq.

The event is today because the House is introducing the Equality Act today, a bill that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. Emilie Kao of the Heritage Foundation claims that the Equality Act will impact women and girls.

Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) is now claiming that the Equality Act will undermine women's and girl's sports. (Vicky, 14 states currently prohibit discrimination in education, including sports, on the basis of gender identity. Girl's sports still exist in those states.)

Hartzler claiming that she's "worried about the Olympics." Vicky - the IOC has permitted trans athletes to compete for like 15 years.

Hartzler now talking about how the Equality Act will undermine the rights of parents who have trans children and don't want to provide them with trans-affirming care. That's not how SHE puts it. I'm presuming you can imagine how she put it.

Autumn Leva from the Family Policy Alliance agreeing - "As a new parent, I can say I know far better about my daughter's health care than the government does!" To be clear: the Promise to America's Children not only supports conversion therapy, it GUTS trans-affirming care.

Hartzler: "What is what to one generation becomes the policy of the country. Soon, an ideology that is contrary to what many of us believe, is being taught in school! And children are going to be harmed by it. It is up to us, the adults, to protect them."

Hartzler is now citing TOTALLY FALSE information about trans youth. She's citing the common stat that "a majority of youth who ID as trans aren't trans." FALSE FALSE FALSE I'm going to try to listen AND try to piece this misinformation about a bit, too.

OMG, I can't. Now Hartzler is touching on adoption agencies. "Some agencies only want to place children in a family with a married mom and dad and cities and states are saying no! And that means there are children out there being denied a loving home." FALSE FALSE FALSE

Hartzler NOW CLAIMING THAT THE EQUALITY ACT WILL FORCE DOCTORS TO OPERATE ON CHILDREN EVEN IF THEY DON'T WANT TO. What the flying fuck. To be clear: states that have nondiscrimination protections and ban conversion therapy merely do that. Since when is ANYONE forced to operate?

Oh god - now Michelle Cretella from the American College of Pediatricians (an SPLC designated hate group) is explaining what "gender dysphoria" is. "The majority of doctors in practice strongly believe that you should take a psych assessment of children."

The former is correct. The following is NOT. "If children are not affirmed, most children get over their confusion. Now doctors are forced to AFFIRM children's confusion - to gaslight them."

Michelle Cretella: studies show that the vast majority of youth on puberty blockers then ask for "cross sex hormones." YEAH!!! WEIRD!! When doctors are careful about their diagnoses, then the youth who access trans affirming care WILL GO ON TO ACCESS MORE TRANS AFFIRMING CARE!!

Michelle Cretella: Cancel culture has arrived in medicine. It's frightening. Again, Emilie Kao is spreading the lie that doctors will be "forced to perform surgeries on children." AAAHHHHHHHH!H!!!!!

Michelle Cretella: If the Equality Act passes, we will see the ELIMINATION of physicians who believe "first do no harm." The ones you will be left with are those who believe "experiment first, ask questions later."

Maria Keffler from the Partners for Ethical Care now saying that "we're teaching our children things that have no basis in reality, and it's coming from a financial and political basis. It's about making money and furthering an agenda."

Keffler: "We are doing a survey of detransitioners, and they're saying that the therapist would not address "the other issues," like autism or trauma, and the doctor will NOT address these."

Keffler: Teachers and counselors are being told they NEED to affirm. And to affirm is to say "yes, there is something wrong with you and you need to be medicalized." Children are being stood up in class and asked what their gender is. It's just horrific.

Kellfer: The Equality Act is going to be bad for every family, not just families with transgender-identified children. We are raising a generation of kids who do not understand the foundations of biology. That's a horrible thing to do for a child.

Keffler: The Equality Act will require schools to lie to parents. If a child is out, the Equality Act requires the school to not tell their parents. And that requires every other child in the class to lie to their parents and that's unconscionable.

Up next Gregory S. Baylor from the Alliance Defending Freedom, the org behind much of the anti-LGBT litigation around the US (and even around the globe!! An ADF-affiliated attorney represented Kiera Bell).

Baylor: The Equality Act will exacerbate all the problems we're talking about. Teachers are going to be required to USE PRONOUNS!!!!

Baylor: All the medical things we've been talking about are being done voluntarily and they might potentially become mandatory! You're going to feel compelled to follow through with social transitions. (WATCH THIS LANGUAGE! THIS IS A LAWYER SAYING "POTENTIALLY" and "COULD".)

Lol, Baylor is having to be a lawyer. Kao: How will the Equality Act impact us? Baylor: Well, it won't help things. Lolol. There's no religious exemption.

Re: religious exemptions, we literally have an entire LAW that makes an exemption to EVERY FEDERAL LAW. Baylor, have you ever heard of the Religious Freedom Exemption Act? "No exemptions," says he.

Oh, now he's saying "what's worse is what the Equality Act does to the RFRA. The Equality Act has a provision that asys you may not invoke RFRA if you have been charged by any of the sections of this act."

Kao: How can Equality Act impact states who want to pass laws to protect children? She means state laws that ban conversion therapy, or laws that ban nondiscrimination protections. Baylor: Federal law has primacy.

Baylor: If you're a religious org who has a state RIGHT to hire people who agree with you on these issues (i.e., not hire gay people or people who support trans folks), you're going to LOSE under the equality act. HIT ME UP LATER FOR THE MINISTERIAL EXEMPTION THIS IS TOO FAST!

Baylor: Now talking about child welfare orgs and the Fulton v. City of Philadelphia case, in which Catholic Social Services are asking for an exemption from Philly's nondescrim laws AND STILL GET FUNDING