Monday, May 11, 2009

LONEGAN ASKS CHRISTIE TO COMMENT ON VOTES BY HIS STATE CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN AND CO-CHAIRMEN

SUPPORTS DOHERTY "INFORMED CONSENT LEGISLATION"

Republican candidate for Governor Steve Lonegan today asked opponent Chris Christie to comment on a vote taken by Christie's state chairman, Senator Joseph Kyrillos, and three state co-chairmen (Senator Tom Kean, Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, and Assemblyman Peter Biondi) that would prohibit a legislative employee from preventing an adult male from using the same restroom facilities as female school children the state house frequently hosts.

On Friday, Assemblyman Michael Doherty introduced "informed consent" legislation requiring the Legislature to inform parents of school children who visit the State House, prior to the visit, of the Legislature’s new "Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy". The new policy, which was arbitrarily imposed on the Legislature by the Assembly Speaker and Senate President, includes "gender identity or expression" as a "protected" group.

The bill will provide that the parent or guardian of any school child who visits the State House on a class trip shall be informed that under the new policy the possibility exists that their child will have to share restroom facilities with an adult of the opposite sex. This would occur in the case of an adult male "presenting" as a female or an adult female as a male.

In its Auditor column on Sunday, the Star-Ledger quoted a spokesman for the Democrat Speaker's office, who defended the new policy by calling it "bi-partisan", in reference to the votes of Kyrillos, Kean, Bramnick, and Biondi.

As members of Legislative Services Commission, Kyrillos, Kean, Bramnick and Biondi approved the new policy for the Office of Legislative Services on December 15, 2008. On March 1, 2009, the Assembly Speaker and Senate President extended the policy to include members of the Legislature, partisan staff, district office employees and all personnel in the Offices of the Senate Secretary and Assembly Clerk. Membe rs of the Legislature were not informed of the new policy until April 20, 2009.

Before the Legislative Services Commission approved the draft policy last December, a member of the Legislature sent a letter to the Commission's members expressing a number of concerns, including the possibility that adult males would share restroom facilities with female children.

"Included in the 'protected' groups outlined in the document is 'gender identity or expression.' There was a New York City case recently, where a man who 'expressed' himself as a woman argued that he should not be excluded from using women's toilet facilities in furtherance of the 'expression.'"

"Now I'm wondering if, under the proposed policy, it would be considered discrimination or harassment to bar such a man from using the women's toilet facilities in the State House. I bring this matter to your attention because the Legislature often plays host to busloads of very young school girls who have a need, as children do, to use our toilet facilities."

Subsequent correspondence from the Office of Legislative Services confirmed that the possibility does exist of adult males being permitted to share restroom facilities with female children.

"This policy is just another example of New Jersey state government's political correctness run amok," Lonegan said. "It's just one more reason why this state needs a conservative change. Chris Christie is nothing more than more of the same."

4 comments:

JustifiedRight.com said...

This issue makes my head hurt.

My face is in my palm.

We are wasting time on this?

I'm in the most gay-centric City in New Jersey and I can tell you that absolutely no one is asking for anything but "Men" and "Women" on the bathroom doors.

Somebody please call me a moving truck. I have to get out of this state.

Baba O'Riley said...

The Crossdressers and Transgenders are just foaming at the bit to stalk little kids on field trips in the bathrooms of the statehouse.

Give me a friggin break, these legislators should be doing something better with their time.

Anonymous said...

This internecine warfare is fun, but there are greater issues at stake, namely the destruction of America by Democrats taking place while Republicans are fighting amongst themselves. Here's a perfect example. The Democrats, thinking the Republicans will be too divided to put up opposition, have nominated the worst possible candidate for 12th Assembly, and if we don't get our act together, she will win.

Here's another of Michelle Roth's clients. Last month we profiled Harmony Mining and their exploitation of African workers living 15 to a room in hostels, while Michelle Roth painted rosy public relations pieces saying how wonderful their life is. Each month until the election, we'll profile another. This month - Augusta Resource Corporation. (It has many other names, but has to keep changing them to stay ahead of the bad publicity for its awful practices). Did you think Michelle just hated Italians, Asians, Africans and Orthodox Jews, as documented in the newspapers, on 101.5 and at township committee meetings? Well, you can add Native Americans to that list, too. She has been writing public relations pieces for her client Augusta Resource Corporation whose destruction of large areas of Native American habitat and federal land is being challenged by Native Americans. The Rosemont mine, proposed by Canadian firm Augusta Resources, would be built in the Santa Rita Mountains on 995 acres of private land, 3,670 acres of national forest, 15 acres of Bureau of Land Management land and 75 acres of state trust land. A draft environmental statement is due in March 2009. A final statement is due in November 2009. Opponents have raised concerns that the mine will draw down the water table, pollute the air, hurt water quality and cause traffic safety problems. It's funny. Manalapan has lost millions of dollars in tax dollars because Michelle has personally blocked a needed commercial center in Manalapan, while she's been promoting the devastation of thousands of acres of pristine property critical to the survival of a community of Native Americans. Can you say, "hypocrite?"

And tell me, Frank Pallone. You're supposed to be an environmentalist. How do you let your county nominate something like that to run for office?

JustifiedRight.com said...

I guess we are becoming like Florida:

http://tinyurl.com/ppy7zk