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OPINION
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gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, December 14, 2018
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The First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right
of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Riling up the
pronoun police
BY MONICA BURKE
The Heritage Foundation
No one could say Peter Vlaming didn’t try.
When a female student returned to West Point
High School this year now identifying as a man,
Vlaming, who had taught French for seven years at
the school, found himself in a difficult position. How
could he ensure the student felt comfortable in the
classroom without violating his Christian belief that
God made human beings male and female?
Vlaming went to great lengths to accommodate
the student without violating his faith. He used the
student’s new name to avoid upsetting the student,
but refrained from using pronouns altogether in
the student’s presence to avoid speaking against his
beliefs.
“I’m happy to avoid female pronouns not to
offend because I’m not here to provoke,” Vlaming
told the press, “but I can’t refer to a female as a
male, and a male as a female in good conscience
and faith.”
However, this wasn’t enough to satisfy the stu
dent’s family or the school board.
“I can’t think of a worse way to treat a child than
what was happening,” said the principal, who had
ordered the teacher to use the student’s preferred
pronouns.
The West Point school board then voted unani
mously to fire Vlaming for refusing to comply with
administrators’ orders to use the student’s pre
ferred masculine pronouns.
Very soon, other Americans could be vulnerable
to the same fate as Vlaming, simply for trying not
to violate their belief that men and women are
unchangeable biological realities. Sweeping gen
der-identity policies now threaten to silence debate
over gender nationwide.
What is so shocking about Vlaming’s case is that
instead of pursuing a solution that would respect
everyone — teacher and student alike — the
school board refused to respect Vlaming’s beliefs
and terminated him.
This incident does not bode well for future con
flicts over transgender policies. As more of these
conflicts arise in schools, hospitals, shelters and
businesses, America must allow its citizens to think
about and debate these issues freely.
Unfortunately, government coercion as a
weapon of the culture wars is now spreading across
the professions.
First, there were cases in the wedding industry
where the government tried to force people to
violate their belief that marriage is between a man
and a woman — florists, bakers, photographers,
wedding venues, and so forth.
Then those lawsuits spread to even more indus
tries — videography, web design, calligraphy stu
dios and public service.
Now, the government is beginning to penal
ize people who hold that there are two biologi
cal sexes. For example, a Catholic hospital was
sued for refusing to remove a biological female’s
healthy uterus to pursue transition. Meanwhile,
two parents lost custody of their teenage daughter
for refusing to allow their child to take testosterone
and identify as a boy.
This could be just the beginning. House Demo
cratic Leader Nancy Pelosi recently announced
that the Equality Act will be a top Democratic pri
ority in 2019. The bill would impose controversial
transgender policies on the nation by elevating
“gender identity” to protected status in federal
anti-discrimination law.
This would have drastic implications for average
Americans. It would open up sex-specific facilities
like bathrooms, locker rooms and shelters to mem
bers of the opposite biological sex. It would allow
biological males to compete on women’s sports
teams. It would force health care providers and
insurance companies to pay for radical transgen
der therapies.
Coercion isn’t the answer to current debates
about gender identity. Americans must remain
free to discuss these policies in a respectful man
ner — which is why the firing of Vlaming is so dis
turbing. Instead of allowing the parties involved to
find a workable compromise, the school board not
only picked sides, it silenced one side.
This is an extremely disturbing precedent.
Sadly, while Vlaming was willing to work to
make the student a cherished member of the com
munity, the school board was not willing to work to
make the teacher a cherished member as well.
Speaking and acting according to one’s con
science should not be a fireable offense. When
authorities try to force people to act against their
beliefs, it is a blatant abuse of power — one that
can easily backfire when political power changes
hands. That is why everyone should be concerned
about these emerging challenges to freedom of
conscience.
Vlaming has lost his job, who could be next?
The honest answer is that someday, it may well
be you.
Monica Burke is a researcher in the DeVos Center
for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage
Foundation (heritage.org).
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Reality-show tenor of oval office
meeting was just embarrassing
There was a time I might
have been a little embar
rassed to admit this: I’m a
huge reality television fan.
You simply will not find a
more committed consumer
of the genre, from “Real
Housewives” to “Hollywood
Medium,” “Southern Charm”
to “Below Deck.” After a long
day of covering the actual
news, there’s nothing better
than crawling into bed to
watch Dorinda scream “Jovani!” during
Luann’s cabaret act as revenge for not
putting her dry-cleaner boyfriend on the
guest list. (Those who know, know.)
I’ve said many a time — with a
straight face — that “Vanderpump
Rules” is without question the best show
on television, as no other delivers the
pathos, ethos and catharsis in a single
hour that it does. Not “Narcos,” not “Bil
lions,” not even “Game of Thrones.” I’ll
take Stassi over Daenerys any day.
Now, Voltaire, Proust and Twain it is
not. But reality TV is the ultimate escape.
That said, there’s little about that
world that should cross over into the real
one.
Where reality TV relies on the pettiest
of dramas, stokes the uncontrolled chaos
of a wildfire, wreaks untold havoc on
friendships, relationships and families,
and exposes our often narcissistic, mate
rialistic and celebrity-obsessed culture,
real life — especially politics, where
decisions that real lives depend upon
are made — should veer far
away from all of that.
And yet, a meeting in the
Oval Office between the
president, the vice president,
the Senate minority leader
and soon-to-be House speaker
performed in front of televi
sion cameras for the world to
watch in real time is quickly
drawing reality-television
comparisons.
The jaw-dropping meeting
between President Trump, Mike Pence,
Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi was a
poorly produced reality show, complete
with the catfights, stare-downs, snarky
one-liners, posing and preening that
comes with them.
For some it was just the sugar rush
they needed. Many political commenta
tors decided the spectacle was entertain
ing and even funny, demanding it “play
on a loop” so they can watch it with
popcorn. On “Fox & Friends,” Brian
Kilmeade insisted, “if you are in that
pool spray, you are loving this, and if
you are an American citizen you are lov
ing this.”
It made for perfect late night fodder,
and surely “Saturday Night Live” will
have a field day with it this weekend.
But there was nothing funny about it.
In fact, this new genre is deeply disturb
ing and even kind of sad.
Here were four of the nation’s top
political leaders bickering publicly over
what should be important legislation.
Trump used the cameras to look tough.
Schumer and Pelosi — who repeatedly
urged the group to negotiate behind
closed doors — used the moment to
show Trump they held the cards now.
And Pence was there to be the loyal
but ultimately useless best friend who
probably won’t make the second-season
cut because he just isn’t good television.
But who was there to actually govern?
Not pretend govern, for the cameras,
but actually legislate? The dominant
argument (or “story line,” as they say in
reality television) between Trump and
Pelosi was over process: whether the
House should bother voting on a border
wall if it can’t pass the Senate.
It might have been emotionally
gratifying for Trump supporters and
critics alike who could cheer on their
favorite character and root against their
enemies, but in the end, nothing that
impacts American lives actually came
of it.
The Trump reality show’s first season
is just over halfway through. It’s enter
taining, yes. There’s drama every damn
day. Sometimes it’s even funny. But if
the Tuesday meeting was a sneak-peak
at what’s to come in the season’s second
half, it might just mean a total break
down of the American political process.
And that kind of reality isn’t an escape
at all.
S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfil
tered” on HLN and a columnist for Tribune
Media.
S.E. CUPP
secuppdailynews@
yahoo.com.
LISA BENSON I Washington Post Writers Group
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