Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Key Question in Detroit Funeral Home Case at Supreme Court: Can We Rely on the Law?
Townhall.com ^ | October 31, 2019 | John Bursch

Posted on 10/31/2019 4:44:41 AM PDT by Kaslin

The fate of a century-old Detroit mainstay hangs in the balance before the U.S. Supreme Court, but not likely for any reason you’d guess. In fact, once you know the broader implications of the case, you’ll realize why you should follow its outcome closely.

After all, the outcome in G.R. & R.G. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission could have a huge impact on workplaces, schools, athletic fields, and even women’s shelters, not just in Michigan, but all over the nation.

Harris, which I argued before the Supreme Court on Oct. 8, raises a crucial question: Can Americans rely on the law as it’s written, or must we live in fear that it could change at the behest of unelected government officials?

Since 2013, Harris Funeral Homes and its owner, Tom Rost, have been the target of a lawsuit that aims to redefine “sex” in federal law to include “gender identity” and punish the fifth-generation funeral home in the process.

In 2007, the award-winning funeral home hired a biological male, Anthony Stephens, as a funeral director. Funeral directors are the face of the business, working closely with grieving families. For nearly six years, Stephens abided by the funeral home’s sex-specific dress code, which is consistent with the EEOC’s Compliance Manual.

Then, in 2013, Stephens told Tom that Stephens planned to begin dressing and presenting as a woman while interacting with grieving families at work. Tom was concerned for Stephens, as he is for all of his employees. He was also concerned about the grieving families he serves, whose needs Tom’s family has prioritized for generations.

Since Stephens’s proposal would have violated the agreed-upon dress code, Tom decided it was not going to work. It wasn’t long before Tom found himself defending his position on the opposite side of a courtroom from the federal government and, later, the ACLU.

They sued Tom to get a court to rewrite the law—to change the word “sex” in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include “gender identity.” But Tom shouldn’t be punished for relying on the law as it’s written. Unelected government officials don’t have the authority to change a law that Congress has adopted. If the courts give them that power, none of us can rely on what the law says.

And what about the wider implications of redefining “sex” to include “gender identity”?

For starters, this shift—a decisive departure from the public meaning of “sex” when Congress adopted the law—could allow boys identifying as girls to compete in women’s athletics.

In Connecticut, two boys who identify as female have taken 15 girls’ track-and-field state championship titles in the past two years. When one parent raised concerns with government officials, she was told her daughter had the right to participate but not to win.

Redefining sex also jeopardizes free speechparental rights, and free academic inquiry. Worse still, it would open private spaces reserved for women. In Alaska, an Anchorage commission used this same line of thinking to try to force a women’s shelter to allow a man who claims a female identity to sleep mere feet away from women who have been raped, trafficked, or abused.

In light of these unintended consequences, is it any wonder that Congress has declined at least a dozen times over the years to add on terms like “gender identity” to existing federal law? That’s why the ACLU and others have turned to unelected officials to achieve their desired goals.

So keep an eye on what the Supreme Court decides in Harris Funeral Homes. After all, your freedom to rely on what the law says—and much more—may very well depend on the outcome of a case that started in Detroit.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: gender; harrisfuneralhomes; homosexualagenda; lawsuit; supremecourt

1 posted on 10/31/2019 4:44:41 AM PDT by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

We haven’t been able to rely on the plain words of law for decades now.


2 posted on 10/31/2019 4:52:44 AM PDT by Adder (Mr. Franklin: We are trying to get the Republic back!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Paging the 2nd Amendment...


3 posted on 10/31/2019 4:54:08 AM PDT by 2banana (My common ground with islamic terrorists - they want to die for allah and we want to kill them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Gender perversion needs to be purged from the United States. Those who promote gender perversion should never hold any government positions and should be put into an insane asylum.


4 posted on 10/31/2019 4:54:30 AM PDT by Carl Vehse
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Adder

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”

L


5 posted on 10/31/2019 4:55:32 AM PDT by Lurker (Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Carl Vehse

It does indeed need to purged and stat


6 posted on 10/31/2019 4:56:38 AM PDT by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

“In Connecticut, two boys who identify as female have taken 15 girls’ track-and-field state championship titles in the past two years. When one parent raised concerns with government officials, she was told her daughter had the right to participate but not to win. “

When the REAL girls start boycotting these matchups it will end.

This crap is beyond crazy.


7 posted on 10/31/2019 5:02:20 AM PDT by READINABLUESTATE
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Adder

“We haven’t been able to rely on the plain words of law for decades now.“

Because of lawyers, and lawyers turned judges. Enemies within.


8 posted on 10/31/2019 5:08:56 AM PDT by polymuser (It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit. Noel Coward)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

The rule of law mean nothing any longer. People make up their own laws-including Congress.


9 posted on 10/31/2019 5:10:00 AM PDT by HarleyD
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
The term "Gender Identity" is a perversion.

There is male and there is female. There are XY chromosomes and there are XX chromosomes that unequivocally define sex

It is becoming increasingly clear that co existence with perverts claiming otherwise must end. Perverts are destroying society and must be contained


10 posted on 10/31/2019 5:11:11 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) Progressives are existential American enemies)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Stories like this are the reason why I only hire contractors and family members in my business.


11 posted on 10/31/2019 5:13:03 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bert

I thought there were three genders.

Male

Female

Mentally Ill


12 posted on 10/31/2019 5:20:16 AM PDT by cyberstoic (I)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: READINABLUESTATE

If the girls start to refuse to participate, the coaches might start to open their mouths when their jobs are threatened.


13 posted on 10/31/2019 5:21:56 AM PDT by CaptainK ('No collusion, no obstruction, he's a leaker')
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Lawyers for the defense should have argued their case to the Supreme Court in drag to demonstrate their point.


14 posted on 10/31/2019 5:24:02 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage? (Drain the Swamp. Build the Wall.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bert

If a person can “identify” as being a different sex than what they are genetically, then why can’t they identify as a different race, age, national origin, etc—and thus claim to be the victim of discrimination under the Civil Rights Act?
Betcha if a white male who identified as a black female brought a case to the SC that claimed he was the victim of illegal discrimination, even Ginsburg would have a problem allowing it to be heard!


15 posted on 10/31/2019 5:47:20 AM PDT by milagro (There is no peace in appeasement!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: milagro

Gray Beaver aka Elizabeth Warren, did precisely that. She identified herself as an Indian secure in the knowledge certain benefits would accrue that would enhance her from merely mediocre to artificially superior.

Not only that but the progressive Americans not only consent but praise her ability “to pass” and will certainly try to emulate that behavior.

Profiling is shunned but self profiling is promoted


16 posted on 10/31/2019 5:54:12 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) Progressives are existential American enemies)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: polymuser

“We haven’t been able to rely on the plain words of law for decades now.“

Because of lawyers, and lawyers turned judges. Enemies within.


Lawyers and judges are the end result of the Media pushing for societal change.

If the lawyers and judges were castigated by the media, shamed and humiliated by the media, we would not have that result.

Instead, the media praises them and lauds them for “growing in office”.


17 posted on 10/31/2019 6:23:30 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: READINABLUESTATE
When the REAL girls start boycotting these matchups it will end.

And visa versa in High School wrestling.

18 posted on 10/31/2019 6:42:30 AM PDT by super7man (Madam Defarge, knitting, knitting, always knitting)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Lurker

The globalist left has added “Alice in Wonderland” to “1984” and “Animal Farm” on their list of books to be used as blueprints for governance.

If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.
- George Orwell.


19 posted on 10/31/2019 6:48:50 AM PDT by Pollster1 ("Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson