The solution to most of society’s ills

I really like what my state legislature is doing with its slim Democrat majority. An article by the Associated Press posted on Daily Kos reports:

Michigan lawmakers gave final legislative approval to legislation banning so-called conversion therapy for minors as Democrats in the state continue to advance a pro-LGBTQ+ agenda in their first months in power. The legislation would prohibit mental health professionals from engaging conversion therapy, a scientifically discredited practice of trying to “convert” people are who LGBTQ+ to heterosexuality and traditional gender expectations.

The House had already approved it. The Senate’s approval was 21-15, which included one Republican. It now goes to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Since she’s already called conversion therapy a “dangerous practice,” has done interviews with Michigan’s LGBTQ newspaper, and has a lesbian daughter her signature is pretty much guaranteed. Included in the ban is treatment by a mental health professional that tries to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It does not include counseling to assist in gender transition.

“Hearing a bunch of straight people in the Senate lecture me about the journey of an LGBTQ person is the exact reason we should be banning conversion therapy,” Democratic Sen. Jeremy Moss, the state’s first openly gay state senator, said on the chamber’s floor Tuesday.

Republicans of North Carolina, wanting more extreme gerrymandering in their state, were pushing the “independent state legislature theory,” idea that the Constitution, in giving state legislatures the ability to create laws on how they run federal elections, means that they can do that without the oversight or interference of the state’s governor, courts, citizens, or constitution. The case went all the way to the federal Supreme Court. Stephen Wolf of Kos Elections reported the Court has now ruled. They mostly said, “nope.” Allowing that idea to stand would have played havoc in federal elections, giving state legislatures free ability to gerrymander, suppress votes, meddle in the outcome, even rig the Electoral College results next year. A few of the current justices had signaled they are open to this idea, which is why it got all the way to them. Thankfully, they voted 6-3, with Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Barrett siding with the progressives. That Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch supported the idea legislatures had no oversight in this area is mighty scary. Above I said the justices “mostly” said nope. They added a little bit saying there may be a few circumstances where the legislature should be able to act without oversight by anyone – except themselves. But they’re not going to tell you what those cases are. Which means legislators will make many attempts to determine those unspoken boundaries. Those attempts will happen leading up to the 2024 election. And that means there will be a threat hanging over the election and there will be more cases before the Court. As for the North Carolina gerrymandering case that was the start of all this... The composition of the state Supreme Court has changed and the legislature will quite likely have good luck there. Senator Josh Hawley, Republican from Missouri, wrote a book, “Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs.” A Republican wrote the book? Yeah, we know where this is going. I mentioned it perhaps a couple weeks ago, saying little more than it was roundly panned. Terry Rupar, political editor for The 19th in an article posted on Kos discussed the book with Melissa Deckman, the CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute and an expert on the intersection of gender, religion and politics. Some of the ideas they talked about: The book, like conservative Christians have argued for years (decades?), says the strong family with a husband and wife is the solution to most of society’s ills. One advantage of saying it that way is they don’t have to propose any other policy solutions. Yet they are no longer talking about policies, including tax policies, that would shore up families. Instead, they emphasize working harder and individual responsibility to overcome problems that are structural. The book invokes farmers and small business owners, yet Republicans don’t have any proposals for supporting trade schools and community colleges to get people ready for well-paying blue-collar jobs. There is no support for getting more men into taking teaching jobs or mental health jobs, both would be critical in helping young men. The book talks of masculinity but doesn’t talk about toxic masculinity, the men who commit sexual violence and mass shootings. This is a time of gender identity and the blurring of male and female. The book is written in this time, though this discussion doesn’t say how or whether the book mentions it, though I can guess. Young men, especially young men of color, deal with suicide, have a harder time getting into college, and are less likely to have a job as good as their father’s job. That isn’t discussed in the book. At a time when people are moving away from the church Hawley’s book proposes a conservative religious solution. That leaves out progressive people of faith, the people who take seriously the Bible’s directive to welcome the stranger and that it has meaning for the immigration debate. Not surprisingly, the book says little about women and even less about LGBTQ people. Hawley does say good things. Strong marriages are important. Fathers are important. As is responsibility, independence, sacrificing for the greater good, and providing for one’s family. He recognizes that sexual abuse and assault are not manly. But none of the virtues Hawley praises describe the nasty guy, yet Hawley supported his election challenge in 2020.