A rebuttal to Cooney piece on equality in the workplace

By Jeff Laszloffy - 07/15/2008

In a recent guest opinion (Sunday, July 6), Montana Sen. Mike Cooney high-lighted a poll commissioned by the Montana Human Rights Network that purportedly shows that Montanans favor additional rights for homosexuals and the Montana Legislature is out of touch with the citizens on the issue of homosexual rights. I beg to differ.

First, let’s examine the validity of the poll itself. While the methodology is fairly standard, there are several points worth noting. First and foremost is the apparent bias of the researchers who conducted it. Researcher bias can have a substantial impact on research findings (whether intentional or not).

Lake Research Partners touts itself on its Web site as having “moved the progressive agenda forward on a variety of issues,” having a “long history in successful initiative campaigns,” being “the pollster on the first successful effort to beat a gay marriage initiative in Arizona” and “working against the conservatives.” They also describe their principal investigators as “among the Democratic Party’s leading strategists, serving as tacticians and senior advisors.” Further-more, the principle investigator on this project, Celinda Lake, is described as a “super-strategist,” and as having “helped Democrats and progressives take back the House.” The firm’s clients include Planned Parenthood, Emily’s List, the Democratic National Committee, NARAL, and the Human Rights Campaign (“America’s largest organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality”). While not discrediting the poll entirely, this apparent bias does place the objectivity of the poll in question.

Other questions arise when we examine the sample size, the margin of error, the wording of the questions, and the order in which they were asked. For a complete analysis of the poll itself, please go to www.montanafamily.org.

When we talk about homosexual rights, what we’re really talking about are special rights and special treatment. As a former legislator, I saw these bills come before us session after session. In the case of Senate Bill 454 in the 2007 session, supporters sought to include the term “sexual orientation” in Montana’s malicious intimidation statute. The result would have been a prison sentence of up to three years and a $5,000 fine, or both, for anyone causing bodily injury, or apprehension of bodily injury, to a person if that crime was motivated by the fact that the person was a homosexual.

The same crime committed without the anti-homosexual motivation would result in a jail term of up to six months or a fine of $500, or both. This is why these types of bills fail. It’s because they seek to confer special, not equal, rights on homosexuals. Senate Bill 371, also from the 2007 session, would have stopped the Boy Scouts from using state-owned land or buildings because they refuse to allow homosexual scoutmasters.

Similar laws in other states have had similar results. In Philadelphia, a 75-year-old grandmother named Arlene Elshinnawy was arrested and charged with a hate crime when she spoke out against homosexuality at a gay pride parade. She faced 47 years in prison and a $90,000 fine, but the charges were eventually dropped.

In January a photographer was hauled before the New Mexico Human Rights Commission and ordered to pay $7,000 because he refused to photograph a gay “commitment ceremony.” In New Jersey, a Methodist church lost the tax-exempt status on one of its buildings because it refused to allow it to be used for a gay commitment ceremony. Most recently, a new law in Colorado allows any man (or high school boy for that matter) to use any public women’s restroom or locker room just so that trans- sexuals don’t feel discriminated against. How many of us want men using the same public restrooms that our little daughters are using?

In an effort to promote a politically correct agenda, some Montana legislators are willing to sacrifice your constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of religion. It’s the Legislature’s job to make sure all citizens are protected and treated fairly. In addition, they must review all bills for unintended consequences. With regard to the issue of homosexual rights, I believe they’re doing a good job. No one wants to see a 75-year-old grandmother thrown in prison simply for speaking her mind.

— Jeff Laszloffy is president of the Montana Family Foundation, P.O. Box 485, Laurel, MT 59044.