The 3 - March 20, 2022

This week's edition of The 3, featuring three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes several stories relative to the LGBTQ+ agenda, including the continued opposition to allowing male swimmer Will (Lia) Thomas to compete in women's events.  Also, a teacher in Kansas has faced action against her for refusing to call a student by the requested "gender identity" pronouns.  And, backlash among gay employees at Disney continues in light of Florida's passage of a bill protecting parental rights and impressionable children regarding "gender identity" continues.

Male swimmer wins again in women's competition, Christian women's group files complaint

Ordinarily, one could be dazzled and amazed by the women's swimming records that have fallen as the result of the University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas.  However, Thomas' records have been tarnished because they have been challenged by a biological man, named Will Thomas.

And, the Christian-based advocacy organization Concerned Women for America has said, "enough."  According to the Christian Newswire website:

Concerned Women for America (CWA) filed a formal Civil Rights Complaint under Title IX with the U.S. Department of Education against the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) for refusing to protect the rights of college female athletes under federal law.

UPenn continues to allow male athletes who identify as women to compete in women's sports. Lia Thomas (formerly Will Thomas), a Division I swimmer who is biologically male but rostered as a senior on UPenn's women's team, has competed throughout the season displacing female teammates in events and shattering pool, league, and national records.

Penny Nance, CEO and President of CWA, says: "The future of women's sports is at risk and the equal rights of female athletes are being infringed," adding, "We filed a formal civil rights complaint against UPenn in response to this injustice." Nance went on to say, "Any school that defies federal civil rights law by denying women equal opportunities in athletic programs, forcing women to compete against athletes who are biologically male must be held accountable."

Kansas teacher fights back after being forced to use gender identity pronouns

Perhaps you heard my conversation that aired last week on The Meeting House on Faith Radio with Monica Gill, a teacher in Loudoun County, VA, who is challenging her school district's policy requiring teachers to use a student's "gender identity" pronouns rather than the ones corresponding to the biological gender.  The conversation can be found online at FaithRadio.org and through the Faith Radio app. 

The Christian Post reports on Kansas teacher Pamela Ricard, who, according to article on the website, "...has filed a lawsuit against her school district after being suspended for refusing to use a trans-identified student’s preferred name and pronouns because doing so would violate her religious beliefs."  Ricard is a middle-school math teacher in Geary County, Kansas.  The story states:

According to the lawsuit, Ricard was suspended in April 2021 for three days and given a written reprimand because she called a biologically female student by her legal name and used female pronouns.

The article also notes:

The lawsuit further states that Ricard is a Christian who “holds sincere religious beliefs consistent with the traditional Christian and biblical understanding of the human person and biological sex.”

“Any policy that requires Ms. Ricard to refer to a student by a gendered, non-binary, or plural pronoun (e.g., he/him, she/her, they/them, zhe/zher, etc.) or salutation (Mr., Miss, Ms.) or other gendered language that is different from the student’s biological sex actively violates Ms. Ricard’s religious beliefs,” continued the lawsuit.

Ricard had requested an accommodation, but was denied by the school board.

Disney LGBTQ employees chide company for perceived lack of support over FL parental rights bill, company decides to put gay kiss in animated film

Last week, I reported to you about the passage of the Parental Rights in Education Bill, which was passed by the Florida Legislature and affirms the rights of parents in directing their children's education and prevents the teaching of so-called "gender identity" for young students in schools.  

The CEO of the Walt Disney Company, Bob Chapek, spoke out against the legislation toward the final days of the legislative process, but was derided because he did not speak out soon enough, according to LGBTQ+ employees of the company. CBN News reported that gay employees of Pixar, which is a division of Disney, in addition to criticizing the degree of Chapek's opposition to the Florida legislation, also demanded that a same-sex kiss that had been cut from the upcoming Buzz Lightyear movie be restored.  The company announced that the action will be included in the animated feature.

The CBN story linked to a piece on the Variety website, which said:

According to a source close to the production, Pixar’s next feature film, “Lightyear” — starring Chris Evans as the putative real-life inspiration for the “Toy Story” character Buzz Lightyear — does feature a significant female character, Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba), who is in a meaningful relationship with another woman. While the fact of that relationship was never in question at the studio, a kiss between the characters had been cut from the film. Following the uproar surrounding the Pixar employees’ statement and Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s handling of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, however, the kiss was reinstated into the movie last week.

The Variety piece notes several examples of Pixar's previous attempts to interject gay-friendly content in the past; it states:

In Pixar’s 27-year history, there have been just a small handful of unambiguous LGBTQ characters of any kind. In 2020’s “Onward,” a one-eyed cop (Lena Waithe), who appears in a few scenes, mentions her girlfriend. In 2019’s “Toy Story 4,” two moms hug their child goodbye at kindergarten. And 2016’s “Finding Dory” features a brief shot of what appears to be a lesbian couple, though the movie’s filmmakers were coy about defining them that way at the time. The most overtly LGBTQ project in Pixar’s canon is a 2020 short film, “Out,” about a gay man struggling with coming out to his parents — which the studio released on Disney Plus as part of its SparkShorts program.

The story also points out that a LGBTQ relationship in Luca was toned down and gay symbols in backgrounds of Soul and Inside Out have been nixed in the past. Also a walkout has been announced for Tuesday as a step to "regain trust of the LGBTQIA+ community and employees."