The 3 - September 8, 2024

This week's edition of The 3, highlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, features news about a federal appeals court decision against a California law providing for certain requirements for social media companies. Also, a federal judge has put a new Administration rule that would prevent states from enforcing legislation that would ban gender-change procedures. And, several companies have announced they are backing down from progressive policies, including special treatment shown toward the LGBT agenda.

New CA law governing speech ruled unconstitutional by federal appeals court

A California law that would place limitations on free speech by social media companies has faced multiple court challenges.  Last year, National Religious Broadcasters, joined by The Babylon Bee and others challenged the law in court. An article on the NRB website noted that this bill, AB 587 "would require social media companies to report content deemed 'hate speech' and 'disinformation' to the government." NRB President and CEO Troy Miller was quoted as saying, “We are proud to act on behalf of NRB members who would be impacted by or required to comply with this censorship law,” adding, “In an environment where much religious viewpoint expression is considered ‘controversial’ speech, NRB is acting to stop the weaponization of new laws against Christian communicators.”

Also challenging the law was social media platform, X. And, last week, according to NRB's Washington Next Week e-mail newsletter, General Counsel Michael Farris wrote, "Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that California Assembly Bill 587 violated the First Amendment by requiring social media companies to report detailed information about their community standards."

Farris listed a number of categories that enumerated areas of speech that companies would be required to "track and report;" he stated: "these categories are largely subjective and give wide latitude for silencing people who simply disagree with the views of either the social media company or the Attorney General of California."

Farris noted that the lawsuit in which NRB was a party had been dropped due to questions about standing on the part of the plaintiffs.  He noted that X used "essentially the same arguments."

Federal judge puts nationwide hold on new federal regulation overriding state laws on medical mutilation

The Department of Health and Human Services issued a new rule back in May, according to Liberty Counsel's website, "requiring federally-funded health care doctors and state insurance plans to perform and pay for harmful puberty blockers, hormones, and mutilating surgeries."  

The states of Texas and Montana filed a lawsuit against the federal government and in an expansion of an earlier ruling applying to just those two states, a judge issued an order that "expands a previous injunction from July 3, 2024, that only applied to Texas and Montana, and at the behest of the two states, he applied it nationwide noting certain provisions of the rule 'are unlawful to all participants.'”

U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle, according to Liberty Counsel, had said that the two states challenged the rule, "claiming the rule would 'override' state laws protecting children from medical mutilation. He also noted that the rule would threaten health care providers and states with the loss of millions in federal funding if they decline to provide and pay for these experimental gender interventions for children and adults alike."  Liberty Counsel states that...

...As a result, every state and medical provider receiving federal financial support is now protected from being forced to comply with the rule under financial threats from the federal government. For the 26 states who have laws protecting children from medical mutilation, this injunction also keeps this rule from preempting those laws.

In other court action on the topic, Liberty Counsel had announced in late August that "the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order allowing Florida to protect children and enforce its state law banning harmful puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and mutilating surgeries for minors. The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 to preliminarily remove a lower court’s block on the law allowing it to take immediate effect for now. The Appeals Court also agreed to hear full oral arguments in the case later this year to make its final determination on the law’s future."

More corporations get "back to business," reject pro-LGBT policies

Robby Starbuck is a podcast host and a commentator. His website says about him, as well as his wife, Landon, "Their Christian faith is very important to them as they are active members of their church and God is at the center of everything they do."

Starbuck has been involved in an effort to persuade companies to abandon progressive employment policies.  The Christian Post reported:

Starbuck urged Tractor Supply customers to contact the retailer's leadership to express opposition to its embrace of "LGBTQIA+ events at work" and "LGBTQIA+ training for employees," funding "pride/drag events" and "sex changes" for its employees, engagement in "climate change activism" and display of "pride month decorations in the office."

Tractor Supply announced it was backing off on some of their policies, including providing "data" to the pro-LGBT organization, the Human Rights Campaign.  Other companies contacted by Starbuck also made similar announcements.  For instance, as The Christian Post related:

In a statement posted on X in July, the farm equipment retailer John Deere insisted that it was "always listening to feedback and looking for opportunities to improve" and making several commitments based on recent "conversations."

The business explained that it would "no longer participate in or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events."

Other companies announcing a regression in their progressive policies include Harley-Davidson, Jack Daniel's, Lowe's, and Ford Motor Company.