The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday adopted a new definition of “woman” that would reportedly allow biological males identifying as females to be included as women in jails, homeless shelters, and even domestic violence shelters.
Domestic violence shelters are home to biological men. It sounds like disaster.
The ordinance was passed on April 26 and officially ratified Tuesday, both by party-line, three to two votes.
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— Recite Social (@ReciteSocial) April 27, 2022
The ordinance adopts the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), an international treaty adopted in 1979. The text states:
The CEDAW Ordinance has three main components. First, the CEDAW Ordinance presents a set of goals and values to eliminate and prevent discrimination and achieve gender equality. Discrimination against women extends to transgender women, gender nonconforming women, youth, and those assigned female at birth, which includes transgender men and intersex communities; and the term ‘discrimination against women’ includes any distinction, exclusion, or restriction on the basis of gender and sex assigned at birth.
The Board had a public hearing about agenda item 34 on April 26 before it went to a procedural vote. Four-hundred thirty-sevenOnly 40 public speakers supported the ordinance.
The board clearly doesn’t give a rip what its constituents think.
KUSI is a local television news station.
Proponents of the ordinance, like Democrat Supervisor Nora Vargas, claim it will protect “women from discrimination.” But opponents correctly point out that San Diego County’s ordinance changes the historical definition of “women” to include biological men.
The backlash against the ordinance was intense. Here’s an impassioned, two-minute speech by Immigration attorney Esther Valdes-Clayton, one of the many public speakers who spoke in opposition to the ordinance.
“For the past two years,” she said,” we’ve heard from Nathan Fletcher tell us to trust the science. Now, I’m asking Mr. Fletcher: Trust your eyes, your science, and your heart. Because when you see a woman, you know, deep inside what a woman looks like, it looks like me.”
“I was also raised in part in Tijuana,” Valdes-Clayton continued, “and I want to ask you, how much did they pay you to sell out our culture, our values, our language?”
Republican Supervisor Jim Desmond expressed dissatisfaction as well.
Today’s action opens the door, to biological men who identify as women to compete in women’s sports, compete for women’s scholarships, and for unique opportunities that only apply to women. This allows biological women to take advantage of opportunities. Discriminatory by itself. pic.twitter.com/NNAoU1cLF2
— Supervisor Jim Desmond (@jim_desmond) April 27, 2022
Naturally backers of the bill had a different take, with Board Chairman Nathan Fletcher decrying the “cruel nature” of some of the rhetoric:
We are grateful to the County of SD that voted to approve the CEDAW Ordinance, which will eliminate any form of discrimination against women. Unhinged opposition was inaccurate. These are some examples.@nathanfletcherThey will respond with words. https://t.co/Lgux4QApIA
— Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (@LorenaSGonzalez) May 12, 2022
Meanwhile Supervisor Nora Vargas accused some speakers of spreading “incorrect” information about the ordinance, claiming that it won’t affect education or sports. “It’s pretty disturbing to hear the amount of misinformation and fear-mongering,” she said.
It’s pretty hard to read that bill and conclude that what she said is true. Here’s one section:
“Women and girls” shall mean those who identify as women and girls, including transgender women and gender non-conforming, and those assigned female at birth who include non-binary, transgender men and intersex communities.
I’m struggling to see how this wouldn’t affect women’s sports, as we’ve seen with Lia Thomas, a biologically male athlete could simply compete as a woman. Ask these women if they are happy.
We don’t know where this is going, but we do know that it’s been head-spinning to watch Democrats screeching about defending women’s rights all week on one hand, while tearing down women’s rights with the other.
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