California LGBT anti-religion bill appears STALLED in State Assembly. Furious lobbying by pro-family activists!
Despite cave-in by religious college presidents after “compromise”
To get it moving, bill's sponsor compromises a second time
Final 10 days of legislative session
August 21 2016
Pro-family activism is making a difference.
The battle to stop California Bill SB 1146 is getting heated! It has still not been passed by the Assembly, and the legislative session is in its final 10 days . Pro-family groups, including California MassResistance, have been fighting it hard. On Friday, the sponsor watered it down yet again to get it moving.
The bill has been called the most oppressive LGBT anti-religious bill in the country. Its obvious purpose is to force the LGBT agenda into religious colleges in California – and eventually it in other states.
Earlier compromise, and now a second compromise by bill's sponsor
On Aug. 10, while the bill was struggling in the Appropriations Committee, the bill’s sponsor agreed to a compromise which removed certain parts but left others in. Shockingly, much of the California religious college establishment announced their approval of it. Even National Review and other conservative media lauded the compromise as a "victory." But in fact the “compromise” was still extremely onerous.
Moreover, on Aug. 15 when the text of the compromise was finally made available, it had actually added new objectionable language that would still cause the eventual capitulation of Christian colleges.
Sadly, in the opinion of many close observers, the Christian college leaders were willing to give in because they simply don’t have the stomach to take on the LGBT lobby and Democratic machine.
So when SB 1146 it reached the floor of the Assembly last week it seemed like a shoo-in to pass with bi-partisan support.
Pro-family activists double down and fight even harder
But pro-family activists, including California MassResistance, SaveCalifornia.com, church groups, and others doubled down and began fighting even harder to stop it. The phone calls, emails, and protests at Assembly members’ offices ramped up considerably over the past week!
People have had enough and simply aren't letting up on this! |
 |
Besides the Assembly, pressure was also brought on Senate members. In both houses, liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans all got the treatment.
Stalled on the Assembly floor – and another compromise
And miraculously it’s had an effect! This week the bill was expected to sail through the Assembly. But it wasn’t brought up for a vote.
On Friday morning we found out that the sponsor had modified the bill again, taking out the new language he had added. (See the text of the new compromise here.) Apparently, the association of religious colleges charged that the language that was added in the first compromise required disclosures by colleges that apparently violate certain federal privacy laws. So rather than take a chance, the bill’s sponsor agreed to get rid of it.
But by the end of the week SB 1146 still hadn’t come up for a vote. Our contacts in the Capitol told us that this was certainly unexpected. Although there are still several more days left until the session ends at the end of the month, in the frenzy to get a range of things done it appears that the bill has lost momentum and may not have the front-burner status it had before, we were told.
Statewide LGBT group taking action to try and save SB 1146!
The state LGBT lobbying group, Equality California is taking this very seriously, and realizes that their prize bill is in trouble. This week they put out a frantic “Action Alert” to their members to help push it through.
Action alert by Equality California
They’re telling their supporters:
The bill is drawing fierce resistance from some of the same forces who backed Proposition 8. Opponents have already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars campaigning across the state to allow these schools to continue their discrimination unchecked. They’re bombarding legislators with e-mails and phone calls to voice their opposition to the bill.
Note: The “hundreds of thousands of dollars” refers to a mailing by the Association of Faith Based Institutions, sent a month or so ago into districts of members in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. But the current pressure is all grassroots generated! Equality California, on the other hand, unlike pro-family groups, is funded by AT&T, Coca-Cola, Southwest Airlines, State Farm Insurance, and other major corporations.
Consternation among liberal legislators brings hateful outburst
As bill SB 1146 flounders, some of its liberal supporters in the Assembly are panicking -- bringing out their hatred of Christianity.
This past week Pastor Marc T. Little, a black minister in Inglewood, CA, and some of his congregants took a bus to the State Capitol in Sarcamento. They left a letter opposing SB 1146 at several offices of Assembly members. Later, Pastor Little received a vile, profane, and hateful message on his telephone answering machine from the office of one of the Assembly members, Reginald Jones-Sawyer.
You can hear the phone call in the video below. (1 min 35 sec)
Obviously, our side is getting to them!
Note: There have been calls for the resignation of the person who made that disgusting phone call. But not surprisingly, there’s been no response from that Assembly member’s office.
Coming up – final days of California legislative session
On Monday, the State Assembly meets again, starting the final 10 days of the session. If SB 1146 does pass the Assembly, it must go back to the Senate and pass there again in its new amended form. However, at these frantic last few days, the Legislature has a lot of bills to deal with. And more and more legislators are becoming skittish about SB 1146.
It’s day by day! We will update our MassResistance.org home page with the latest news.
California MassResistance and others will be fighting hard. And we’ll be reporting to you on our protests at legislators’ offices.