Lance Weinhardt is a professor at the Zilber School of Public Health at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Syracuse University.
Mat Staver, otherwise known as Kim Davis’ attorney and the founder of Liberty Counsel, is allegedly behind the mean-spirited, illogical, and fear-mongering ‘bathroom bills’ across many states, and is the same man who was behind the legal threats issued to the Mt. Horeb (Wisconsin) School District last year when they were planning a reading of I am Jazz to support a young transgender student.
As we know, the Mt Horeb community did not take kindly to these threats to their teachers, school board, or the derision aimed at the students. They responded with love by organizing public readings of the book that attracted far more attention and support for the student than would have happened in the first place.
It seems to me that when you start targeting vulnerable children in your efforts to continue to marginalize LGBT people, and try to pass clearly unconstitutional and discriminatory laws across the country based on your supposedly Christian beliefs, you have hit rock bottom and appear truly confused about what it means to be Christian and an American. Having lost your battle against marriage equality is no excuse for this kind of behavior. Perhaps that is part of the reason the group is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant. It is good to know who is behind these efforts, and what their motives are. Spread the word.
The other folk who’ve been pushing this is the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). You can read about their participation in this here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/transgender-students-access-to-school-bathrooms-is-new-front-in-war-over-lgbt-rights/2016/02/29/ba66d676-da61-11e5-925f-1d10062cc82d_story.html
Excerpt:
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The organization has written model legislation to restrict access to school bathrooms and locker rooms that lawmakers in at least five states have used, including in South Dakota, according to Matt Sharp, the alliance’s legal counsel. The group also has emailed its model policy to thousands of school districts nationwide, describing its push as an effort to protect the “bodily privacy” of children — including victims of sexual assault who might be traumatized by running into a member of the opposite biological sex in a restroom.