The Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie oppose State Issue 1 and ask that you vote NO on August 8th.
Continue reading “We Ask You To Vote No On August 8th”We Ask You To Vote No On August 8th
Toledo Blade Underplayed Bigotry Toward The Trans Community
SHoWLE President Douglas Berger had a letter to the editor published in the Toledo Blade on April 20, 2023, responding to a previous editorial that seemed sympathetic to a woman who gave a speech against Trans women at the University of Toledo. The editorial downplayed the bigoted framing and rehash of anti-Trans tropes relating to Trans women participating in women’s sports. The editorial complained about Trans rights supporters protesting Riley Gaines’ speech but didn’t point out the false narrative that Gaines used in her speech and the fact that it was sponsored by the right-wing Christian Nationalist group Turning Point USA.
Douglas was also disappointed that even though his letter was published, the heart of it was cut out by the Blade and made it seem, again, that the issue was one of difference of opinion and not one of a battle to protect the rights of a marginalized group. SHoWLE doesn’t believe that human rights should be put up for a popular vote or be debated like what ice cream flavor you like.
Below is the full text of the letter Douglas submitted followed by images of the Blade editorial in question and the printed letter.
I sat down to read the Blade and saw yet another editorial (“Editorial: Let Riley tell her story” published 4/22) claiming that someone with bigoted ideas is being hurt because other people have called them out on their bigotry. Make no mistake, Riley Gaines told her story framed in bigotry against Trans women all because a Trans woman won ONE event at the NCAA tournament.
Gaines should know that more goes into performing sports than just body parts and what sex one is but we live in a society that seems to accept the status quo for longer than we need. Take basketball. When women were first allowed to play basketball, they were only allowed to play half court because men assumed that women didn’t have the stamina to run up and down a full court. They also had to play in skirts because it was un-ladylike to wear shorts in public.
Does Gaines feel the four other women that beat her in the 200 freestyle were actually “intact males” and why didn’t Lia Thomas win that race if she won the 500 freestyle? I thought Trans women had an unfair advantage?
The science on the issue isn’t clear yet but unlike Gaines’ anecdotal “evidence”, the NCAA has had specific rules to include Trans athletes for at least 10 years now. One would think the flood gates would be open and there would be only Trans women winning everything — obviously that didn’t happen. A person’s genetic make-up and internal and external reproductive anatomy are not useful indicators of athletic performance.
It is also telling that Gaines’ talk was sponsored by the Christian Nationalist group Turning Point USA, whose founder and President Charlie Kirk, on a podcast in 2022, said that the Transgender community was a “social contagion” and that this “public mania” would, in 20 years, be likened to “the modern-day equivalent of lobotomies in the 1920s and 1930s”.
Riley Gaines (like Charlie Kirk) used bigotry to tell her story, the content of which was underplayed in the editorial. As we move forward and the people who support all humans as having basic dignity and worth become the majority only then will we be actually united as people.
SHoWLE Asks Local Media To Stop Running False Anti-Abortion Ad
The Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie are asking local media in Northwest Ohio to stop airing the TV ad by the anti-abortion group “Protect Women Ohio” because it is a false ad.
In that ad that began airing March 15th, a narrator speaks:
“Your daughter is young vulnerable online. You fear the worst. Pushed to change her sex or to get an abortion. You have some right to help her through this but activists want to take all that away. Under their proposed amendment to the Ohio. Constitution the state shall not interfere with individuals getting abortions or sex changes meaning you could be cut out of the Biggest decision of her life.”
Audio of Protect Women Ohio: Fear the Worst 3/15/2023
Forcing daughters to get sex changes or abortions appears no where in the actual text of the proposed amendment.
FULL TEXT OF PROPOSED AMENDMENT
Be it Resolved by the People of the State of Ohio that Article I of the Ohio Constitution is amended to add the following Section:
Article I, Section 22. The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety
A. Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on:
contraception;
fertility treatment;
continuing one’s own pregnancy;
miscarriage care;
and abortion.B. The State shall not, directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against either:
An individual’s voluntary exercise of this right or
A person or entity that assists an individual exercising this right, unless the State demonstrates that it is using the least restrictive means to advance the individual’s health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care.
However, abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability. But in no case may such an abortion be prohibited if in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health.C. As used in this Section:
“Fetal viability” means “the point in a pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician, the fetus has a significant likelihood of survival outside the uterus with reasonable measures. This is determined on a case-by-case basis.”
“State” includes any governmental entity and any political subdivision.D. This Section is self-executing.
Text of proposed amendment as approved by Ohio ballot board March 2023
Sex reassignment surgery is not mentioned at all. The proposed amendment only covers individual reproductive choices. The anti-abortion ad also selectively quotes the petition saying the state “shall not interfere” to fear monger to parents who demand tight control on their children. The “protect women” group is simply lying.
Local media need to stop running the ad. Advocacy ads are not covered by federal law or covered by the first amendment. We aren’t talking about a difference of opinion we are talking about a false ad.
Are ad dollars more important than the truth?
Broadcast media are granted a license to use the public airways in the public interest. Passing off a false ad that advocates taking rights away from people is not acting in the public interest.
About Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie
The mission of the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie is to provide a supportive local community for humanists and other nontheists, while promoting an ethical, reasonable, and secular approach to life through education, community service, outreach, activism, and social events.
We envision a Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan where secular people are respected and integrated in broader society, live values of reason and compassion, and enjoy a friendly humanist community.
Media Contacts
Douglas Berger — President
567–215-2694
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SHoWLE Opposes Senate Bill 49: The Religious Expression Days “R.E.D.” Act.
This session, the Ohio Senate introduced Senate Bill 49 also known as The Religious Expression Days “R.E.D.” Act. If passed it would give religious students in public schools three days off each year for religious reasons. SHoWLE opposes this bill for the main reason is it gives special privileges to religious students. We also don’t believe a law is needed since many school districts currently make accommodations for religious observances.
SHoWLE President Douglas Berger submitted written testimony to the Ohio Senate Education committee. Here is the text of his remarks:
Continue reading “SHoWLE Opposes Senate Bill 49: The Religious Expression Days “R.E.D.” Act.”More than half of LGBTQIA+ People are Nonreligious
This weekend SHoWLE will be having a booth at the Toledo Pride Festival at Promenade Park in Downtown Toledo from 12:30 PM to 7 PM. If we get the rain and storms forecast for Saturday afternoon we may leave the festival before 7 PM.
The Secular Survey from American Atheists just released a report this week with some insights into nonreligious LGBTQIA+ people. The report says over half of LGBTQIA+ people are nonreligious and most of them belong to secular groups like SHoWLE.
The top policy issues is protecting the secular public schools, getting rid of religious exemptions to discriminate, and furthering LGBTQIA+ civil rights and equality.
If you are celebrating Pride this weekend and are looking for a welcoming, inclusive community please check us out.
Statement Concerning the Leaked SCOTUS Abortion Case Decision
Our right to privacy is now in danger
Like many in this country the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie were heartbroken by the content of the Dobbs decision of the US Supreme Court when it was leaked in May. It completely guts a woman’s right to abortion under 1973’s Roe v. Wade decision.
We knew this was a possibility from the decades long effort by religious zealots to overturn the case and send us back to the time of secret back-alley abortions that led to unnecessary deaths.
To be truthful, abortions will still happen, but the abortions will be less safe. Those who are caught in poverty will be worse off and women becoming pregnant due to a rape or incest will have no other options to terminate their pregnancy.
The decision also hints at future attacks on same sex marriage, sodomy, and contraception. Religious zealots want to stomp all of that out and people like Justice Alito, Thomas, and the other conservatives on the court are more than happy to help.
Religious conservatives believe wearing masks and not being allowed to pray in a church during a pandemic is a severe violation of their religious freedom, yet they don’t think twice in using their religion to justify taking fundamental rights from all of us. With this decision, our right to privacy is in danger.
SHoWLE strongly condemns the Dobbs decision. We will never stop supporting a woman’s right to reproductive choice and everyone’s right to privacy.
We also repeat our intention not to work with ANY group that doesn’t support a woman’s right to make her own health care choices. We also will refuse to work with groups who don’t support a right to privacy.
We know it is a big ask to boycott Ohio, which is poised to end legal abortion, but if a business isn’t able to leave or refuse to do business in states that ban abortion, we at least ask those businesses to strongly express their support for a woman’s right to choose and offer to help employees obtain abortions in states where it will be legal.
Besides contacting your elected representatives and supporting any protests against taking the right to choose from women, we also ask that you donate to local abortion groups who help those with less resources to get the care they need.
The Agnes Reynolds Jackson Fund (focuses on NW Ohio and Toledo)
National Network of Abortion Funds
Updated on 06/24/2022 when the decision was officially handed down
The vote to overturn Roe was 5–4. Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett joined Alito’s opinion. Chief Justice John Roberts did not join the opinion. He agreed with the majority that the Mississippi abortion restriction at issue in the case should be upheld, but in a separate opinion, he argued that the court should not have overturned Roe.
The court’s three liberals, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, filed a joint dissent.
Supreme Court overturns constitutional right to abortion
Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie Condemns Ohio HB 616
The Board of the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie urges legislators and our community members to oppose Ohio House Bill 616.
HB 616 eliminates the ability to teach on and discuss topics like sexual orientation, gender identity, and race. If enacted, HB 616 would attempt to erase discussion of the history and lived experiences of marginalized communities and students. The bill’s broad language will have a chilling effect on learning environments.
HB 616’s definition of anti-racist concepts like diversity, equity, and inclusion as “inherently racist” and its explicit mentions of intersectionality and critical race theory suggest a focus on the sensibilities of a narrow group of adults, rather than deep engagement with the needs and concerns of teachers and students in Ohio’s K‑3 classrooms.
Humanists “commit to treating each person as having inherent worth and dignity” and “long for and strive toward a world of mutual care and concern” (The Third Humanist Manifesto). HB 616 directly contradicts our core values by attempting to legislate away any discussion of already marginalized groups.
Listening to people’s stories is at the heart of acknowledging each person’s inherent worth. We can only move toward a world of mutual care by cultivating empathy; empathy cannot be cultivated when the stories, experiences, and histories of marginalized groups are made unspeakable.
It is for these reasons that the Board of the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie condemns this bill and others like it.
We also encourage our members to communicate with their State House Representative. You can find your representative by entering your address at the Ohio House of Representatives website.
Further information about the bill can be found here:
House Bill 616 @ Equality Ohio
House Bill 616 @ Honesty for Ohio Education
Tip of the hat to the Humanist Community of Central Ohio for sharing the format of their statement used above.
SHoWLE Disappointed Ohio AG David Yost Supports LGBTQA Discrimination
Ohio Attorney General David Yost waited until Friday to announce that Ohio will sign-on to a brief for three US Supreme Court cases that will decide if the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQA people. The Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie are disappointed in Yost’s decision and reject his reasoning.
Continue reading “SHoWLE Disappointed Ohio AG David Yost Supports LGBTQA Discrimination”Berger Spoke At Lights4Liberty Vigil
On Friday evening, July 12th, at Levis Square in downtown Toledo, the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie (SHoWLE) co-sponsored the Lights For Liberty vigil to End Human Concentration Camps.
Lights for Liberty partnered with international, national, regional and local communities and organizations who believe that human rights are fundamental rights, are not negotiable, and are willing to protect them.
President Douglas Berger was one of several speakers, at the event in Levis square, who highlighted the human rights issue with the immigration detention camps setup around the country.
Continue reading “Berger Spoke At Lights4Liberty Vigil”Toledo Humanists Disappointed Gary Johnson Refused To Vote On Six-Week Ban Resolution
Toledo City Council passed a resolution on June 26th that condemned passage of the six-week abortion ban by the state legislature back in April. The Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie support the passage of the resolution. The issue we have was the refusal of Council member Gary Johnson to vote. He fled the council chambers so he didn’t have to vote on the resolution.
Continue reading “Toledo Humanists Disappointed Gary Johnson Refused To Vote On Six-Week Ban Resolution”