UNREAL: Do this in NYC and you’ll be fined $250,000, according to new law…
Nope, this is not The Onion, folks. Sadly, this is a disclaimer that is more and more frequently required these days, thanks to the liberal politically-correct lunacy overtaking the nation.
We’ve seen this year that a man can be Woman of the Year; rice can be “culturally insensitive”; and “hurt feelings” may be enough reason to trample on the First Amendment. And now, apparently, an American citizen can be fined a quarter of a million dollars for calling someone the “wrong” pronoun.
Via Breitbart — not the Onion (bears repeating in this case):
Did you call a transsexual person “he” or “she” when they preferred to be called “zhe?” According to a newly updated anti-discrimination law in New York City, you could be fined an eye-watering $250,000.
In the latest, astonishing act of draconian political correctness, the NYC Commission on Human Rights have updated a law on “Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Expression” to threaten staggering financial penalties against property owners who “misgender” employees or tenants.
Incidents that are deemed “wilful and malicious” will see property owners face up to $250,000 in fines, while standard violations of the law will result in a $125,000 fine. For small business owners, these sums are crippling.
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It’s not as simple as referring to transmen “he” or transwomen as “she,” either. The legislation makes it clear that if an individual desires, property owners will have to make use of “zhe,” “hir” and any other preferred pronoun.
So, is anyone else reading this as the potential to be FINED $250,000 just for saying the “wrong” thing? First Amendment, anyone?
From the updated legislation:
Other violations of the law include refusing to allow individuals to use single-sex facilities such as bathrooms that are “consistent with their gender identity,” failing to provide employee health benefits for “gender-affirming care” and “imposing different uniforms or grooming standards based on sex or gender.”
This is continuing the trend we reported on earlier, where the rights of those who choose to identify as a different sex — a group that represents about 0.3 percent of the U.S. population — increasingly trump the rights of everyone else. Like how high school girls in Chicago are now required to shower with penises, so as not to “discriminate” against one transgender student.
So now, thanks to the wisdom of the NYC Commission on Human Rights, a bar owner who prevents a male bartender from wearing lipstick and heels will be breaking the law. Regardless of a businesses’ clientele, each will now be forced to conform to the same standard — or face business-killing fines.
Breitbart continues:
This is the latest in what Spiked Online editor-in-chief Brendan O’Neill calls “The Crisis of Character” in the west, in which identities become grounded in subjective interpretation rather than objective reality. The state is now forcing society to recognise the subjective identities of individuals, regardless of how absurd or surreal they may seem. In New York City, recognising someone’s identity is no longer a matter of case-by-case common sense and courtesy. It’s zir way or the highway.
[Note: This article was written by Michelle Jesse, Associate Editor]