SOGI Resolution - Wyoming Republican Party

Passed, August 12, 2017

 

Whereas the Party of Abraham Lincoln was created to abolish slavery, recognizing the dignity and equality of every human being under the law; and this same Republican Party continued to lead the fight for the natural rights of our common humanity, against the Jim Crow laws of the southern Democrats; and still stands for the rights of all people regardless of color, culture, ideology, or religion, and

Whereas such equal protection under the law demands protection against personal injury or property loss, but cannot demand affirmation of personal ideas, choices, or behaviors without infringing upon the integrity and property rights of other persons; yet “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” (SOGI) laws obliterate this foundational legal distinction, and

Whereas, laws using undefined and undefinable terms are inherently unjust, depriving persons under the law of any reasonable opportunity to know in advance how the law will be applied to them; and “gender Identity” lacks any definite legal content such that even its proponents are unable either to list every current identity, or rule out the addition of new identities in the future, and

Whereas wherever the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” have been added to antidiscrimination laws, this ill-defined language has enabled unjust prosecution and legal harassment such as…

• Forcing owners to use their own private property for objectionable uses…
• Stripping owners of the right to protect the privacy, safety and dignity of patrons in showers, privacy facilities, etc…
• Stripping owners of the right to hire persons of their own choosing…
• Forcing the use of pronouns, titles, and other speech demanded by others…
• Forcing artists to produce creative speech against their own views...
• Stripping mental health workers of the right to treat patients according to the best standards…
• Stripping physicians of the right to decide treatments according to their own judgement of what is best for a patient…

These and many other violations of personal integrity and property rights, are not only theoretical, but the actual ongoing results of SOGI laws which have closed businesses, confiscated savings, destroyed reputations, and costs millions in legal defense, and

Whereas even one use of a law that allows an unjust outcome is enough proof that it is a bad law; yet we have seen not one, but many cases where “sexual orientation and gender identity” language was used to materially harm law-abiding citizens depriving them of liberty, property and good name, therefore be it

Resolved that the Wyoming Republican Party stand opposed to the insertion of “sexual orientation,” and “gender identity” language into any policy, ordinance, guideline, or statute at every level of government, and be it further

Resolved, that the Wyoming Republican Party continue to protect the dignity, safety and integrity of every human being by advocating for just, defined, and limited laws which protect persons from injury and their property from loss while not punishing anyone for holding, expressing, or acting upon their sincerely held beliefs.