The media may disagree on the job Donald Trump’s doing, but the American people sure don’t. By massive margins, they have nothing but praise for the president’s handling of Obama’s transgender mandate. The numbers don’t lie — and when it comes to the privacy and safety of women and children, they aren’t even close. As Rasmussen pointed out Friday, the Left couldn’t be more out of touch with the American people on the gender-free bathroom and shower debate.

By a landslide, the country sides with Trump in how the issue should be handled. Only 28 percent agree with Obama that the federal government should dictate those policies to local schools compared to an overwhelming majority of 64 percent who feel — as Trump does — that schools and local districts should decide. And in case you think Rasmussen is an outlier, check out these new results from the Crux/Marist poll, which show just how out of touch the media is on the issue. By almost 40 points, Americans (66 to 27 percent) don’t think “someone who is transitioning to become the opposite sex” should be allowed to use the shower or locker room of their choice.

On bathrooms, feelings are just as strong. Fifty-six percent have the same opinion on bathrooms (compared to 38 percent who would open the doors to anyone). Why else would President Obama have to issue a mandate? Because he knew he didn’t have one from the American people on a policy as extreme as this one! Instead, he overstepped his bounds, tried to unilaterally rewrite a 1972 law on sex discrimination, and threatened schools’ funding if they didn’t comply. As Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) reminded everyone, “Our fight over the bathroom directive has always been about former President Obama’s attempt to bypass Congress and rewrite the laws to fit his political agenda for radical social change. The Obama administration’s directive on bathrooms unlawfully invaded areas that are left to state discretion under the 10th Amendment. School policy should center on the safety, privacy and dignity of its students, not the whims of federal bureaucrats.”

While the Left keeps up its sky-is-falling mantra, more people are coming to the realization that what President Trump did isn’t nearly as outlandish as liberals would like you to believe. Even in places like the Economist, experts tackle the myth that Trump’s move made it “open season” on transgenderism. Not so, they write. “Mr. Trump’s change of policy is not a wholesale reversal of Mr. Obama’s stance on trans rights… [His] change of policy is actually quite a bit softer both in tone and content, than it might have been.” Not to mention, the authors scold the Left, that this isn’t a question of feelings but the law. “Whatever a president’s spin on civil-rights law may be, the law itself remains the same… [and] it will be up the courts — not the executive branch — to interpret and enforce [it].”

For the 12 states pushing privacy laws, Trump’s decision only provides additional momentum. Despite the Left’s hysteria, this common sense approach is politically appealing. One thing that people on both sides agreed after the election is that these were the values that drove people to the polls. And social conservatives weren’t the only ones motivated to turn out when they realized that Hillary Clinton cared more about bathrooms than basic priorities. “Look, I’m as progressive as anybody, okay?” a local union boss said after the election. “But people in the heartland thought the Democratic Party cared more about where someone else went to the restroom than whether they had a good-paying job,” he complained.

In the meantime, most people have faith that the administration can strike the balance America is hoping for. When asked if they thought the laws had to choose between protecting transgender and religious rights, nearly three-quarters of Americans say that laws can protect both (74 percent to 18 percent). It’s up to Trump to prove it. With the public solidly in his camp, he has even more reason to move forward with an executive order protecting religious liberty. Not only does it go hand and hand with this debate over privacy, but it’s a common sense approach to the hostile climate too many Americans are facing in a post-Obama world.

For more on the White House’s decision, check out Peter Sprigg’s new piece in the Stream, “Trump Returns Authority over School Transgender Policies to States and Localities.”

Originally published here.

Ark. in Park on LGBT Ordinance

These days, courts probably grab more headlines for upholding the law than rewriting it! That was certainly the case in Arkansas, where the state supreme court gave parents and local communities a huge victory by ruling on the plain text of the law instead of giving a politically motivated interpretation of it. After a three-year tug-of-war, a controversial LGBT ordinance from the city of Fayetteville was struck down, which would not only have allowed men to use the girls’ showers, restrooms, and locker rooms but also would have criminally prosecuted business owners with moral objections. Like North Carolina, Arkansas’s statutes are clear: Only the state can pass “anti-discrimination” laws that create new “civil rights” (in this case on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity).

This is the same playbook that’s been used in Houston, Springfield (MO), Jacksonville (FL), Utah, and others to kick down the door between government and religious liberty. Under the umbrella of these sexual orientation-gender identity (SOGI) ordinances, cities are quietly ushering in a fierce government crackdown on men and women of faith. Fortunately, Arkansas put the brakes on Fayetteville’s lawlessness, explaining that there is “a direct inconsistency between state and municipal law” in the case. As such, it ruled, the measure can’t stand.

For state and local leaders, decisions like this one should certainly be a wake-up call to engage. Last year, there were dozens of attempts to push for special SOGI privileges on everything from education to policing and transportation bills. Across the country, conservatives need to be vigilant about fighting this onslaught at the local level. That’s especially important now that the White House is dropping school bathroom and shower policies back in the laps of legislatures. Now is not the time for state lawmakers to sit back! If anything, they need to be proactive in exercising the authority the people have given them — or else liberal enclaves and urban areas will start dictating policy on key issues like this one.

Already, the Left is on the march in states to try to take back the power they lost. President Obama may be out of the White House, but he’s doing everything he can to get his legacy in the state house. He and former Attorney General Eric Holder are teaming up to launch a new super group to stop “Trump-ism” at the grassroots level. So far, a spokeswoman warns, the “related fundraising efforts have been ‘astronomical.’” Well, we may be outspent, but one thing conservatives are not is outnumbered. Help us prove that by paying attention to what’s happening in your local communities. And if you live in Texas (or any of the 12 states moving privacy bills), seize the moment to stand up and be counted! A Republican majority is only as good as the people holding it accountable. So do your part and get involved.

Originally published here.

Give ‘Em Yell! Libs Invade LA Townhall

There’s one thing members of Congress didn’t have to worry about heading into last week’s townhalls: attendance! Thanks to the Left, most local meetings were packed — and not necessarily with people from the community. After the adventures of Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Tom McClintock (R-CA), and others, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) knew what he was up against heading into Wednesday’s event. As usual, the extremists didn’t disappoint.

The commotion got off to a fast start when Chaplain Michael Sprague took a turn at the podium. Now, as one who has traveled and campaigned across the state of Louisiana many times, it’s not unusual to open a meeting of this sort with prayer. But this was no ordinary meeting. Immediately, the crowd erupted in anger, yelling things like “Pray on your own time!” and “Separation of church and state!” The whole thing was caught on video, including one woman shouting “Lucifer!” when Sprague spoke Jesus’s name. And God wasn’t the only target. Showing their true colors, a portion of the protesters refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, while others took it a step farther by booing the veteran and hollering “Do your job!” and “Get on with it!”

Of course, like most of these incidents, they reflected more on the Left than on the Republicans they were targeting. As Sen. Cassidy said on Fox News, the idea of prayer is nothing new. “Every session of Congress is opened with prayer, and that has happened since the beginning Congress… But there were enough that were there just to disrupt that whether it was Pastor Sprague speaking or someone doing the pledge, they were going to protest.” In photos, some wagged their fingers in the face of the senator, while others were just content interrupting and harassing him while he tried to talk about issues like immigration, health care, and the economy. As someone from Louisiana, I can tell you that the city of Metairie, where the event was held, is probably in the most Republican district in the state. Obviously, this response wasn’t the reflective of the area but of the broad leftist campaign to ship people in to these local meetings to create a distraction.

In the end, Cassidy says, it’s hardly having the effect liberals intended. “They look terrible, because those who say they want tolerance look incredibly intolerant. And those who say they want dialogue only wanted to shout. Now I will [say], there are some there who disagreed but just wanted to listen. There were some Americans exercising their First Amendment rights, but there were also some there just to make a scene to try to define perceptions.” Well, they’re defining perceptions all right — about the desperation of the Left!

Originally published here.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.