Some Thoughts on LGBT Issues in North Dakota
Our organizational position is that we believe marriage was created by God and is the basis for our society. We believe human sexuality was designed and intended for our good within the bond of a committed, lifelong marriage between a man and woman. As a result, we advocate for policy that actively supports biblically based marriage, and we oppose policy that encourages individuals to pursue alternative definitions of marriage, to the extent it undermines traditional marriage values and endangers the rights of others.
The fundamental difference in how we judge human sexuality and marriage is certainly at the crux of these issues, however, there are additional issues with the LGBT agenda. While we support equal rights for members of the LGBT community, we oppose preferential treatment. The push today is for including gender in everything from birth certificates (which, by definition, makes no sense) and educational materials, to state constitutions and much more. North Dakotans most certainly showed the state this session that we are frustrated with liberal ideology and don’t want it to take over our state. We elected a huge number of Christian conservative legislators last year, and this session with all its gender bills was the result.
I have a personal aversion to the constant pressure to use more and more pro-LGBT terminology; it is slowly changing our language in the direction of that social ideology. I don’t refer to any group of people as LGBTQ, or LGBTQ+, and certainly not LGBTQQIP2SAA (yes, that’s a real abbreviation). Cisgender was not used or understood by most people a few years ago, but now many of us accept when we are labeled that way. Never forget that words create worlds.
It bothers me that the LGBT community has appropriated the meaning of the rainbow. For those of us who believe the Old Testament story of Noah, using the rainbow for LGBT pride is pretty far off the mark. More generally, if I were to tie a rainbow ribbon to my suitcase so I can spot it on the conveyor belt at the airport, it’s not a statement in support of LGBT rights, but simply means that a bright, multicolored ribbon is easier to spot (and also that I really should have purchased a suitcase in other than black). Unfortunately, nobody is sure what the rainbow means these days, and I find that regrettable.
Now, before you think I’m just in a bad mood and picking on the LGBT community, let me stop and pivot to the second point: individuals who are part of the LGBT community and/or defend its ideals. First, they have been created in the image of God and possess inherent worth and dignity, regardless of whatever beliefs they may hold. They do not deserve derogatory terms, discrimination, or aggression for holding their beliefs. Our mission is not to “drive them out of North Dakota” any more than we make it our mission to drive out people who commit adultery, get DUIs, or are atheists. That’s not how our pluralistic society works.
So then how should we reconcile opposing viewpoints, respect for individuals, and appropriate responses? I believe the answer begins with common ground. Let me explain.
Representative Josh Boschee is the House Minority Leader in our ND Legislature and has been in office for the past decade. Josh also happens to be openly gay and is obviously a strong supporter of the LGBT viewpoint. He and I disagree about a lot of things – I’m sure they include some of my comments at the beginning of this email – but that doesn’t particularly bother me, and I’m guessing it doesn’t bother him much either. They simply reflect our different points of view. This is why when I came across House Bill 1533, I was intrigued.
Our organization works on bills that uphold faith, family, and freedom from a biblical foundation. HB 1533 did just that. It prevented “abusive litigation“ against survivors of domestic violence/abuse. In other words, let’s say a wife was beaten by her husband, pressed charges, and the courts ruled in her favor. End of story, right? Not with abusive litigation. Under this scenario, the husband files case after case against the wife, stretching out over years in some instances, draining her finances, tying up our court system, and making her relive and remember the abuse for years, when she should be starting her new life. HB 1533 was a good piece of legislation that would stop this from happening. Representative Boschee was the sponsor and it had nearly all Democrats cosponsoring.
I called Josh to talk about it and indicated that our organization would like to get behind this bill, and he was happy to have us on board. We did support it, with testimony, alerts to all of you, and work behind the scenes. I found it somewhat ironic that when a legislator who is possibly one of the most liberal in the ND legislature, teams up with one of the most conservative Christian organizations doing policy work in our state, a bill becomes almost unassailable. HB 1533 passed the House by a 91-3 margin, the Senate with a unanimous 47-0, and Governor Burgum signed it into law on March 22.
We are all extremely happy that this bill made it into law and that it will hopefully further protect vulnerable North Dakotans from abusive partners. However, the striking thing that singles out this bill for me is what led to this unlikely team that got it into law. Here’s the rest of the story.
In 2017 I was new to the legislature, and one day during the beginning of session I caught up to Representative Boschee walking down the hallway in the Capitol and introduced myself. I said something to the effect of, “We both know we’re going to disagree on perhaps 95% of all the issues that come up, and we will certainly fight for our respective positions. However, what I’m most interested in is that 5% where we agree and can work together.” He concurred.
Josh, it took six years and many bills, but we found a bill that fits into that 5%. I’m really glad we did, and I hope we find many more in the years to come.