Critics have rushed to condemn Republican Secretary of State candidate Rep. Paul Scott's pledge to ensure that our state government fulfills its public trust to always tell the truth — including when a man who claims to believe he's a woman wants the government to enable that disorder by changing the sex on his driver's license.
In an era of heightened sensitivity about identity theft and terrorists using fake I.D.s, the issue is not how often the state might be asked by individuals suffering such disorders to falsify a government record, but whether our government under any circumstance should certify identifying characteristics on an official I.D. as anything other than what they truthfully are.
Perhaps critics who pretend Rep. Scott pulled this issue out of thin air don't want you to know that the ACLU has for years tried to pressure the Secretary of State to officially certify a "transgender" male who has not had so-called "sex change" surgery as "female."
The ACLU succeeded, temporarily, when the Secretary of State's office announced in 2005 that it would adopt such a policy change. Three weeks later, Secretary Land reversed the change, reverting back to the previous and still standing policy that the sex designation would be changed only after such surgery. Even that policy begs the question of whether a surgically-mutilated man whose DNA proves he's male should be officially certified "female."
There are also serious implications for women's privacy rights and comfort, since women and girls would legally be forced to share public restrooms, showers, locker rooms and changing areas with men who — if challenged — can present an official government I.D. "proving" their claim to be women.
The next Secretary of State will be pressured by the ACLU and homosexual and "transgender" activists to again adopt such a policy, this time permanently.
AFA-Michigan's position is simple: While we as individuals should compassionately sympathize with the difficulties experienced by others in some cases, government certifying agencies must dispassionately deal in reality and truth in all cases.
Citizens should be able to trust that the Secretary of State will tell the truth and will not — by falsifying identifying characteristics on an official government I.D. — facilitate and enable identity theft, use of false I.D.s, or violation of the privacy rights of women and children.
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Gary Glenn, Midland, is president of the American Family Association of Michigan, online at www.AFAMichigan.org.
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