Attorney General Loretta Lynch is not only suing the state of North Carolina to force accommodation for transgenders to use the restrooms and locker rooms according to their gender identity, the nation’s top law enforcement officer suggested the debate is reminiscent of the segregation battles of the 1960’s, a contention firmly rejected by one of the nation’s most prominent black ministers.
On Monday, Lynch made numerous direct comparisons between the North Carolina bathroom debate and laws that discriminated against black people just over a half century ago.
“It was not so very long ago that states, including North Carolina, has other signs above restrooms, water fountains and on public accommodations, keeping people out based on a distinction without a difference,” said Lynch.
But one of those most familiar with the civil rights movement, says the analogy is deeply flawed,
“I am outraged at a certain level because I think people are trying to hijack the civil rights movement if you will. It is not apples to apples. It’s something else,” said Bishop Harry Jackson.
Jackson is senior pastor at Hope Christian Church and the founder and chairman of of the High Impact Leadership Coalition. He was a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage when those debates came to Maryland and Washington, D.C.
He says the differences between the two movements are obvious.
“There was a lack of access to education, lack of access to accommodations – the use of restrooms from the perspective of race, not crossing any kind of gender boundaries, public accommodations, hotel rooms,” said Jackson, who also pointed out Jim Crow laws forbid blacks from living in certain areas and made the opportunity for good jobs almost impossible.
The North Carolina law was drafted after the Charlotte City Council required all public buildings and all private businesses to make all restrooms gender neutral. Lynch says the state law is a solution in search of a problem. Jackson says there is already evidence that gender identity is a bad measuring stick for assigning restrooms.
“There have been men recently going into women’s bathrooms, exposing themselves. There is a danger that is already beginning to manifest itself in certain communities,” said Jackson.
He warns Americans that this issue will soon impact everyone.
“The church cannot afford to be asleep. She’s got to stand up. She’s got to engage and believing Christians have got to understand this problem is coming to a bathroom near you. Your kids and grandkids and great-grandkids are going to be effected if we sleep on our watch this time around,” said Jackson.
Jackson believes Lynch is trying to spin this issue away from common sense.
“She’s simplistically thinking, ‘You’re a bigot if you don’t let me invade this particular space,'” said Jackson.
Jackson also wonders how often Lynch and the Obama administration think it’s appropriate for people dealing with gender identity issues to vacillate from one identity to the other.
“How fluid can your gender identity be and the rest of us challenged to comply with the changes or nuances of your behavior. We’ve got to have people being held accountable to some reasonable conformity,” said Jackson.
In the bigger picture, Jackson says this is less about the specific issue of transgenders than it is about people demanding approval from society for their choices.
“‘I want to do something and therefore it’s okay. Anything I want to do must be sanctioned by the rest of the culture,'” said Jackson, summing up what he sees as the arguments on the other side of the debate.
“It makes no sense. It will have terrible fruit in the generations to come and it’s a wrong path for us to go down,” said Jackson.
Despite that bleak assessment, Jackson believes ultimately conservatives will win this battle in the culture war.
“I actually think that common sense will win on this one,” said Jackson. “We need to fight them step by step by step, based on the fact that there are common sense boundaries and real practical danger.”
Ultimately, he says the fate of this and other debates may well come down to this year’s elections.
“I think we can beat this, especially if we get a conservative president,” said Jackson.
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are fully on board with the LGBT movement. Donald Trump has said he believes North Carolina made a mistake in passing the legislation and is fine with people using facilities based on their gender identity. Jackson nonetheless believes there is still more hope with Trump than with Clinton on the issue.
Jackson also believes that this and many other critical issues will be decided by the Supreme Court and that fact makes this election pivotal as well.
“The Supreme Court justices that are chosen in these next few years will determine whether the Loretta Lynches of the world have the last say or not,” said Jackson.
“Our votes count in this cycle. Our preaching counts in this cycle. Our home training counts in this cycle,” he said.
