Congratulations, California -- your "progress" is an anti-model for the country. We'll get to the story mentioned in the headline below, but first, some context. Please bear in mind that this is a state that went out of its way to ban local governments from requiring that government-run educational institutions notify parents if their own minor children are undergoing gender transitions at school. This is a law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, and passed by the lopsidedly-Democratic state legislature. It came in response to some municipalities in the state implementing parental notification policies on this front, with the state swooping in to explicitly cut parents out of the equation.
It's madness, and as of a few months ago, it's reality in the state of California:
California became the first U.S. state to bar school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their child's gender identification change under a law signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The law bans school rules requiring teachers and other staff to disclose a student's gender identity or sexual orientation to any other person without the child's permission. Proponents of the legislation say it will help protect LGBTQ+ students who live in unwelcoming households. But opponents say it will hinder schools' ability to be more transparent with parents. The legislation comes amid a nationwide debate over local school districts and the rights of parents and LGBTQ+ students.
The bill passed following a "heated debate" in Sacramento. One Republican lawmaker blasted Democrats "for preventing a bill he introduced last year — that would have required parents to be told of their child's gender identification change — from receiving a hearing." Not only did they block that legislation from receiving a hearing, they instead enacted a law barring schools from such transparency requirements, undoing local versions of the policy they oppose. Such is the state of play on gender politics in California, where "anti-discrimination" laws are also weaponized in unfathomably stupid, unfair and destructive ways. Like this:
Lima, a family-run restaurant in the East Bay, is reportedly shutting down after nine years because it held a "Ladies Night" promotion and had to settle a discrimination lawsuit. The business says it is closing its doors for good on Dec. 31. https://t.co/bYBOZSz0FK pic.twitter.com/DNevCpYMv0
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) December 26, 2024
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A popular restaurant in California’s Bay Area is shutting its doors after settling a costly discrimination lawsuit — over its ‘Ladies Night’ promotion. Lima Restaurant — a family-run Peruvian eatery in Concord, Calif., about 20 miles outside of Oakland — told patrons it will serve its final meal on New Year’s Eve because of the gender discrimination lawsuit. Chef/owner John Marquez said the lawsuit, filed last year, has cost his restaurant tens of thousands of dollars — putting a major dent in the business’ cash flow...The restaurant, which has been open for nearly a decade, held a once-a-week “Ladies Night” promotion — offering drinks and wine at half price for three hours to its female patrons — for the past several years. Marquez said he believes that the people behind the lawsuit aren’t local residents, but “ambulance-chasing lawyers” looking to cash in the state’s law.
Earlier this year, the Fresno Grizzlies, a minor league baseball team which serves as the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, was hit with a similar discrimination lawsuit after they allowed free admission for women as part of a “ladies night” promotion last year. The Grizzlies were sued for $5 million, according to The Fresno Bee. The plaintiffs in the Fresno Grizzlies case are represented by a San Diego-based lawyer who reached an agreement on a $500,000 settlement from the Oakland Athletics in 2016 after he filed a class-action lawsuit against the baseball team over a Mother’s Day giveaway of free plaid reversible bucket hats. The attorney, Alfred Rava, claimed in the lawsuit that he was the victim of sex discrimination by the A’s because he did not receive a free plaid reversible bucket hat during a promotion at an A’s game on May 8, 2004...California isn’t the only state where the courts have ruled that “ladies night” promotions could constitute illegal discrimination.
This is what you get when trial lawyers (along with government unions) dominate the political process and funnel mountains of cash to the one-party-rule powerbrokers. Other states -- mostly blue states -- have witnessed similar excesses, which subordinate common sense and justice to the letter of the law. There are actual examples of illegal discrimination that are worthy of pursuing with enforcement. And then there's frivolous nonsense like this. It's especially galling to see law-abiding a small business owner like this severely punished for running a harmless, innocent promotion (California was notoriously officious in cracking down on businesses during COVID, too) in a state where laws against actual crimes so often go unenforced. I'm sure this family, whose business was ruined by this madness, would be welcome many other places. Texas, Florida, and others come to mind. But such is the state of "progress" in leftist-dominated places. I'll leave you with this story, from another left-wing government on the West Coast:
NEW: Washington Democrats accidentally leaked their massive tax plan.
— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) January 2, 2025
Will voters stand by as Democrats push forward with their unpopular and, in some cases, unconstitutional tax schemes? Or will they finally push back? https://t.co/lRPXNaya27
Progressive State Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, accidentally emailed a PowerPoint and talking points memo on future tax plans to all senators instead of just her Democrat colleagues. Will Washington voters stand by as Democrats push forward with their unpopular and, in some cases, unconstitutional tax schemes? The leak went largely ignored by the media, despite the outlined plans being both radical and a direct contradiction to promises Democrats made during the election. These proposals come at a time when the state has seen years of record revenue, underscoring that Democrats in Olympia have a spending problem, not a revenue problem...According to the leaked Democrat tax memos, lawmakers are essentially told to deceptively pitch their plans to voters. “We have to identify the villain and the problem blocking our progress and how we can take action to solve the issue,” Frame wrote. The villain? Wealthy Washingtonians who are Democrats claim are not paying “what they truly owe in taxes.” Washington Democrats plan to turn this into a fight between “the wealthy” and everyone else “by making the wealthy few pay what they owe.”
Endless spending, increasingly rapacious tax increases, mindless demonization of wealth and success, Orwellian doublespeak to justify broken promises, and a supine news media? Sounds like business as usual under one-party Democratic governance.
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