Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

GENDER NEUTRAL DOLLS: MATTEL MUDDIES THE WATERS

By Todd E. Brady
Assistant Professor of Ministry and Vice President for University Ministries, Union University

In 1949, George Lemer invented the Mr. Potato Head doll — a plastic body of a spud that could be decorated with various interchangeable parts like ears, eyes, shoes, a hat, a nose, and a mouth. As a kid, I had a Mr. Potato Head. My kids have a Mr. Potato Head. It’s funny to design silly faces with different pieces. Lemer, who died in 1995 probably never imagined that people would be picking and choosing preferential parts and specially-designing their own human being dolls. If he were alive, he’d probably laugh that there are actually people who are serious about this.

With Mattel’s latest line of dolls called Creatable World, that seems to be exactly what is happening. Mattel once divided the doll world into Kens and Barbies, but now they are putting forth gender-neutral dolls for “boys, girls and children in between.” These dolls are “designed specifically to have a youthful gender neutral appearance.” [Read more…]

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WHEN A TOY IS NOT A TOY

Before it Hits the PressThe world is getting crazier by the day.

When I was a kid, toys were a luxury. You usually received them on Christmas and birthdays. Now, kids get toys year-round, mainly from grandparents who spoil their grandkids (and I confess that I am among that number). Shame on us.

But one toy my grandkids won’t be receiving is the new gender-fluid Creatable World doll from Mattel (see BP story). Barbie, Hot Wheels and countless other toys have worked well for Mattel for years. The long-time toy company certainly didn’t need to join the gender debate. [Read more…]

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ERLC: LAW DOES NOT INCLUDE GAY, TRANSGENDER RIGHTS

By Tom Strode
Baptist Press

WASHINGTON — Non-discrimination protections in federal workplace law do not cover “sexual orientation” or “gender identity,” the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and other faith-based organizations have told the U.S. Supreme Court.

The ERLC signed onto friend-of-the-court briefs filed Aug. 23 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that urge the high court to rule that the classification “sex” in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act does not include “sexual orientation” or “gender identity.” [Read more…]

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NEW HHS RULE ON GENDER TRANSITION DRAWS PRAISE

By Tom Strode
Baptist Press

WASHINGTON — Religious liberty and pro-life advocates have praised a newly proposed federal regulation to revise an Obama administration rule that required doctors to perform gender transition procedures as well as abortions.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a proposed regulation May 24 to rescind a 2016 rule that defined discrimination “on the basis of sex” to include gender identity and abortion. The redefinition of “sex” by the Obama-era HHS described gender identity as “an individual’s internal sense of gender, which may be male, female, neither or a combination of male and female, and which may be different from an individual’s sex assigned at birth.” [Read more…]

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FROM TRANSGENDER TO TRANSFORMED

Baptist Press

Francine, left, and Laura with a family photo album

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. — Francine Perry and her daughter Laura recently sat down to look at family photos. As they reflected on the good times, they also could see how God was at work, especially through the difficult times — and there were many of those.

On the heels of rebellious teenage years, Laura lived as a transgender man for nearly a decade of her adult life. Other than her family and select friends, though, most people just knew Laura as “Jake.” [Read more…]

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CHRISTIANS ARE LOSING THE CULTURAL WAR

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

If Christianity and culture were wrestlers, Christianity would be picking itself up off the mat. We (Christians) are being slammed by culture.

Nowhere is that more evident than views on the LGBTQ movement and same-sex marriage.

The biblical view of marriage as a union of one man and one woman is fading fast. [Read more…]

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N.C.’S REPEAL OF RESTROOM BILL CALLED ‘A LOSS’

By David Roach
Baptist Press

170331nc-state-houseRALEIGH, N.C. (BP) — North Carolina legislators have repealed a controversial law that required individuals in state buildings to use restrooms corresponding to the gender indicated on their birth certificates.

The repeal of House Bill 2 today (March 30) marked a compromise between Democrats and Republicans and culminated more than a year of contentious debate since the bill’s passage in April 2016.

North Carolina’s senate passed the repeal 32-16 following brief discussion. The house’s 70-48 vote to repeal HB 2 followed more than two hours of debate and came some 90 minutes after a noon deadline set by the NCAA for the Tar Heel State to overturn its restroom bill or lose the opportunity to host championship events in 2018-22. [Read more…]

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TENNESSEE LEGISLATORS KILL BATHROOM BILL

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

public restroom signs male female gender bathroom toiletNASHVILLE — Tennessee state legislators will not act upon the so-called “bathroom bill” for the second consecutive year.

The bathroom bill (SB771) would prohibit public schools from having policies that would allow students to use the bathroom or locker room of their choice based on what sex the student chooses to be. [Read more…]

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OBAMA-ERA TRANSGENDER BATHROOM ORDER RESCINDED

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

public restroom signs male female gender bathroom toiletWASHINGTON (BP) — The Trump administration has reversed an Obama-era directive that advised schools to open bathrooms and locker rooms to students based on their perceived sexual identity or risk losing federal funding.

The new ruling leaves bathroom use policies to the discretion of state governments and local school districts, but the issue is already set to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court is scheduled on March 28 to hear a case from the Gloucester County School Board in Virginia challenging a lower court ruling allowing transgender teen Gavin Grimm to use the boys’ bathroom at school. Grimm, a biological female, identifies as male. [Read more…]

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ARE WE REALLY SURPRISED?

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Before it Hits the PressThe Boy Scouts of America announced Jan. 30 that the organization would begin accepting transgender members. In other words, what’s on the birth certificate doesn’t matter anymore.

The BSA stated: “Starting today, we will accept and register youth in the Cub and Boy Scout programs based on the gender identity indicated on the application.”

While sad to hear, is anyone really surprised? [Read more…]

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