PhoboQuotable - Peter Sprigg

"A person who believes they are, or wishes to be, the opposite sex from that which is written in the chromosomes of every cell of his or her body, is suffering from a disconnection with an immutable biological reality. The solution to this problem is not actions - up to and including self-mutilating surgery amputating healthy body parts - which will reinforce this disconnect with reality. I must oppose this bill because it will not work. This bill would force the state and private actors - employers, landlords, and others who provide public services - to officially and legally affirm the very delusion that puts these suffering individuals at odds with reality. Not only will it not make their lives better, but it will prevent them from getting the very help they do need to make their lives better." - Family Research Council vice president Peter Sprigg, testifying today before the Maryland Senate Judiciary Committee, which is considering a bill to ban gender identity discrimination.

RELATED: Sixteen states and numerous cities and counties presently outlaw gender identity discrimination. (Shamefully, New York state does not, although GENDA is once again under consideration.) In the map below, those 16 states are the darkest-shaded. States where only local protections are provided are shaded lighter. Maryland is shaded as it is because a large portion of residents are covered under Baltimore's 2002 ordinance.