Sen. Sampson Corrects Recent Hearst Media Portrayal of Introduced Legislation

March 22, 2023

Sen. Sampson Corrects Recent Hearst Media Portrayal of Introduced Legislation - CT Senate Republic

State Sen. Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott) today issued a statement to correct a recent CT Insider/Hearst Media story implying that several of his proposed bills unjustly target the LGBTQ+ community. The story, published as a news item, utilizes a claim from local advocates as its premise with the headline: ‘CT bills part of a ‘nationwide coordinated attack’ on LGBTQ youth, advocates say’.

 

It goes on to cite Senator Sampson’s proposed legislation in question, and excerpts of his prepared statement issued in response to the author’s request for comment.

 

Senator Sampson’s complete, original response to CT Insider/Hearst Media from March 6, 2023:

 

“Each of these items is a question of freedom of expression and the only proper solution in each case is to protect maximum freedom for all individuals, limiting it only when it conflicts with another individual’s freedom. I have tried to use this principle when crafting legislation to address some of the stickier issues of today.

 

S.B. 467: An Act Concerning Gender-Specific Facilities and Activities in Private Business

The legislation acknowledges that some individuals identify with different genders. That much is understood. This bill is to restore the right of an individual business to determine their policies regarding gender-specific access to facilities and activities in their establishments. This is vital for protecting the rights of business owners and customers alike. Private businesses should have the freedom to set their own policies and regulations, and customers should be able to choose whether or not to patronize these businesses based on their own personal beliefs and preferences. This principle goes both ways. I believe that private entities, regardless of the business’s philosophy, have the right to operate as they see fit under the law.

 

S.B. 544: An Act Concerning the Use of a Nonbinary Marker on Birth Certificates

This legislation is intended only to reverse a law passed several years ago that would allow individuals to change their indicated sex on their birth certificate later in life. In my opinion, that policy was offered and passed only to cater to political interests, and not because it was good or sensible policy.

 

Individuals should certainly have a right to identify themselves as they like. As in the first instance, the rub comes when you demand other free citizens with their own opinions to have to acknowledge those terms. If we are completely objective, as we should be, in the crafting of laws that govern our whole society, then we must acknowledge that science and chromosomes are the ultimate determinant of what sex an individual is. That objective identification is necessary for practical purpose on identifying government documents.

 

S.B. 468: An Act Concerning Civil Immunity for Interscholastic Athletic Organizations and the Sanctioning Bodies of Private Youth Organizations

 

This measure reflects the right of these organizations to adopt their own policies and establish their own rules for athletic competitions. Sanctioning bodies should be able to establish parameters based on biological sex or they may choose to recognize how people identify. That is their choice. After all, it is their organization. They should have the power to govern themselves and determine their own rules. This proposal would simply protect them from civil liability for exercising their own freedom to make their own policies.”

 

In response to the related CT Insider/Hearst Media story from March 13, Senator Sampson added, “These measures are commonsense solutions to ensure that all individuals maintain the ability to live their lives freely, as intended. To indirectly categorize them as an ‘attack’ on members of a specific community is disingenuous at best. Reasonable Connecticut residents understand that each measure speaks to the question of individual freedom and how it can be preserved.”