Two transgender voices against "affirmative only" care for children were excluded while an "equity" activist was aided by the committee.
Contact your legislators today and ask them to oppose SJ4
Irony abounds as “transgender awareness day” approaches this week at the Connecticut State Capitol but two transgender activists were unable to testify against SJ4 and felt discriminated against by the GAE Committee during a ZOOM public hearing on March 18.
They were unable to access the Zoom meeting, denied reasonable time to unmute or rejoin, and were then denied the curtesy of being sent another Zoom link by Committee staff. Meanwhile the only “equity” activist was mysteriously bumped from #40 to #93, right behind Sage Steele – a Connecticut resident and sports broadcaster who testified against SJ4.
Equality Connecticut Suspiciously Moved While Others Were Left Out
Sage is a dynamic black woman and former-ESPN sportscaster who testified in favor of women’s sports and against SJ4. Matt Blinstrubas, Executive Director of Equality Connecticut, originally scheduled to speak at spot #40, popped up instead at spot #93, right after Sage (and before the Catholic Archdiocese). After a warm welcome from the Committee co-chair, there was lament over the “hurtful things” that were heard from people testifying before him. You can hear Sage’s supposedly “hurtful” testimony and more at our website dedicated to SJ4: https://nosj4ct.org.
Much earlier in the day another co-chair was unable to rattle Connecticut mom and ICONS spokesperson, Kim Jones. You can watch Kim patiently explain how SJ4 would take away the the right for women to exist in women-only spheres to co-chair Blumenthal. Kim’s daughter lost out to a male competitor in her female school sports program. Watch this mama bear in action below.
Testifying on behalf of the Family Institute of Connecticut was Christina Bennet and her son. Christina was also a panelist on Wednesday about the crisis of abortion in the Black and Puerto Rican communities.
Two transgender activists against SJ4 were unable to testify.
Spokesperson for LGB United and Connecticut resident, Christine Rebstock also attempted to testify against SJ4. Scheduled for position #79, Christine missed the initial opportunity, but as is custom for public hearings and per GAE instruction to FIC staff, Rebstock waited patiently until the end of the hearing to testify. At the end of the hearing, instead of raising Christine as a panelist, Rebstock was ignored and ejected from the platform and unable to sign back in.
Discrimination was also felt by Scott Newgent, the fiery spokesperson for Transgretters.com. Scheduled to speak at #72, Scott was hastily bypassed for not unmuting the microphone quickly enough. Throughout the hearing, other speakers were given ample time to unmute their microphones. Scott was given no such grace period. When the Committee staff was asked for assistance, Scott was refused another zoom link (easily done by Committee staff) and denied immediate re-admittance to the speakers list. FIC staff was informed that Scott would have to wait till the end of the day and would not be sent another zoom link. With family responsibilities and having already waited 6 hours to speak at the lengthy hearing, Scott was unable to testify that day. Why was Scott denied, yet Blinstrubas apparently moved or given another opportunity within the hearing to testify? You can watch Scott’s other Youtube testimony below.
Each one of the dozens of organizations and individuals who testified that day against SJ4 would have done or did an absolutely terrific job against great odds and obsticles. Please visit and consider supporting https://www.transregretters.com, https://www.iconswomen.com, and https://www.fairforall.org to show our appreciation for their efforts to educate legislators and the public.
