Q Toon: Upon Further Reflection

The North Dakota Republican Party overwhelmingly adopted a strongly anti-LGBTQ plank in their party platform this year.

Then the Fargo Forum reported on it last week; and ever since, North Dakota Republicans have claimed to have no idea how that thing ever got in there. Governor Doug Burgum, Senators Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven, Rep. Kelly Armstrong, Party Executive Director Corby Kemmer, Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, and House Majority Leader Chet Pollert, all Republicans, have all issued statements disavowing "Resolution 31."

We're not talking about a single sentence hidden in boilerplate about tax cuts for industrial rapeseed farmland. No, five "whereas" paragraphs call us sexual predators who pose a danger to children and the health of the community.

Chairman Rick Berg said in a statement Tuesday, July 28, the party's Executive Committee voted to disavow "harmful and divisive language" in a recently passed resolution that advocates against laws that ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, often referred to as "SOGI."
That resolution contains the following statements:
"SOGI bills grant protection to voyeurs who wish to prey on members of the opposite sex."
"Research has shown that causes of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) compulsions are primarily developmental and not genetic as in color and gender."
"SOGI laws empower those practicing LGBT behaviors to assume positions of mentorships of minors often over objections of parents, influencing their emotions and thereby recruiting for their lifestyles."
"Many LGBT practices are unhealthy and dangerous, sometimes endangering or shortening life and sometimes infecting society at large."
The final line of the resolution says the party "opposes the passage of legislation which adds sexual orientation and gender identity to our Century code as protected classes."

North Dakota Republicans had cancelled their in-person convention this spring because of the coronavirus, holding a virtual convention instead. Party members approved the platform by a vote of 621 to 139. According to Mr. Berg, participating party members had no choice but to approve or reject the entire party platform via mail-in ballots.

I guess they can follow their President's lead and blame it all on the Post Office.