Round 1

It's disappointing, but not surprising that the 27% of Gainesville voters who went to the polls Tuesday defeated Amendment One and upheld the Gender Identity ordinance. Gainesville has already cemented its position as the most liberal city in Florida. The Yes 2 Marriage Amendment last fall would have failed if the rest of the state voted like Gainesville did. This election was swayed by an influx of money from gay advocacy groups around the country, and a surge of political interest from UF students - mobilized by the LGBT student union - who turned out in bus loads during early voting.

The fact that 27% is considered a good turnout for a city election is a shame in itself. I still believe that if a majority of the registered voters in Gainesville had voted, the outcome would have been different. The anti-One side succeeded in convincing some people that gay, lesbian and transgender individuals would be subject to Jim Crow-like discrimination if the amendment was passed - without any evidence that such discrimination existed before the ordinance was enacted! 

Once again I must emphasize that we did not oppose the Gender Identity ordinance out of hatred for homosexuals or transgendered people. Our concern is that a poorly drawn law designed to protect a small group that has virtually no demonstrated history of being discriminated against, has literally opened the door to allow sexual predators into our public restrooms - and that has been demonstrated. 

Most local political observers think it is only a matter of time until Alachua county commissioners decide they want to be seen as "progressive" and pass a similar law. Then it will be time for county residents to decide where they stand. Round 1 of this culture clash is over, but Round 2 may not be far away.

My hope is that we will be able to look back and say this was the beginning of a movement by God's people to work together to bring back a society based on eternal truth and not the "cause of the month". My prayer is that it doesn't take a tragedy to wake us up.

I'll close with a little personal vignette:  last week, while driving my kids to school, we heard one of the frequently-repeated radio ads for the anti-One side. One of my boys asked me why I was against the Gender Identity ordinance. While I was trying to think of a scholarly and scripturally accurate answer, my 10 year old daughter said ..."because if God says its wrong, we can't say it's right".     That sums up a Christian worldview better than any book I've read to date.

Finally, I'll end with this verse, which popped into my head while reading the results of the election Wednesday morning.

"There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death."  Prov. 14:12