Religious Liberty On Trial

by Debbie Lawrence

  The Judge pounded her gavel "Chambers Now!"

  Ground Rules

  Once in the Judge's chambers, the Judge was livid.

  "What kind of circus are you running here, it looks like a KKK rally, and as a black woman, I can tell you now, I do not like to see this kind of hate speech directed at anyone!"

  Defense countered "Your honor, we intend to prove that Theodore's behavior at the time was incendiary and offended the morality of the defendants to such a degree that they felt compelled to act out of their religious duty!"

  The prosecutor leaned forward "Your honor, we have proven that the act was committed, that it was planned, that it was organized, and that it was done with criminal intent. Religious Liberty can't be used as an argument to grant carte Blanche immunity for any religious fanatic who goes on a killing spree. We'd have members of the KKK blowing up black churches based on their Religious Liberty."

  The Defense attorney stood up "We can prove that the reactions and the violent attacks were not only justified but were reflected in the actions of others involved in the case. We have revised our witness list. Here are our additional defense witnesses."

  The judge looked at the list, then handed it to the prosecution.

  The prosecutor huffed "Pastor Grey of Calvary Baptist church, Pastor Blair of Calvary Temple, Jim Dobson of Focus on the Family, and Pat Robertson of CBN? The defendants attended ALL of these churches and were directly influenced by these ministers?"

  The defense nodded "We can prove that the Senator not only attended events for these organizations, but that he knew them personally, and that he helped raise funds for these organizations as well. Furthermore, we will have these religious leaders describe some of the teachings which motivated Thomas and Elizabeth to defend their religious liberties and to save their immortal souls by not allowing an abomination like Theodore to corrupt good God-fearing Christians."

  The prosecutor folded his arms "Your honor, I would first like to ask that the defense desist from using inflammatory language and use ONLY Miss Clark's current legal name. It's obvious that he intends to try and smear Miss Clark by painting her as a pervert and religious heretic merely based on her masculine status at birth and her gender identity disorder."

  The Judge nodded "This is beginning to look more and more like a witch hunt, and more and more like an attempt to smear the victim. You are on very shaky ground here counselor."

  Defense countered "If you refuse to allow us this defense, you know that I will appeal on the basis that my client's first amendment rights were violated."

  The Judge nodded "No doubt you would try to push this case all the way to the Supreme Court, and get your clients off on appeal. So, I'm going to allow this little circus, but I have a few conditions."

  She leaned forward in her chair "I will sequester the Jury; they are not to be exposed to these mob scenes and they are not to be allowed contact with anyone and no media contact. Any further demonstrations and I will hold you personally in contempt of court. Understood?"

  Defense nodded.

  She turned to the prosecutor "I realize that you will need additional time to prepare your case, interview witnesses, and that you must call additional rebuttal witnesses. You have one additional week to prepare."

  She turned back to Defense "I see you plan to call Miss Clark to the stand as a defense witness. At no time are you to refer to her by any pronoun other than she or her, and at no time are you to even mention her previous name! Furthermore, she will NOT be treated as a hostile witness. She has been honest and respectful to both prosecution and defense, and deserves to be treated as the victim of a crime, not a defendant on trial for her life."

  Defense nodded. "Yes your honor."

  She raised her finger "One more thing. At no time are you to make any statements regarding interpretation of the law, and especially the First Amendment. I will be the ONLY one giving direction on how to interpret the constitution."

  Defense started to object but the Judge gave him a stern look.

  "Yes your honor, we understand."

  The judge smiled at the prosecutor. Both realized that the Defense was hoping this motion and strategy would be rejected so they could win on appeal, but now, Defense was going to have to convince a sequestered Jury to acquit based on a religious liberty argument that was shaky at best. Furthermore, if he lost, there would be no basis for appeal."

  The defense attorney went into a local payphone booth and closed the door. He dialed "Senator, we have a problem."

  Tina Assists

  The prosecutor had his team interview all the witnesses, including the celebrity preachers. He also had to meet with Tina and Alice.

  "Tina, I need tell you that the defense wants to try and claim that the defendants were exercising Religious Liberty. They are going to try to paint you as the devil incarnate, and an abomination, that had to be killed or at least punished."

  Tina laughed aloud "OK, I'll give you the name of my minister, and the names of some adults who have known me for years. I'm surprised he's going that route. Did you know that I was ordained as a deacon, an elder, and taught adult Sunday School? I wonder if they knew that?"

  The prosecutor started to laugh loudly and slapped his knee. "This is going to be fun. You see, they will be admitting that they attempted to kill you, based on THEIR Religious beliefs, but they don't realize that you have some strong religious beliefs that are consistent with their own."

  Tina nodded "I suspect that they will try to focus on their own religious teaching. We might have a few surprises. Will I be treated as a hostile witness?"

  The prosecutor shook her head "No, in fact the Judge forbid the defense from doing so. Of course, you must be respectful and polite, and answer truthfully and directly. He will try to get you to refuse to answer or lie. If you do, he will go after you like I would go after the defendant."

  Tina nodded "I understand. I can also help you with some approaches to help during your cross. They are trying to base their justification on only a few verses of the Bible, but if you ask the right questions, you can show that their selective enforcement of these few verses has been distorted to incite violence. They can preach that their own members should not do something, but when they tell their members to violently attack or even kill people who are not members of their conversation, what does that amount to?"

  "Inciting a riot, mob rule, like yelling fire in a crowded theater. They could even be charged as co-conspirators."

  "See how many people who are members of their churches have been actively engaging in violence against Gays and Sissies. See if you can get them to admit that they were doing it based on their religious teachings. I have some history and experience; I can give you names of some of my bullies in elementary school and middle school."

  "Oh, that's good. They plan to call the pastors of several churches."

  Tina smiled "I hope one of them is Calvary Baptist and another is Calvary Temple. There were lots of members who liked to bully. Some of the attacks were pretty brutal."

  The prosecutor almost burst!

  "I'll give you the names of about 30 people who actively engaged in violence against me and others. They even used the Bible language. I used to attend their youth group functions."

  The prosecutor spoke with glee "Oh my God, I think you might be able to completely blow up their case."

  "I'll also give you the names of my pastor and members of the session as well as members of the congregation. I can also give you the names of youth groups of other churches that I attended as a visiting deacon, learning how improve our youth program."

  The prosecutor smiled "The defense has no idea what kind of shit-storm they have just kicked up. They just kicked a hornet's nest and they have no idea what they just did."

  Tina smiled "By the way, shortly before the attack, I started medications that chemically castrated me. So, I was a Eunuch. Many of the biblical passages they want to use, don't apply."

  Tina smiled "I'l
l sign a release to have my medical records from Children's hospital released as well. You will find interesting things there too.'

  The prosecutor nodded "Could you also sign a statement stating that those medical records contain evidence that can be used in this case?"

  Tina smiled "Of course, do you have the forms?"

  The prosecutor picked up the phone "Could you bring Tina's forms in please?" He turned to Tina "I was hoping you would sign the releases, but I didn't expect you to volunteer them."

  Tina smiled "Don't forget to talk to my parents. They have a little surprise that could be a shocker."

  The prosecutor nodded "You do realize that I have to give the defense all of the evidence, including witness lists, medical records, and the defense will be interviewing these witnesses as well?"

  Tina smiled "Yes, but will he know which questions to ask?"

  The prosecutor smiled "I don't know how to thank you."

  Tina smiled "Use the testimony of these hate preachers to hold them accountable. Let's see if we can make sure this never happens to other people like me, or people who are gay."

  The prosecutor smiled "I think that's going to happen anyway."

  Tina nodded "Then all of this witch trial will be worth it."

  The prosecutor smiled "It's going to get ugly and rough."

  Tina nodded "I'm taking on some big religious leaders and exposing their criminal activities. I'll be lucky if I live through the trial, but maybe we can make sure that they don't preach hate and violence and murder to their congregations anymore."

  Alice Assists

  The prosecutor met with Alice next.

  "Alice, I just want you to know, the defense wants to paint Tina, and possibly you as a couple of perverts and heretics who were justifiably punished for their unnatural acts. Are you ready for this?"

  Alice nodded "Great. This should be an interesting round on the witness stand."

  The prosecutor was surprised "You seem very confident!"

  Alice smiled "I've just spent the last three months learning everything I could about Tina's condition. I love her, but I also found that there was a great deal of very difficult to find information that provides medical information about transsexuality, historical treatment, and most modern theories and treatments. Did you know that transsexuals predate the Bible?"

  The prosecutor smiled "No, what can you tell me? What would be most helpful to Tina?"

  "First, transsexuals have been around for over 10,000 years. About the time we domesticated animals by castrating the excess males, there have been boys who wanted to be girls. They would be castrated before puberty, and then fed female hormones."

  The prosecutor was puzzled "How did they do that? They didn't have birth control pills back then."

  Alice smiled "Some of it was pretty gross. Drinking the urine of pregnant animals, eating placenta, and even drinking menstrual blood of animals and people."

  The prosecutor winced "Sounds pretty disgusting. We may not want to mention the blood, unless you're specifically asked."

  Alice smiled "OK. Anyway, these eunuchs were considered magical, prophetic, mystical. They were prophets, oracles, and advisors to kings. They were also concubines. David had over 100 concubines and Solomon had over 300 concubines. Monogamy wasn't formally established until well into Jesus' life. Octavian aka Augustus Caesar introduced the concept, primarily to solidify his own position and his succession, and mainly only for Roman Citizens"

  The prosecutor was confused "What does that have to do with this case?"

  Alice smiled and winked "Get the pastors to either accept and admit the exploitation, forced marriages, and abuse of women, including pedophilia, or they will try to deny it and say that those laws are no longer relevant, at which point their position on transsexuals and homosexuals begin to lose merit. Their hate speech is based on cherry-picking of key verses that allow exploitation based on their opinions, rather than a legitimate Religious belief."

  The prosecutor was dumbfounded "Brilliant, however I may have trouble passing you off as an expert in transsexuality. After all, you are still an undergraduate student."

  Alice smiled "That's why you should have Nancy testify, she has a PhD and has been reviewing the same material I have, plus she's been Tina's therapist and she's head of the women's studies department at the college."

  The prosecutor realized that he could now get Nancy to testify about Tina's medical condition because she had signed the release and probable cause for subpoenas. He had Alice sign a similar probable cause statement to help Nancy release her records.

  Alice smiled "One more thing. Betsy knew several signals to make me think that the was also a lesbian. She may have her own history as a lesbian. I heard she's been in prison, maybe you could have her former honey come and say a few words?"

  The prosecutor nodded. At least he could get a name.

  Alice continued "Another possible witness, perhaps via telephone, would be Dr. Harry Benjamin. He has done a lot of research on the medical aspects and has formulated standards for helping people like Tina. I have some of his writings and papers. I should probably give you my research, but it might be overwhelming."

  The prosecutor hesitated "Everything we get has to go to the defense attorney as well. Keep it in your back pocket. We won't include the whole file, just the papers of Dr. Benjamin's that you consider most relevant."

  Nancy Assists

  The prosecutor took Alice's advice and contacted Nancy. He met her at her office and showed her the release forms and the warrants.

  "Thank you for bringing these. I'm glad to help, but it's always a challenge when my hands are tied by doctor patient confidentiality laws. The warrants and release mean we can talk freely. I have talked with Tina quite a bit about this case already, and about the assault. In the last 3 months, she's been amazing. She has clear signs of stress, even shock, yet she is as vital and enthusiastic as ever."

  The prosecutor smiled "You were the one who suggested that she start living as a girl?"

  Nancy nodded "Yes, I have been working very closely with doctor Benjamin. I have had prior experience with transsexuals including my work at a psychiatric hospital. For years, we would try to treat them with shock, aversion therapy, and massive drugs, but invariably the outcome was either suicide or lobotomy."

  Nancy shook her head "When Alice showed me Dr. Benjamin's papers on transsexuals and his treatment protocol, I realized that there might be hope for Tina. After meeting Ted, then later Tina, it was clear that Tina was the real person, that Ted was a role, a theatrical character that Tina used to hide her true identity."

  The prosecutor smiled "So Tina isn't just a guy who wants to act like a girl, he's just a guy who wants to be a girl."

  Nancy shook her head "No, Tina IS a girl. Even before I saw her dressed in girl clothes, I went and observed her in the cafeteria, everything about her was female, but there was enough deception to keep the boys confused. Her gestures, mannerisms, and behaviors, as well as her interactions with the other girls, were all naturally feminine. Tina is a GIRL with a very small penis, who tried to pretend to be a boy so she wouldn't be attacked. The irony is that today, if she had been born with a penis that short, they would have turned her into a girl."

  The prosecutor was intrigued "Were you able to measure this?"

  Nancy nodded "Yes, I have Tina 5 different personality tests, all of which showed her to be 95% female. To make matters worse, she had been rejected by her family and therapists. They refused to even speak to her about this, because they were afraid she would end up tortured and probably a vegetable. They were probably right. There would have been no way for Tina to accept being a boy, so she would have been a high suicide risk, and would probably have been lobotomized, a ward of the state for the rest of her very long life."

  The prosecutor was excited "Would you be willing to testify to that effect in court?"

  Nancy nodded "Yes, I would be happy to testify, especially since Tina has asked
me to do so."

  Disclosure and Panic

  The prosecutor turned over the witness list and the documentation over to the defense attorney.

  Defense was concerned. He saw the papers by doctor Benjamin, the list of people from various churches, and Alice's thesis. He realized that he was in trouble. He had put Religious Liberty on trial, and there was a very good chance that he would not only lose the case for his defendants, but he would also be losing the case for Religious Liberty. He had taken the case, because, in addition to his usual legal fees, the Senator had offered to help him run for Congress. This case may not only cost him his political career, but possibly even his legal career.

  He hastily made some phone calls, checked out the witnesses, and the whole situation had completely backfired.

  Even worse, there were pictures of Tina growing up, including pictures taken at the hospital from previous beatings. He'd opened the case so there was no way to suppress the evidence he was confronted with now.

  He dialed the phone "Senator, we have a problem."

  Mob Rule

  For the rest of the week, the airwaves of Denver were saturated with religious fanatical calls for the persecution of gays, lesbians, and transsexuals. They were careful not to mention Tina specifically. Conservative radio talk shows were advocating mass round-ups and mass arrests of gays and drag queens.

  Violent attacks by strangers wearing masks, ski masks or hoodies and scarves over their faces were breaking out all over Cheeseman Park, a popular hangout for the gay community. There were attacks on patrons as they left gay bars, and one drag queen was murdered, killed by a blast from a sawed-off shotgun.

  The District Attorney was getting worried. There were more crimes of violence against gays and drag queens than there had been in years, and yet it appeared there were no evidence trails. It was like these attacks were being carried out by professional gangsters, by organized crime. These weren't just mischievous teenagers; these were seasoned criminals who knew how to hide their tracks and not get caught.