October 3, 2023

Dear Friends,

Join me TONIGHT, Tuesday, October 3^rd at 6:30 pm for Family Research Council's Community Impact Training, an in-person and live streamed event from right here in Baton Rouge. This training is meant to equip churches to be the salt and light in our communities when responding to moral and cultural issues. Tony Perkins, Ken Blackwell, Gina Gleason, and I will be there, and we can’t wait to see you!

LEARN MORE & RSVP HERE

A federal judge's plan to redraw Congressional boundaries to create a second majority-Black district in Louisiana was thwarted by a US Appeals court panel. 

Advocates for establishing a second Black-majority district anticipated a Supreme Court ruling supporting a redraw in an Alabama case would lead to a similar outcome in Louisiana. However, a three judge panel at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, based in Baton Rouge, needed to allow the state time to deliberate on a new map.

In the majority opinion, Judge Edith Jones said that “there is no warrant for the court’s rushed remedial hearing by the first week of October 2023, months in advance of deadlines for districting, candidate filing, and all the minutiae of the 2024 elections.”

The maps included one majority-Black district and passed over the opposition of Governor Edwards who argued that a second majority-Black majority was necessary.

The St. Tammany Parish Library Board, which accounted for 16% of the 1,200 book challenges across the nation in 2022, has so far made decisions that 19 out of the 100+ books that were contested are inappropriate. At that rate, the library director anticipates that it will take three years to complete this process.

Last week, the St. Tammany Parish Library Board of Control decided to keep two more books that had been challenged. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah Maas, an adult romance novel featuring some sexual themes, will remain in its current section - inaccessible to minors without parental consent. The Deep & Dark Blue, a young adult graphic novel by Niki Smith, unfortunately will remain accessible to children.

Some parents argue that is not adequate oversight or control. Connie Phillips, who submitted the complaint against both books and is responsible for the vast majority of challenges in the parish, wants the books to be moved to a restricted section in the library. Advocates of this plan want to move romance novels and books with LGBTQ+ themes into an area minors would be unable to access.

Children deserve to have their innocence protected, and the more power we can give to parents, the better.

Last week, the 6^th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the legality of Kentucky and Tennessee laws to protect minors from “gender-altering” medical procedures.

Tennessee implemented the Prohibition on Medical Procedures Performed on Minors Related to Sexual Identity Act on March 2, 2023. Kentucky passed a bill on March 29, 2023.

Both Tennessee's and Kentucky’s laws are nearly identical to Louisiana’s "Stop Harming Our Kids Act,” which was passed after lawmakers voted to override Governor Edwards’ veto. 

Shortly after the bills were enacted, several minors filed suit against both states, claiming the acts violated their constitutional rights of due process and equal protection. A federal district judge then issued a preliminary injunction, halting the implementation of the laws.

Now, that injunction is lifted and the federal court has held the states’ constitutional right to protect minors against these so-called medical procedures. Children deserve help, not harm.  

Friends, speaking of Louisiana’s Stop Harming Children Act, LFF bestowed its highest honor, The Gladiator Award, to Representative Gabe Firment at our Silver Anniversary Awards Gala.

The Gladiator Award is given to an individual or organization who goes above and beyond the call of duty to preserve the freedoms upon which this nation was founded. We bestow a sword to those who valiantly fight for life, liberty, and limited government.

Rep. Firment’s perseverance with HB648 — the Stop Harming Children Act — led to a historic override of the governor’s veto and allowed Louisiana to protect minors from medical experimentation in the form of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and irreversible surgeries.

Well done, Gabe!

In His Service,

Gene Mills
President, Louisiana Family Forum

P.S. Don’t forget to use our Voter Guide which is now live! This will give you a sneak peek at your October 14th ballot and provide you with the information needed to cast a vote that is grounded in God and rooted in research.