Among other rights and protections, the First Amendment protects free speech. The Fourteenth Amendment, passed shortly after the Civil War, contains an “Equal Protection Clause.” It ensures that all Americans are subject to the same laws. The interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment has changed over the years to become more broad and thus more inclusive.

Today, many conservatives feel they do not have the same First Amendment rights as politically correct liberals.

For years, conservatives thought social media sites were censoring their messages. It took Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter to prove it was true.

READ MORE — Andy Bloom: Things Democrats say and Fourteenth Amendment dreams

June is Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. May was Asia Pacific American Heritage Month. Other months celebrate Women’s History, Black History, Irish American History, Arab American Heritage, Jewish American Heritage, Caribbean American Heritage, Hispanic Heritage, Filipino American History, Polish American Heritage, American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage, and Disability Employment Awareness.

The only groups we don’t celebrate are white men and American History. If any Member of Congress had the chutzpah to propose either, they would be denounced as a white supremacist or nationalist within a matter of minutes. I grew up believing that loving America was good. Now, it makes you a nationalist, which is a dog whistle (to borrow a liberal term) for Nazi.

A Massachusetts student was sent home from school for refusing to remove a t-shirt that read: “There are only two genders.” The school’s staff told him that other students complained the shirt made them feel “unsafe.”

Although there were no disruptions during class, he was told his shirt targeted a “protected class.”

When the boy, twelve-year-old Liam Morrison, refused to change his shirt, school administrators called his father to pick him up.

In a hearing before the school board, Morrison said, “I don’t complain when I see pride flags and diversity posters hung throughout the school. Do you know why? Because others have a right to their beliefs just as I do.” He asked the right question: “Are their feelings more important than my rights?” 

The school board was unmoved. 

Morrison then showed up to school with a t-shirt that read, “There are censored genders.” That wasn’t allowed either.

The family took them to court with legal help from the Alliance Defending Freedom, a non-profit legal group. They believed Morrison’s First Amendment rights were violated.

In a preliminary hearing, a federal judge ruled that Morrison could not wear the shirt pending the case’s outcome. The court will hear the case after the end of the school year. For the remainder of this year, Morrison has less First Amendment rights than others.

Whether the school board wants to admit it or not, the seventh grader is smarter than they are. When a patient sees a doctor (MD) for treatment, the doctor needs to know if they are male or female. They don’t care about pronouns. Physiological differences exist between those with and without a Y chromosome (regardless of other preferences). A doctor with a good “bedside manner” will call you a cat if you like, but they will treat you as male or female.

Liam Morrison’s First Amendment rights will have to wait for the eighth grade — maybe. 

You could care less about my rights as you push for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, which means everybody’s rights are not equal.

In Tennessee, the state legislature passed, and the governor signed, a bill banning drag shows in public spaces — which NPR recently reported “will likely force drag shows underground.”

Activists challenged the law in court. A federal judge knocked it down, finding it “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.” U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker, appointed by former President Trump, was concerned as written, the law could lead to “discriminatory enforcement.”

The law is designed to prevent children from attending Drag Queen Storytime at libraries, not to prevent trans people from campy shows or adults from whatever entertains them and makes them happy.

Legislators need to write a more narrowly defined bill.

Drag Queens weren’t an issue when they were in bars, cabarets, private parties, or even showing up for Pride parades. Something changed, and I believe it was purposely to get this reaction and normalize what is happening now. 

Why does anybody think it’s okay to take children to sexually provocative shows? Is Stripper Queen Story Hour okay too? Will the LGTBQ+ community push for that next, or doesn’t it matter? Why does the LGBTQ+ community think it is different having children shoving dollar bills into the bustiers of men dressed as strippers? 

If Mrs. Doubtfire had shown up to read to children at Drag Queen Story Hour, and there were complaints, I would believe it was a trans-issue. When an extra from the movie “Showgirls” showed up, it was obviously an orchestrated provocation using children as pawns. The LGBTQ+ community should at least be honest about their intentions.

Somehow race and cultural appropriation are bad, but gender appropriation is good. Because not everybody’s First Amendment rights are equal.

Religious symbols are banned from public libraries. A Christmas tree might make somebody uncomfortable, so there are no Christmas trees, menorahs, or other religious symbols in schools or libraries anymore. If a man dressed up like a street walker reading to children makes you uncomfortable, YOU are transphobic or homophobic or both. 

Welcome to the new normal. 

Conservatives reading this understand that everybody’s First Amendment rights are not equal. 

I suspect that most liberals will conclude I am transphobic, homophobic, xenophobic, and racist. If that’s what you have concluded, it makes me sad because you do not know my heart or see the irreparable damage you are doing to the country — alienating people like me who genuinely believe in equal opportunity. But you could care less about my rights as you push for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion — admit it — which means everybody’s rights are not equal.

Andy Bloom is president of Andy Bloom Communications. He specializes in media training and political communications. He has programmed legendary stations including WIP, WPHT and WYSP/Philadelphia, KLSX, Los Angeles and WCCO Minneapolis. He was Vice President Programming for Emmis International, Greater Media Inc. and Coleman Research. Andy also served as communications director for Rep. Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio). He can be reached by email at andy@andybloom.com or you can follow him on Twitter @AndyBloomCom.