The findings of the latest DOJ probe in Baltimore, the number of GOP women is declining, the story of African-American athletes in the 1936 Olympics.
Anti-discrimination bill a friction point for faith-based colleges, LGBTQ alum
The rights of the LGBTQ community in communities of faith are part of an ongoing conversation in the state.
California law, under the Equity in Higher Education Act and federal law under Title IX prohibit discriminatory policies at any institutions that receive state funding. This includes colleges, both public and private.
Currently, over 40 of the state's faith-based institutions take a religious exemption to these laws. But a California bill working its way through the Senate seeks to limit the number of colleges that qualify for exemptions. The bill, Senate Bill 1146, heads to a Senate appropriations committee Thursday.
If the bill becomes law, faith-based institutions will face a difficult choice: comply, or stop accepting money from the state in the form of Cal Grants.
For a deeper look, Take Two spoke with voices on both sides of the issue.
- Rev. Kevin Mannoia, campus chaplain at Azusa Pacific University, an evangelical Christian college here in Southern California.
- Elizabeth Cirelli, Azusa Pacific Alumni and member of the LGBTQ community
(Answers have been edited for clarity.)
Highlights
Rev. Mannoia, your school has been very vocal about this bill. Many colleges, including your own, are lobbying to kill it. What's at stake for you?
The bill contains a lot of things that would limit religious freedom through Christian higher education and religious higher education.
It begins to limit our ability to hire people consistent with our faith values. Another major issue is the focus on student choice for students across the state. Currently, about 16,000 students take advantage of the Cal Grant program by taking those grants to religious or faith-based institutions.
Yesterday, (TUE) we received word that Senator Lara is planning to make some amendments to the bill to make it a disclosure-only bill. We're very grateful for that because at the root of this bill is a desire to make safe places for all students, and that's our commitment. We want to have a safe community for all of our students, irrespective of their choice or their identification, even the LGBTQ community.
Elizabeth, you went to Azusa Pacific University, class of 2011. One of the school's cornerstones is "community." You identify as gay. What stands out to you about your experience on the campus as a member of that community?
I think it was really interesting for a lot of folks like myself because we were looking for that community aspect. After a while, you start to realize that when you're true to yourself, you're not a part of this community, but more specifically, you're not really welcome to be a part of this community.
It's not something you can notice right away, but you're not allowed to hold positions of leadership, you're not allowed to be a resident advisor. One of the specific codes of conduct was you weren't allowed to hold hands with someone of the same sex. And so you're starting to go there, and you're like, 'Wow, I can't do this, I can't do that, I'm not welcome here, I'm not welcome there..."
You recently wrote a post on social media in response to statements made by your alma mater. In it you say:
"APU, you have betrayed those of us who looked for the love of God at your doorstep, because the prejudice and discrimination in your video and letter are the same prejudice that leads to the rape and murder of my community."
Elizabeth, those are some strong words. How do you justify those words?
I think with just the facts of the amount of hate crimes that we see going on against LGBT folks across this country, specifically and across the global community as well. In some other countries, being gay is punishable by death. When you look back, and you say 'How's this hatred and discrimination being propagated? How's this being furthered?' Faith-based communities are becoming this pillar for violence against the queer community.
All kinds of prejudice and discrimination, they start out at a fundamental mindset of being okay with this prejudice that you have towards another group of people. Anytime that you reinforce that through religion, you're giving justification to the foundation of that discrimination.
Kevin Mannoia, I know that those are really strong words for you to hear. What is your reaction when you hear a student that graduated from Azusa Pacific sharing those feelings?
First of all, I'm really sorry for the strain and the stress and the sense of offense that Elizabeth has experienced. At the root of what we try to do clearly is to try to represent our faith well. That means looking at every person as someone who is created in the image of God. At the very core of who we are as an institution, we firmly believe that. So when someone feels that kind of offense and that kind of prejudice, it burdens my heart. It grieves me because it says that somewhere along the line in our effort to reflect Christ something has gone amiss.
I also realize that fundamentally we also believe that God has created us in a way that is male and female, and in living out our faith, we try to put in place behaviors and practices that reflect that differentiation.
We're not a perfect community; we know that, and yet, we strive hard to make sure that people like Elizabeth are safe. If they have experienced discrimination on our campus, we want to provide recourse for them, and we want to move very quickly to address that.
As the bill is written now, if a faith-based institution accepts Cal Grants, they must comply with state discrimination laws. If this bill becomes law, will Azusa Pacific University turn down Cal Grants to keep the current policies in place?
Frankly, that is not something that the university has made a decision about at this point, but clearly, that's where the conversation has to continue. At what point does the university say no to funding, or do they say 'Alright, what do we need to do here to preserve the ability for these over 1,500 students to be able to come here?' We're not at that point of being able to say that this is the direction that we would go.
Update: The proposed bill was amended shortly after this conversation was taped Wednesday. Senator Lara, the author of the bill, has dropped several provisions from the bill, including the part about limiting religious exemptions. As it reads today, faith-based schools will only be required to disclose their exemptions to current and incoming students.
Press the blue play button to hear the interview as it aired.
Click the blue link below the play button for the full, unedited interview.
'Olympic Pride, American Prejudice', the 18 African-American Olympians that defied Jim Crow and Hitler
Let's take it back to the Olympics. Way back...to the 1936 Games in Berlin.
That was the year that 18 African-American Olympians defied Jim Crow and even Adolf Hitler to win hearts and medals. A new documentary titled "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice" explores those games and what it meant for race and sports in this country.
For more, writer and director of the film Deborah Riley Draper, joined the show to discuss.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
You can catch the movie at the Laemmle Monica Film Center, more information here.
Chinese travelers could help Ontario airport grow
Ontario, California, is more than 50 miles east of LAX and has its own airport. Most international travelers choose LAX, however, since it's the most well-known option.
But local officials are looking to China to boost traffic to Ontario's runways by enticing Chinese airlines and businesses to land there.
"Surrounding the Ontario airport is a majority of Asian-Americans living here," says Curt Hagman, San Bernardino County supervisor and commission of the Ontario International Airport Authority. "For them, it's closer to Ontario's airport than Los Angeles' airport."
Ontario and San Bernardino County are appealing to Chinese businesses, too, he says, because of the availability of land to develop for warehouses, factories, neighborhoods and more.
But he needs to make sure that he maps out the Inland Empire's proximity to Los Angeles.
"The first thing I have to do is explain where Ontario airport is and why we're a better place to fly in their future plans," says Hagman.
Take Two talks with Hagman for more about the potential benefits in having the airport being a gateway to Asia.
Bear shot in San Bernardino County raises questions about nature, safety
A woman's decision to have a bear shot and killed has raised questions about where to draw the line between protecting nature, and protecting human lives.
Julie Faith Strauja had recently moved into the Forest Falls community, located near Redlands, with her three kids. Within a month, she had some run ins with the bear. It had invaded her property, and had broken into her kitchen one day. Strauja had reported the incidents to authorities. But it wasn't long before the final straw came.
"It tried to get in one more time, but she managed to use bear mace to get it away. And then a few hours later, it actually broke into her home through the bathroom window, and attacked her dog," said Beatriz Valenzuela, a reporter for the San Bernardino Sun who covered the story. "This was very early in the morning, so her children were home, everybody was home when this happened."
Strauja got the bear out, and then got a permit from Fish and Wildlife to have the bear shot and killed.
The animal's death sparked outrage in the community.
"People who live here love their bears. They take great pride in being able to live one with nature. So the idea of someone killing the animal did not go over very well initially," said Valenzuela.
Then came the online threats.
"One person in particular did post something to the effect of 'If anybody wants to legally make her life a living hell, contact me, we're going to run her out of town,'" Valenzuela said. "A few other people, I think this was before they knew all the details, they posted, 'This person needs to be strapped to a chair and left out in the wilderness and let nature take its course.'"
After more details emerged, Valenzuela said some people began to show support.
"I've also spoken to people and seen other social media posts where they have supported her and said, 'The bear had already broke in twice. It attacked a dog, what if it was a child?'"
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
Why fewer Republican women are entering the political pipeline
Come this fall, voters will choose between a Republican and a woman.
Might they someday be able to vote for a Republican woman for president? Perhaps. But right now, the track record for women in the GOP isn't so great.
There are fewer Republican women in Congress now than there were a decade ago. Lower down the political ladder, in state legislatures and cities, that trend continues.
Joining Take Two to discuss:
- Kelly Dittmar, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University-Camden and Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics
- Rachel Michelin, CEO and Executive Director of the bipartisan, nonprofit group California Women Lead
The Styled Side: style and legal hurdles at the Olympics
The Olympics are not without controversy, but one is brewing off the tracks and out of the pools: it's about what people are wearing.
"Ralph Lauren designed this year's Olympic gear for Team USA," says Michelle Dalton Tyree from Fashion Trends Daily, "and he's received some low scores in the social media universe."
Some have complained that Lauren's form of Americana, with its preppy, regatta style, is too WASP-y to represent the melting pot that is America.
The large Polo logo on the clothes did not win many fans, either.
If Ralph Lauren Polo was a classy brand, it would not have designed a logo that overpowers the American Olympic Team logo. It’s vulgar.
— (((Will Evans))) (@semanticwill)
If Ralph Lauren Polo was a classy brand, it would not have designed a logo that overpowers the American Olympic Team logo. It’s vulgar.
— William Haas Evans (@semanticwill) August 5, 2016
"There have been calls to have a new American designer at the helm for the next Olympics other than Ralph Lauren, which has 5 Olympics under its belt," says Tyree.
There's another a controversy over sponsorship.
"Athletes can often have a variety of sponsors who are not official Olympic sponsors," says Tyree, "and this has been a big problem for those athletes who relay on those sponsorships, but couldn't tout them at the games."
When they compete, athletes have to block out the names and logos of their own personal sponsors.
The International Olympic Committee, however, started to allow nonofficial sponsors to create advertising campaigns tailored to athletes...provided those campaigns don't use key language tied to the Olympics.
Words like, "Rio," "gold" and even "summer" in some cases could run afoul of the Games.
Staci Riordan, an attorney in LA specializing in fashion law, tells her clients not only to steer clear of those red-flag terms and Olympic logos, but to capture the emotions of the Olympics instead.
"I tell them to pull on their customers' strings and evoke the feeling of the Olympics because emotions are not protectable under copyright infringement," says Riordan, "at least for now."
Riordan expects the IOC will start sending out legally threatening letters at the end of the month after the Olympics wrap, and no brand big or small is potentially exempt.