Anti-‘cancel culture’ bills die in committee

Legislation that would add political beliefs to categories such as race, religion and disability that are covered by antidiscrimination laws died in a state Senate committee this week.

In a party-line vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday declined to advance two bills by Sen. Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, intended to fight back against “cancel culture,” a term commonly used by conservatives to describe the backlash, including the loss of employment and social status, against those whose words or actions are deemed racist or otherwise offensive.

One of Melendez’s bills, SB 238, would have banned discrimination, including firing someone or denying him a mortgage, based on political affiliation. A companion bill, SB 249, would have outlawed bullying, harassment and discrimination against students based on their political beliefs.

During Tuesday’s hearing on her bills, Melendez, a conservative who met with President Donald Trump in the White House, told her colleagues: “Our thoughts and belief systems that are facing censorship, cancellation and attack, and it is time to protect them.”

She brought up Gina Carano, an actress on “The Mandalorian” who was ousted from the Disney+ series in February after a social media post that compared “hating someone for their political views” to the Nazi persecution of Jews.

Carano also faced criticism for appearing to make light of transgender people’s desire to be referred to by the pronoun of their choice and for tweets about voter fraud and mocking the use of masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

If SB 238 fails, “My fear is it’s going to give a green light to censorship,” said Melendez, whose district includes southwest Riverside County and the Coachella Valley.

Critics of the cancel culture concept argue that, though the First Amendment protects free speech, it doesn’t shield people from the consequences of speech that society views as intolerant or force people to associate with those they find offensive.

Sen. Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, brought up the hypothetical of someone wearing a pro-vegan or Mothers Against Drunk Driving shirt applying for work serving barbecue or alcohol.

“You’ve got people worried about … this idea that we’re turning the workplace into the town square, where people can come in and have their discussions to talk about Sandy Hook in a gun shop that would be disruptive to the business,” he said.

Melendez argued that employers could use criteria beyond political beliefs — whether a job candidate is a good fit in the workplace, for example — to deny job offers.

In the end, both bills failed 9-2, with the committee’s GOP senators the only yes votes.