On May 17, 2019, the United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 5: Equality Act—better known as the Trans-Gender Equality Act. The “peoples” House thus spoke on behalf of the American people. The vote was not even close! The final vote was 236 Yes, 173 No, and nine not voting. We can, therefore, conclude that 58% of the American people are in favor of the LGBTQ social and political agenda. That assumption is supported by the fact that Hillary Clinton received more popular votes than did the “conservative” Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. The U.S.A is still “one nation under God,” but whose god are we under?

The Trans-Gender Act passed by the House is proposed as an amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It would make sexual orientation and gender identification a federally protected class. Discrimination against any federally protected class is a federal crime. Anti-discrimination laws, rules, regulations, and guidelines are enforced by the demons of the federal bureaucracy with the enthusiasm of the KGB, Gestapo, or the Grand Inquisitor during the Spanish Inquisition.

But no need to worry. The Trans-Gender Act passed the House, but it will not pass the Senate, and even if it did, President Trump will come riding in with his veto pen and save us—right? True, it may not pass the Senate this year, but what about the next year or the year after that? The same holds true for other issues such as gun control or legalizing open borders. The list of policy issues promoted by the secular humanist, the neo-Marxist left is virtually limitless, and they never give up! This current crop of postmodernist Marxist never goes away. They have been pushing their evil agenda since the 1960s![1] The extremists on the left push three steps forward; conservatives push two steps back and then congratulate ourselves on yet another conservative victory! Conservatives have earned the label “the stupid party.”

The post-modernist left will eventually get this Bill or a similar one passed into law or enacted via regulatory rules and guidelines that will be enforced as law. Trans-Gender equality is not the issue Southern conservatives should be discussing. What we should be discussing is whether we the people of the South, the people of the Bible Belt, the people who believe in limited government—are we the people of Dixie citizens of a “nation with liberty and justice for all” or are we subjects of the supreme federal government and citizens of a captive nation? The vote for H.R. 5: Equality Act of 2019 demonstrates, for all who dare to see, that the South is, in fact, a captive nation ruled by those who do not have our interest at heart.

Southern conservatives hold the opinion that we are free because we get to vote. We get to elect “our” Representatives, Senators, and Presidents. According to this logic, any people who have representatives in a national legislature are automatically free. That would mean that the people of the Baltic States were free even though they had been forcefully incorporated into the Soviet Union. Such logic would imply that the people of Vichy France during World War II would also qualify as being free. Their National Assembly voted Petain authority to assume full legislative and executive powers by a vote of 569 for, 80 against, and 18 abstentions.[2] And of course the Irish were allowed to vote for and elect their representatives to the English Parliament before winning national independence. Did voting in national elections and having representatives in the national legislature guarantee freedom for the people of these captive nations? No, of course not. Yet, Southerners remain complacent even as the national legislature passes laws and taxes that are slowly destroying the last vestiges of our traditional conservative Southern society—after all, we enjoy the vote in a most democratic manner. Liberty dies when pacified people meekly accept the oppressive dictates of their ruling elites. Just because this has been the way it has always been—at least since Appomattox—is no reason for it to remain the same forever.

Reviewing the votes on the Trans-Gender Act by region—North vs. South—it becomes clear that the South is, in fact, a captive nation. We the people of the South are being forced to accept the dictates of a hostile government. A government determined to destroy the most fundamental values of our Southern society. Southern representatives cast 153 votes on the Trans-Gender Act. Southern representatives voted by 63% against the Act. This percentage would have been closer to 71% had the nine Southerners who were absent for the vote and who represented conservative districts had voted.[3] The Northern representatives cast 70% of their votes in favor of the Act. North 70% in favor—South 71% against, but because the North has the numerical majority, it has the power to overrule the South.[4] In reality, having elected representatives in the Northern-controlled national legislature is meaningless when social issues near and dear to Southerners are at risk. Yet, Southern conservatives are convinced that we are free! Yes, free to obey the dictates of our ruling masters—the globalist elites of Washington and Wall Street.

The same situation, Northern liberals dominating Southern conservatives, arose when Obamacare was voted on and passed by both Houses of Congress. Southern Representatives and Senators voted overwhelmingly against Obamacare, but the North’s secular humanist majority overruled the will of the Southern people. The same thing has happened on numerous other occasions when social issues important to the Bible Belt, conservative South were at stake—but the South lost![5]  The way the federal government is ruling the South today is not that different from the way the English Empire ruled the Irish. When a vote for Irish Home Rule came up in the English Parliament—the Irish were outvoted.

The danger posed by an aggressive Northern numerical majority that would use its political power in Congress to oppress the South is not new. In the 1787 debates on the ratification of the proposed Constitution, Patrick Henry prophetically declared the dangers inherent in the proposed union:

The proposed government subjects everything to the Northern majority…How can the Southern members prevent the adoption of the most oppressive mode of   taxation…as there is a majority in favor of the Northern States? Sir, this is a   picture so horrid, so wretched, so dreadful, that I need no longer dwell upon it.[6]

Too bad the South did not heed Patrick Henry’s prophetic warning back then—too bad Southern conservatives refuse to hear him today. 

Captive nations have a lot in common. But one thing the South does not have in common with other captive nations is that they knew they were captive nations, and they were determined to do something about it. Whereas we here in the South—well, we can look forward to the near future when public schools are sponsoring Trans-Gender Days paid for by “conservative” taxpayers.

Regardless of how bad things may look—there is still hope. We have the potential to reclaim real states’ rights inclusive of the rights of nullification and secession.[7] All that is lacking is the courage to take the audacious steps necessary to reclaim constitutional liberty—liberty protected and enforced by real States’ Rights.


[1] Truth No Longer Matters,  https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/blog/the-truth-no-longer-matters/  May 24, 2019.

[2] https://www.britannica.com/event/Vichy-France  accessed 8/15/2019.

[3] All nine had a conservative voting record ranging from 84% to 100%. Data obtain from: https://heritageaction.com/scorecard/votes/h217-2019?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social+media&utm_campaign=scorecard+promo&utm_content=Equality+Act+Ad+1+feed&fbclid=IwAR2LCloXFagEomCXUpz8pH8pzRbSEYqhItQXfEs8GGGCIRXyj09INd7npmw  accessed 8/15/2019; and https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/116-2019/h217  accessed 8/15/2019.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Kennedy & Kennedy, Punished With Poverty-the Suffering South (Shotwell Publishing, Columbia, SC: 2017), 152.

[6] Patrick Henry as cited in, Kennedy & Kennedy, Yankee Empire: Aggressive Abroad and Despotic at Home (Shotwell Publishing, Columbia, SC: 2018), 157.

[7] Kennedy, James Ronald, Dixie Rising-Rules for Rebels, (Shotwell Publishing, Columbia, SC: 2018).


James Ronald Kennedy

Ron and his twin brother Don are the authors of Punished by Poverty, The South Was Right!, Why Not Freedom!, Was Jefferson Davis Right?, and Nullify Tyranny; Ron is the author of Reclaiming Liberty, Nullification: Why and How, and Uncle Seth Fought the Yankees. Ron is past Commander of the Louisiana Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and is a life member of the Louisiana Division and the National Sons of Confederate Veterans. Ron is a frequent speaker at SCV, Southern Heritage and other pro-Liberty groups. Ron received a Masters in Health Administration (MHA) from Tulane University in New Orleans, a Master of Jurisprudence in Healthcare Law (MJ) from Loyola University Chicago, a Bachelor’s degree from Northeast Louisiana University, a certificate in Paralegal Studies from Louisiana State University and holds numerous professional designations in healthcare and insurance Risk Management.

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