This is a political talking point maneuver. It won’t become law as longs the Democrats stay in charge. Should the republicans win any or all branches of government they will try to make it the law. Notice they again equate drag queens reading stories as a sexual event. The bill says sexual orientated material by which they want to target books with LGBTQ+ characters or story lines. But it also means everything. Last I checked if a book with a gay character is sexually oriented then so is a book with straight characters. If gay is sexual so is straight, if same sex marriage / couples are sexual then so is opposite sex couples. This is what the right seems to forget is kids see gender all around them in every person / couple they see. Hugs
More than 30 House Republicans have signed on to a bill to prohibit federal dollars from being used to make “sexually-oriented” materials available to children under the age of 10.
The measure introduced Tuesday by Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) would prohibit the use of federal funds to develop and host programs or events for children younger than 10 that contain “sexually-oriented material,” such as drag queen story hours that have recently drawn the ire of conservative politicians and right-wing groups.
Johnson’s bill, titled the “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act,” claims that state and federal agencies including the Department of Defense have in the past used federal funds to promote and host “sexually-oriented events” like drag queen story hours or burlesque shows for children and families.
In 2015 as a Louisiana state rep, Johnson introduced an ultimately failed anti-marriage equality bill patterned after Indiana’s infamous and similarly failed bill. In 2018, Johnson joined with anti-LGBTQ evangelical Kirk Cameron in an attempt to allow Christian prayer in Louisiana’s public schools. Johnson is a freshman in the US House.
Universities, public schools, hospitals, medical clinics, etc. could all be defunded if they host any event discussing LGBTQ people and children could be present. The way they define "sexually oriented material" simply includes anything about LGBTQ people.
It includes a private right of action against any government official AND private entity for a violation. This is SB8 style bounty lawsuits against anyone accepting federal funds. This will be a ban on all discussion of LGBTQ people in any entity that received federal funds. pic.twitter.com/ABndE60wxV
This is the American version of Russia's gay propaganda law passed in 2013. This is their end game. To censor and ban LGBTQ from all public life and force them back into the closet.
The pretext in this bill is clear. They will troll the media about the bill being about "stripping" or drag queen story hour. In reality, the way the law is defined, it could apply to a school that has a screening of Buzz Lightyear.
I can't overstate how radical the private right of action portion is. The bill is so broadly defined that a pediatric hospital could be sued for having a pride flag or a medical pamphlet about gender dysphoria. It deputizes anti-LGBTQ bigots to engage in bounty lawsuits.
As we've seen with SB8, the lawsuits are rarely actually filed. Simply the threat of litigation is enough to create a chilling effect. Any federally funded entity will remove all references to LGBTQ people as a precaution, just as schools in Florida have done.
The press don’t bother to point out that ‘sexually-oriented material’ just means ‘acknowledgement of the existence of people who aren’t cis-het.’ Because that would be editorialising.
“any topic involving gender identity, gender dysphoria, transgenderism, sexual orientation, or related subjects” It sure will be fun learning which “related subjects” to our existence will be criminalized. Not to worry, the media will breathlessly cover the “controversy”.
It amazes me that this is a focus for them. Meanwhile, they are against lowering drug prices, trying to stop inflation, helping veterans, etc. They just want to stir up their base voters with this type of rhetoric.
How are Drag Queens any different than any other entertainer that dresses up for an act? Ban the characters at Disney World and in Times Square. Let’s just ban the Arts and Entertainment.
State Rep. Beau LaFave clearly doesn’t understand what trans gender is, what gender is, and how it doesn’t mean having sex. I wish these law makers on the right would take the time to learn something about the subject they are regulating before they write stupid laws. In this case these lawmakers seem to think getting elected makes them smarter and know more about medical treatment than the doctors / scientist in the major medical organizations which all support affirmative transgender care. What they are really saying is their politics come before the medical care prescribed by doctors to their patients. Hugs
One of the bill’s sponsors said it’s “insane” that kids can have a gender identity “when it is illegal for them to have sex.”
A Michigan bill seeks to brand gender-affirming parents and doctors as child abusers and even proposes life in prison as a possible consequence for facilitating gender-affirming care.
H.B. 6454 would amend the penal code to state that child abuse includes when someone “knowingly or intentionally consents to, obtains, or assists with a gender transition procedure for a child.”
The bill includes any hormones or puberty blockers in its definition of “gender-transition procedure.” Puberty blockers are reversible medications that delay the onset of puberty so that trans youth can have more time to explore their gender identities before the permanent effects of puberty occur and they have been shown to decrease lifelong suicide risk for trans people who want them.
State Rep. Beau LaFave (R), one of the lawmakers who introduced the bill, told The Hill that kids shouldn’t transition until they are old enough to have sex.
“People are abusing these children. The idea that we would be making potentially life-altering changes to 11-, 12-, 13-, 14-, 15-year-old kids when it is illegal for them to have sex is insane. I mean, they’re not responsible enough to smoke a cigarette until they’re 21.”
“Gender affirming care is medically necessary and life-saving care for transgender youth,” Equality Michigan executive director Erin Knott said in a statement. “Medical decisions belong to trans youth, their parents, and their doctors.”
Should the bill pass, Michigan would become the second state to make gender-affirming care a felony, after Alabama – though a judge has blocked part of Alabama’s law from taking effect.
Republicans across the country continue to advocate for laws banning youth from receiving gender-affirming care, even though multiple studies show that transgender youth experience high rates of suicidality, and that access to affirming healthcare often leads to significant improvements in their mental health and quality of life.
In August, anti-LGBTQ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced a bill at the federal level that would make providing gender affirming care for transgender minors a class C felony, ban federal funds—including Medicaid funds—from being used for gender affirming care for transgender people, ban medical schools from teaching about gender affirming care, stop health care plans under the Affordable Care Act from funding gender affirming care, and ban anyone found to have performed gender affirming care from immigrating to the U.S.
Imagine how scary it would be for anyone to be boxed in by cars with their little sister / family member with them, unable to leave and threatened by a group of angry people. People this is what the right wants, their enforcer thugs to threaten and terrorize the gays and the family of gay peoples. This is right out of the Russian playbook. My god, not only did the teachers and school let the kid be harassed at school which begs the question of how can a gay / lesbian / trans person get a quality education if they are worried about their safety. Hard to concentrate on the lesson if you are worried about being attacked and hurt. This is why LGBTQ+ kids need to see rainbow flags and to have teachers with rooms they can feel safe in or got to if they are feeling threatened. Seriously one respected person who reads the blog asked why rainbow pride stickers need to be on classroom doors or up in the classrooms. This is why. The point of the republican / right wing media attacks is to drive hate and anger at the LGBTQ+ community. They want this response. Remember the Florida legislator who wrote the don’t say gay bill said he did it because he was angered that gay / trans kids were being accepted by other kids and not targeted for abuse / harm. He wanted to see these LGBTQ+ kids beaten up, abused / hurt. demonized because it turns out he is a highly religious Christian. Son of a bitch! His gods feelings come before the feelings of living kids. Bastard! The longer the Republicans in office and the right-wing media push the evils of the LGBTQ+ kids the more abuse the kids thought to be gay are going to face. Which again is what the republicans / right wing wants. Do you know what would have happened to me if someone had come up to my father and told him I was a faggot? More bruises, broken bones, pain, and rapes. This shit is serious. Religious families will grill the kids and the kids will face going to conversion therapy or being thrown out of their homes. Again these attack were on the decline before trump and DeathSantis. Hugs
“I’m sick of being silent about it, so I finally spoke up.”
A California high school student’s TikTok post exposing the anti-LGBTQ bullying he’s been subjected to has gone viral.
Earlier this month, 18-year-old Landon Jones posted the video, which shows two separate instances of anti-gay bullying caught on camera. One incident, recorded by Jones in August, shows a group of young men surrounding his car in the parking lot of a Starbucks.
“This f**king fa***t,” one of the young men says.
In the video, Jones says the group apparently followed him and his sister to the Starbucks, surrounding his car so that he could not leave, while yelling slurs and threats.
The second incident was captured on Jones’s family’s home surveillance camera, shows a young man approach the front door of his house in the dead of night.
“Does Landon live here,” the teen asks when Jones’s father answers the door.
“Yeah, why?” Jones’s father says.
“Someone said to come up here because he’s a fa***t!” the young man shouts as he runs off.
“I remember being up in my room, hearing it, and I heard what he said. I immediately jumped out of bed and walked outside to see what was happening,” Jones told NBC News. “I had no sleep that night. I was honestly really upset. I was crying.”
“I have been called ‘fa***t’ countless times at school, and it literally doesn’t bother me at all,” Jones says in the TikTok video. “But the fact that they came to my house does.”
Jones said that was a turning point. On October 1, he shared the post on TikTok. The clip has received 1.4 million views and over 12,000 primarily supportive comments.
“I’m sick of being silent about it, so I spoke up finally,” Jones said.
He said that at least two of the young men involved in both incidents attend El Toro High School in Lake Forest, California where Jones is a senior. His parents told NBC News that they are unaware of any action the school has taken in response to the harassment.
But a spokesperson for the school district provided a statement saying that Saddleback Valley Unified School District and El Toro High School “together with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD), immediately launched a comprehensive investigation to uncover the facts of the incidents.”
“We can confirm that the person seen in the surveillance video of the incident that took place at a private home is not a student in SVUSD,” said Wendie Hauschild, the school district’s director of communications and administrative services. “Due to the confidentiality that we are required by law to uphold for our students, as well as other minors, SVUSD is unable to share further information regarding the results of the investigation. SVUSD remains steadfast in its commitment to create inclusive, supportive, and safe environments for all students on our campuses.”
An Orange County sheriff’s spokesperson said that a school resource officer has spoken to “individuals that may or may not have been involved in this incident” or “possibly have knowledge of the incident.” While the young man who approached Jones’s home has not been identified, the officer said that the investigation remains ongoing.
Jones, meanwhile, has transitioned to virtual schooling as a result of bullying at El Toro High School.
I agree. The keyword in any relationship is consent. If the people involved can’t give consent for any reason then they are being forced against their will and that is wrong. I am thinking of women and young girls forced into marriage against their will. That includes sexual relations, if there is full consent from those involved then it is no one else’s business. I do not think on person in a marriage owns the other. Originally all the men owned the woman. Or many women in some places. If the people involved all agree that this is the way they want their lives / relationship to be, they should get to choose. Before anyone raises the false argument of “Well that leads to kids / animals / vacuum cleaners etc. getting married, think about it. Can any of those consent to marriage? No! Marriage is a legal contract between people controlled by the state and federal government. Yes religions like to claim they own marriage and god says it is this or that. But the fact is different religions have different views of what a marriage is, and for years religion did not even deal with marriage. “For much of the early Christian Era, the Church stayed out of weddings and let the state handle the union of man and woman. Finally, sometime after 800 AD, the Church began to perform weddings, and a few centuries later the Catholic Church made marriage one of the sacraments. Apr 26, 2017″ https://www.sagu.edu/thoughthub/the-history-of-marriage/#:~:text=For%20much%20of%20the%20early,marriage%20one%20of%20the%20sacraments. Marriages in the US are not done under the authority of the church but under the state. Churches / religions try to dictate what marriages should be, and are against all social remedies for bad marriages, but the US is not a theocracy so why should a person who is not part of a church / religion be forced to live under the ideas / dictates of a religion they don’t belong to? Also notice the other places that are expanding the idea of marriage. Hugs
The judge concluded that polyamorous relationships are entitled to the same sort of legal protection given to two-person relationships.
New York City’s eviction court – the venue of a landmark same-sex relationship decision long before Obergefell v Hodges – is now the source of a legal opinion that comes down clearly on the side of polyamorous unions.
The decision came in the case of West 49th St., LLC v. O’Neill, decided by New York Civil Court Judge Karen May Bacdayan, concluded that polyamorous relationships are entitled to the same sort of legal protection given to two-person relationships.
The case revolves around three individuals. Scott Anderson and Markyus O’Neill lived together in a New York City apartment. Anderson held the lease, but was married to another man, Robert Romano, who lived at another address. After Anderson died, the building’s owner contended O’Neill had no right to renew the lease since he was just a “roommate” of Anderson’s and not “a non-traditional family member.”
The court concluded that there needed to be a hearing about whether Anderson, Romano and O’Neill were in a polyamorous relationship.
Before gay marriage was legalized in any state, Braschi v. Stahl Assocs. Co. was decided in 1989 and made the New York State Court of Appeals the first American appellate court to recognize that a two-person, same-sex relationship is entitled to legal recognition.
“Braschi is widely regarded as a catalyst for the legal challenges and changes that ensued,” Bacdayan wrote in her opinion. “By the end of 2014, gay marriage was legal in 35 states through either legislation or state court action. Obergefell v Hodges (2015), the seminal Supreme Court decision that established same-sex marriage as a constitutional right was also heralded as groundbreaking.”
“However,” wrote Bacdayan, “Braschi and its progeny and Obergefell limit their holdings to two-person relationships.” This case, Bacdayan wrote, “presents the distinct and complex issue of significant multi-person relationships.”
The judge cited legislation enacted since the advent of federally recognized same sex unions. “In February 2020, the Utah legislature passed a so-called Bigamy Bill, decriminalizing the offense by downgrading it from a felony to a misdemeanor. In June [2020], Somerville, Massachusetts, passed an ordinance allowing groups of three or more people who ‘consider themselves to be a family’ to be recognized as domestic partners. The neighboring town of Cambridge followed suit, passing a broader ordinance recognizing multi-partner relationships. The law has proceeded even more rapidly in recognizing that it is possible for a child to have more than two legal parents.”
“Why then,” posited the judge, “except for the very real possibility of implicit majoritarian animus, is the limitation of two persons inserted into the definition of a family-like relationship for the purposes of receiving the same protections from eviction accorded to legally formalized or blood relationships? Is ‘two’ a ‘code word’ for monogamy? Why does a person have to be committed to one other person in only certain prescribed ways in order to enjoy stability in housing after the departure of a loved one?”
The attorney for the property owner characterized defendant O’Neill’s affidavit, claiming himself as a non-traditional family member, as a “fairytale.”
The case returns to court after further investigation of the three individuals’ relationship.
This is another example of superstition being more important than facts. These people protesting are hung up on the name and won’t even bother to learn or find out that the Satanic Temple doesn’t believe in Satan, nor do they worship Satan. The prefer their ignorance. Even if you tell them the truth they still wouldn’t want the group in schools because that name scares / terrifies them. The Satanic Temple is about science, learning, and being a really decent nice person. The Superintendent seems to think the money has cooties or is cursed somehow. The Superintendent wanted the money run through a Christian organization to clean it somehow. That is superstition over facts, hurting kids for no reason. Something an educator should know better than do. Hugs
THERE ARE SEVEN FUNDAMENTAL TENETS
I
One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.
II
The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
III
One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
IV
The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo one’s own.
V
Beliefs should conform to one’s best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one’s beliefs.
VI
People are fallible. If one makes a mistake, one should do one’s best to rectify it and resolve any harm that might have been caused.
VII
Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word.
Superintendent Steve Kirkpatrick suggested the Satanists donate the money to a Christian non-profit instead
The Satanic Temple’s donation was rejected by the Northern York County School District in Pennsylvania (screenshot via FOX43)
Reading Time: 5MINUTES
Adonation by Satanists to the Northern York County School District in Pennsylvania to help purchase school supplies for kids was rejected by the superintendent, who told them to donate the money to a Christian organization instead.
It’s utter stupidity from a district official who seems to think donations from The Satanic Temple are somehow tainted.
All of this began last month. It’s no secret that Christian churches frequently rent out space at public schools in order to hold services on weekends. That’s perfectly legal as long as they’re paying the rental fee and obeying district rules. Under those same guidelines, The Satanic Temple held a fundraising event last month at Northern York High School in Pennsylvania.
While the school board’s decision to approve the rental was followed by a lengthier explanation that they were just following the law, the event itself wasn’t controversial. In fact, it was family friendly:
“The Back-to-School Community Celebration & Fundraiser hosted by The Satanic Temple of Philadelphia & Eastern PA will be various stations of arts & crafts, science experiments, live demos, refreshments, and fun for the entire family,” said June Everett, the campaign director, After School Satan Club (ASSC) and an ordained minister of The Satanic Temple.
As expected, though, the three-hour event was met with protests from right-wing Catholics who have no understanding of how public space works.
Trending Stories
“They’re giving them access to our children,” said John Ritchie. “They should be nowhere near any schools.”
John Ritchie is part of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property. He says he’s outraged the event was allowed to go on, and says his organization is working to get Satan out of schools.
“We are here to say that America is one nation under God; we don’t want Satanism in our schools and we need to do something about it,” said Ritchie.
Ritchie seems to think only the people who belong to the child sex abuse ring known as the Catholic Church should have access to kids. That’s not how anything works. So his protests were meaningless.
While the Catholics were complaining about the evilness of the Satanists, the Satanists were inside the school raising money for children, ultimately collecting $578. (Everett’s emails say they raised $578 in one spot and $587 in another. I’m not sure which one is the typo. News reports are citing the former amount. I’ll use that. It’s not a huge difference either way.)
On a side note, the Satanists paid $1,185 to rent the space. Is that weird? Couldn’t they have just offered to donate that amount instead? Maybe. But sometimes, the publicity is part of the goal since it allows them to raise bigger issues about religious neutrality and church/state separation.
Whatever the case, The Satanic Temple wanted to donate their proceeds to the district and asked administrators for a list of supplies that they could purchase for students.
That’s when things took a weird turn.
Superintendent Steve Kirkpatrick responded to June Everett, telling her the district didn’t want her money. He even suggested she give it to a religious group instead:
Screenshot of the email from Kirkpatrick to Everett
Ms. Everett,
I respectfully decline your offer of a direct donation to the school district and suggest that you instead send your donation to New Hope Ministries or another local social service organization. These organizations are best equipped to effectively distribute supplies and goods to families in our school community that are most in need.
Mr. Kirkpatrick
If there’s some kind of rule prohibiting direct donations, he didn’t point to it. Instead, Kirkpatrick told them to give their money to a Christian non-profit because they are “best equipped” to distribute supplies. But how hard it is, really, to purchase a bulk order of supplies that all teachers can use? It’s a few hundred bucks, not some distribution that requires massive coordination. It’s either religious bigotry or a stunning level of tone deafness.
“I can’t help but wonder if teachers in the community who continually have to dip into their own personal finances for supplies would be frustrated to know that their superintendent can’t get past his own personal bias and bigotry to benefit the children in the district he was appointed to serve.”
In case that wasn’t enough, Everett added a mic drop moment in which she laid out what $587 could purchase:
22,800 sheets of construction paper
543 spiral notebooks
3,410 ballpoint pens
13,152 No. 2 pencils
10,894 crayons
963 erasers
2,018 markers
1,239 highlighters
987 rulers
126 compass/protractors
6,518 sticks of chalk
825,227 staples
36,442 paper clips
31 copies of A Boy Called Bat, Northern York’s “One Book One District” selection
The point is that there are plenty of things here that teachers use all the time. The district could easily make use of the donation.
And yet when the local news spoke with some parents in the community, there were some adults celebrating the decision to reject the Satanists’ donation:
“I am very proud of the school board and district officials for declining that money,” said Amanda, a parent of a child in the Northern York County School District. “I think the taxpayers, who are the community members, have raised their voices saying that we don’t want anything like that in our school district.”
They don’t want… staples and paper clips? Amanda’s bigotry makes no sense whatsoever.
Again, if there’s a policy forbidding donations from outsiders, it should be easy to point to it and suggest a different secular way for the Satanists to help kids. There’s no excuse for rejecting the cash and pointing to a Christian non-profit instead. In a subsequent email Everett offered to donate the money to “the local teachers’ union as well as to individual principals and teachers in your district. The first one to accept will receive it.”
Here’s the bigger concern: Last year, the same district denied the Satanists from starting an After School Satan Club even though they met all the criteria for an extracurricular group. There’s a clear pattern of discrimination that could lead to a possible lawsuit, and it’s hard to see how the Satanists would lose that case.
If that happens, the district would have gone from possibly accepting a donation of nearly $600… to having to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees. All because they didn’t want to accept money from The Satanic Temple. How is any of this better for students?
In a statement to me last night, The Satanic Temple spokesperson Lucien Greaves couldn’t believe the district’s position:
Does Kirkpatrick himself understand if his way of handling this is legal? I highly doubt it.
Does he care if litigation against his irresponsibility will cost the school district exorbitant sums? Clearly not.
Does he have the answers to basic operations questions that naturally arise from his thoughtless answers to basic questions? It does not appear so, but if he does, he is clearly unwilling to provide them.
This should not be a controversial issue, and for the most part, it isn’t. What we’re seeing here is best understood as the byproduct of a grossly incompetent and unqualified superintendent, and the school district deserves better.
There was no indication yet if the group plans to file a lawsuit.
Right now, they’re just trying to give away this cash.
I wonder if the parents who called the school were anti-trans parents claiming it was a prank to get the school to undo her election as Homecoming Princess. Think how many kids voted in a large school and how could the prankers be a large enough group to swing the election to one person? Seems to me the callers were upset either their daughters lost the vote or that a trans girl won. So starting a rumor is the morally superior position? The saddest part of the story is that some of the kids were swayed by transphobia to not walk with her as the escort as tradition required. This is what the hate rhetoric of the right does, it teaches intolerance while further spreading the hate that spawns it. Hugs
“The negativity empowered me because it made me realize that they are going out of their way to notice me. They’re noticing how bold I am.”
A trans high school student in Cincinnati refused to let a cruel prank bring her down.
Cass Steiner is a sophomore at Mariemont High School and was recently voted Homecoming Princess by her classmates. She was thrilled to be the school’s first trans Homecoming Princess. Her entire family was celebrating.
“Originally, I was really, really, really excited,” Steiner told Fox 19. “Just the thought that I had a chance to make history here.”
Her mother, Kat Steiner, added that she “was absolutely thrilled” for her daughter – until the school counselor spoke to Cass. The counselor told her that some parents had contacted her to let her know Cass’s victory was potentially part of a prank by students.
“It kind of brought down my spirits a little bit,” Cass said.
“Your heart just breaks,” Kat added.
But Cass wouldn’t give in to bullies. The school apologized and gave her the chance to step back from her role as princess, but she said no.
“I don’t think that it was truly a joke,” she said. “I think that part of it really was genuine and that a lot of people have my back and do support me. That’s what gives me hope.”
Cass believes that several of her classmates have noticed how much happier she is since she has embraced her true self.
“I think it’s really empowering because finding myself as a whole was really hard, but now that I’m here and a better version of myself, I’m so much happier, and people in my class and my peers have noticed that.”
She told WLWT that holding onto her title shows her classmates she is proud of who she is.
“If anything, hearing the negativity empowered me because it made me realize that they are going out of their way to notice me. They’re noticing how bold I am.”
“If you did vote for me with negative intentions thank you because I still won the vote and I’m willing to advocate for my community as a whole,” she said.
And her community is advocating along with her. Students and parents showed up at the homecoming parade holding signs to support her. One read, “You are more than a princess. You are a QUEEN!” Another said, “We love our warrior.”
Parent Erin Satterwhite organized the group of supporters.
“Cassie’s story, it just spoke to me as a mom,” Satterwhite said. “And this is an inclusive, kind, supportive community and I wanted that message to be shared and not the original message that was shared.”
And because other members of the homecoming court refused to be Cass’s escort, the principal walked with her.
“Having those people escort me and be there for me is really empowering and showing that the school is there for me,” Cass said. “And they are 100 percent supportive.”
I would again like to point out this is not about protecting kids, it is entirely political. Look how often they attack Biden and the administration on a local school board issue. This is being used by the republicans to rile up their base with misinformation and to hurt a group of kids they don’t like. Hugs
: A supporter holds a sign that says “Support Trans Youth” in Washington Square Park on the 8th Annual Trans Day of Action on June 22, 2012 in New York City. Photo: Shutterstock
In a victory for trans Ohioans, the Ohio State Board of Education decided to delay voting on an anti-trans resolution that would ban trans girls from women’s sports teams, force teachers to out trans students to their parents, and ban classroom discussions on LGBTQ issues in kindergarten through third grade.
The resolution was introduced by board member Brandon Shea and rejects a proposed rule from the Biden administration to apply Title IX anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ students nationwide.
It aligns with a lawsuit against President Joe Biden’s proposal put forth by Ohio’s Republican Attorney General Dave Yost (along with other state attorneys general) and states that sex is an “unchangeable fact” and that “there are observable, quantifiable, and immutable differences between males and females.”
“Denying the reality of biological sex destroys foundational truths upon which education rests and irreparably damages children,” it declares.
The resolution blasted the Biden administration for “federal overreach” and criticized its assertion that schools who fail to adhere to gender anti-discrimination policies could lose federal funding for free and reduced lunch programs.
Activists, teachers, parents, students, and the like showed up in droves to testify against the resolution – after many in favor of it also spoke.
“The mental, emotional and psychological toll will be huge if it is passed because it takes away protections from the students who need those protections the most,” said Rev. Andrew Burns of the King Avenue United Methodist Church. “And I would be one of the people who would have to clean up the mess left behind.”
After four hours of public comments, trans rights won the day, and the board decided to delay a vote on the measure.
Happening now… The waiting room is overflowing in Ohio as people pack the building in order to speak out against a policy that will force teachers to misgender Ohio trans students and ban them from bathrooms statewide. pic.twitter.com/x4ZYafOd5t
In a 12-7 vote, the board decided to send the resolution to an executive committee. Some board members believe it will probably die there, according to Cleveland.com. A softer version of the proposal will also reportedly be considered by the committee.
But the decision is still a huge victory.
Activist Erin Reed tweeted, “I can’t overstate how big a victory we just won in Ohio for trans people was. We got a boardroom full of Republican school officials to vote AGAINST moms for Liberty anti trans policies. The activists speeches objectively swayed things. The anti-trans group was stunned.”
People like Rep Clock, who has proposed legislation to detransition all trans youth, now will see that his own bill is enormously unpopular and will result in major blowback.
Reed continued to explain that the vote shows that being anti-trans is becoming an extreme position, also praising Jon Stewart for his recent skewering of Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge (R) for the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for youth.
“The same arguments were repeated multiple times in the testimony,” Reed continued. “Ultimately though the credit goes to the activists who showed up. It was a pleasure to watch this and help mobilize from the VERY beginning. The fight isn’t over in Ohio. It isn’t over anywhere. but we won one for the kids today.”
Ultimately though the credit goes to the activists who showed up. It was a pleasure to watch this and help mobilize from the VERY beginning.
The fight isn’t over in Ohio. It isn’t over anywhere.
Now that you have read the article I want to point out several things. First l want you to look at the trans man in the video above. This is a man. However republicans want to force this man to use women’s restrooms. For those women that say they would be uncomfortable knowing a trans person was using the same bathroom as they were, tell me you as a woman wouldn’t be uncomfortable seeing this man entering the female bathroom with you. This is the problem first with judging gender on looks, and second this is the end result of the republicans anti-trans agenda. Second the anti-trans people tried to make sure that they spoke first and took as many spots as they could, knowing that many board meetings have a time limit and they hoped to run out the clock so the trans positive people could speak. Also notice that the anti-trans activists used lies, myths, debunked talking points, to the point of claiming that trans people simply did not exist. They throw so much false misleading and wrong information out that as one of the people said it would take longer than the meeting like refute them all. It is called a Gish gallop. But what was nice was a real geneticist who destroyed the anti-trans arguments with scientific medical facts, not that the anti-trans people would ever listen to facts. Below is the unrolled tweets from the story. Hugs
Happening now… The waiting room is overflowing in Ohio as people pack the building in order to speak out against a policy that will force teachers to misgender Ohio trans students and ban them from bathrooms statewide.
I know the people fighting on the ground. People like @CamomileOgden who have devoted so much to ensuring this doesn't go through.
Unfortunately Moms 4 Liberty has shown up to this meeting, unlike last time where all speakers were against this policy.
We've already had two speakers propose that people shouldn't be able to transition up to 25 years old because of "brain development."
And now there's a teacher saying that trans youth are a sign that "society is in decay"
I'm being told that the Moms4Liberty folks snagged the first 20 spots, and then later spots will be heavily opposed to the measure.
Its still a nonstop stream of people speaking in favor of the resolution. Soon the flavor of speakers will change. There seems to have been some shenanigans in how approved speakers were handled.
We are finally getting to the speakers in opposition to the policy.
"We already know how this policy works… the state practiced this policy for years and it killed LGBTQ+ people."
Oh cool cool cool, now they are saying that "[transgenderism] is moral decay in our public institutions that is growing like a cancer spread by globalists."
Reverend Andrew Burns of the United Methodist Church is speaking passionately against the measure.
This girl is AMAZING and is making an economic argument for rejecting this bill. She’s so good! I missed her name.
Getting word that there has been a disturbance outside of the hearing and mood is tense. Many speakers are now effectively speaking against this policy. I hope to clip some later.
This trans man speaking is amazing. "I am a trans man. I WAS one of the students who would be affected by this policy."
"I'm here today for all the trans kids in Ohio who are not able to be here to speak up for themselves"
I'll get his name later when I clip.
Amanda Erickson from Kaleidoscope Youth Center is AMAZING.
She's speaking on behalf of students who gave her quotes.
She says, "You are actively failing the students you have been elected and appointed to serve"
This geneticist is absolutely ripping the measure and teaching them about genetics and how there are hundreds of intersex conditions, and that "Sex is NOT binary"
Now a speaker is comparing trans acceptance to "Hitler youth"
🙄
"gender confusion" is the most garbage transphobe dogwhistle.
We're not confused about our gender – YOU are.
Although early speakers were ALL in favor of the resolution, it has been a nonstop wall of those opposed.
This is great. People are speaking powerfully and persuasively.
Oh look who else it is! This woman also spoke in favor of the Ohio bill to detransition all trasn youth.
Her SON has transitioned and is now an adult, and is living away from her.
She's mad at that so she's trying to stop youth transition.
You can see the previous speaker when she spoke earlier this year.
Her son has repeatedly stated that he is trans and is an adult and does not support this.
Ohio HB454 which would detransition all trans teens in Ohio, Rep Liston @Liston4Ohio asked the non-affirming parent of a trans son (now 18 and free) if she believes trans people exist.
She, like many others asked, does not. All of these witnesses deny trans people ENTIRELY. pic.twitter.com/qJUFS9cbTA
The ever amazing Cam Ogden just spoke, I didn't get a screenshot of her, but she pointed out how so many lies have been spoken and debunking them would take all the time in the world, and how the board should take more time to address and research the truth. @CamomileOgden 💜
I will clip the 2 or 3 best moments a little bit later this evening and probably post them in separate posts as well as to my TikTok.
Young republican speaking out in favor by saying that Biden "changed title IX by executive order" (All he did was interpret gender, as title IX law does not provide such an interpretation)
But its particularly rich to see Republicans complaining of executive actions.
The mother of a trans former student:
"How can you say that trans students should be included when you say they don't even exist?"
Public testimony is over – they will proceed to vote this evening.
Please tell the Ohio Board of Education to protect trans kids, not force teachers to misgender them, and not to ban them from bathrooms of their gender.
We are getting closer and closer to a vote that will determine the fate of so many trans students in Ohio…
Here we go…
They have moved to refer this motion back to committee (which would, for the time being, delay the motion for quite a while)
The vote on this motion has NOT happened yet. Lets hope this motion passes, if not then it will be outright voted on.
Sorry I want to be clear- they have MOVED to send it back to committee, but that motion must now be voted on. Its not a victory or defeat yet – lets see what happens with this vote.
"these kids exist… and there has been absolutely nothing said about what we can do for these kids."
– Member arguing to send this back to committee.
They are currently debating back and forth through parliamentary procedure and everything is kind of running into each other.
The Ohio Board of Education is completely trapped in a Roberts Rules loop.
We may get a vote from them in the next century.
THE OHIO BOARD OF EDUCATION HAS VOTED TO SEND THE PROPOSAL BACK TO COMMITTEE!
They have decided not, at this time, to force teachers to misgender their trans students and ban them from bathrooms.
Thank ALL the activists who did this.
The vote to send back to committee was done 12-7.
I have clips coming of many moments today. Thank you all for following along.
Next stop – Virginia, where we must defeat a very similar proposal.
I hope this shows everyone how these anti-drag queen haters are not doing this to protect kids, they are doing this to enforce a mistaken idea of what gender roles they feel must be enforced regardless of how others do not agree. We have progressed as a society enough to know that the stereotype of gender roles is not only stupid but based only on the idea that men should control women. Seriously there are religious preachers getting furious that women might wear pants or other things considered men’s clothing. Why? Also these same preachers / people go crazy over men / boys wearing what they think are women’s clothing. Yet that ignores that until the 20th century boys and girls both wore dresses until about 10 or 11 years old. Until the boys started to go through puberty. It was done for a lot of reasons, and it was seen as a boy growing up and becoming a man to graduate to knee length shorts. I wonder how many boys would rather have kept the freedom and ease of wearing dresses. I also think that these people stuck on what each gender should be allowed to wear forget history where men wore wigs and before that togas and other non-pants dress. Frankly clothing has no sex / gender. Clothing is just fabric and it is simply stupid to get upset by the idea that one piece of fabric can be worn only by one sex / gender. The real discussion to have is in a civilized society how much modesty should be required by each sex / gender. For example why are men allowed to go shirtless in society and women are not just because their breasts are bigger, well sometimes bigger. I live in a Florida trailer park and there are retired large old men whose breasts are larger than a lot of women’s. Really that is simply sexist and makes no sense. If a woman wants to walk around topless why shouldn’t see be allowed to do so. it is not her responsibility to control others, they have a duty to control themselves. And don’t say that kids shouldn’t see her breasts. Why? They see men’s breasts all the time. It is a social convention that needs to go bye bye. Breasts exist, kids know people have them, they are not dirty or harmful, but we tell kids they shouldn’t ever see them. Why. See how some sexist old fashion out of date stereotypes of male and female dressing makes no sense? This is nothing more than the Christian Taliban mentality. Are women in the US going to be required to wear burkas? Think of the dress code for Amish women and ask, does it make them a better person or does it simply make their daily lives harder. The fact is these thugs are attempting to use lies along with threats of violence to shut down a legal completely non-sexual event because they want to rule what is allowed in society and what is banned. If you don’t do what these people want they will hurt you. That is the message they are delivering. Well is that a democracy? Is that a civilized civil society for the 21st century? This is what the right wing media and republican governors like DeathSantis are promoting and inspiring. “You guys are total f**king scumbags … You sick f**ks secretly WANT to sexualize little kids because deep down you’re twisted and demented pedos who really really want to f**k kids,” one message said. “I seriously hope that the next workplace shooting occurs at our organization and snuffs out everyone who approved of this. Maybe then our children will be safe from predators like you.” For reading stories to dogs by a man dressed in a costume. Have they seen the outfits that clergy dress in? Hugs
“I seriously hope that the next workplace shooting occurs at our organization and snuffs out everyone who approved of this,” one threat read.
A dog shelter is receiving death threats because it had a drag queen read books to dogs.
On September 24, the Hard Knocks Rescue & Training facility of Huntsville, Alabama had a drag queen named Miss Majesty Divine read to the dogs in its care.
Chaya Raichik, who goes by LibsofTikTok on social media, posted an article that sought to generate outrage about the event. Video of the live-streamed event — which had only one child in its in-person crowd — showed the drag queen reading Walter the Farting Dog: Banned from the Beach and making innuendo comments about men liking “meat” and “big bones.”
After Raichik published her article, the dog shelter began receiving violent threats. Her posts, which regularly accuse LGBTQ people of “grooming” children for sexual abuse, have inspired death threats against drag performers, educators, and healthcare providers.
James Miller, the drag performer who read to the dogs, has since been put on paid leave from his job as a teacher in the Huntsville School District after Raichik’s post. He has said the jokes he made weren’t any worse than the innuendo that has appeared in children’s cartoons.
“You guys are total f**king scumbags … You sick f**ks secretly WANT to sexualize little kids because deep down you’re twisted and demented pedos who really really want to f**k kids,” one message said. “I seriously hope that the next workplace shooting occurs at our organization and snuffs out everyone who approved of this. Maybe then our children will be safe from predators like you.”
The shelter also began getting bad reviews on its Google and Facebook pages.
In a video responding to the threats, the shelter owners said, “We’re not backing down on what we do…. We know this is a risk, but it is the right side of things to be on.”
They also said they had reported the threats to the police and FBI but would continue to operate as they usually do.
“We are being very careful about security,” they continued. “We understand that this is a scary situation. It’s a scary situation. For us. It’s a scary situation for our volunteers, and it’s probably going to make a lot of our clients uncomfortable as well.”
They also noted that Miss Majesty Divine had helped them fundraise and host story hour events at their shelter in the past. The books read during the event focus on “inclusion, acceptance, being authentic, being comfortable in your own skin,” they added.
“Our mission is to focus on the outcast dogs, the underdogs, the dogs that nobody wants to work with,” they said. “The people that we kind of gravitate to and pull into our circle are the people who have always felt pushed out.”
One of the owners also said that they knew what it was like to feel marginalized because they grew up with a gay father during the 1980s.
“To have had a place to go and activities that we could have gone to together as a family that also encompassed other things that we liked, would have been life-changing for me,” one owner said.
The shelter also said it wants to begin a program to help at-risk LGBTQ youth work with dogs so they can both “heal together.”
“We would rather be excluded for those we include that included for those we exclude,” the nonprofit’s CEO Lisa Maasen said.
Again this is a made up myth, a lie repeated to attack trans kids and to mock allowing trans gender kids to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with. This is done so these republicans don’t get called bigots. An attack by proxy. The truth is their base, the people in their party understand what it is about and glory in the hate. That is what these kind of people do. Trans people and trans kids do not harm them. The majority of major medical associations support affirmative gender care for trans
kids which includes full medical work ups, mental health exams, social transitioning, puberty blockers when needed, hormone therapy when needed, and finally when old enough and sure of the gender intensity sexual reassignment. That cannot be argued by the anti-haters that want to use the fringe skeptic doctors and fake studies to pretend the hate they spread is correct. Just like vaccine deniers and Covid hoax fringe claimants. The truth is the major medical organizations have looked at the issue and have formed best practices, and until they change their minds the haters can stay silent with their lies. Hugs
At a luncheon for Republican women in Mesa County, Colorado, last week, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., warned that educators “are putting litter boxes in schools for people who identify as cats.” The week before, on Sept. 29, Minnesota GOP gubernatorial nominee Scott Jensen asked during a campaign stop, “Why do we have litter boxes in some of the school districts so kids can pee in them, because they identify as a furry?”
At least 20 conservative candidates and elected officials have claimed this year that K-12 schools are placing litter boxes on campus or making other accommodations for students who identify as cats, according to an NBC News review of public statements. In Colorado, GOP gubernatorial nominee Heidi Ganahl insisted in several recent interviews that students were dressing and identifying as cats, disrupting class, and the state’s schools were tolerating it.
The data shows how the "litter boxes in schools" rumor that cannot die, mostly due to the incredulity of adults.
According to @graphika's Cristina Lopez G, kids on TikTok are creating videos mocking adults who believe in it wind up providing fodder for the oblivious on Facebook. pic.twitter.com/5P60ky5AtE
How pathetic. The litter is there for terrified students who are locked in during a school murder spree. And now it’s spun into a filthy lie to use against another vulnerable group.
Cat litter can be used to soak up vomit. Not uncommon to have it around for many things at a school. We never had cats growing up, but always had some kitty litter to soak up oil or other car fluids in the garage (Dad was a mechanic).
After all this time – why on earth isn’t there some prominent, loud, rapid response entity to debunk the fuck out of this shit before it literally drowns us to death in mass mental illness?
What happened to that Jersey girl (e.g.) who was briefly tweeting for the WH and slew all kinds of crapola in single deft snarky strokes?
Why, why, WHY do we allow this poison to go unanswered?????!!!!!
That ship sailed with the death of mass media. There was a time when Walter Cronkite could go on television and, for better or worse, be believed by the vast majority of people. Now we are utterly beholden to the rumor mill and the “social media” profiteers who depend on it.
This. Decentralization of “truth” means that you get a bunch of cheap hacks, rather than a few experts.. In one way, it was an unintended consequence of cutting the cord..
There is no way to publicly humiliate these losers because their echo chambers have become so large that they never see the rest of us pointing and laughing at them.
The right has for years (Tea Party anyone?) interrupted town halls and other candidate and representative events. We need to put them into defensive put up or shut up mode.
“Miss Politician, can you, within 24 hours provide concrete proof of these litter boxes for students who identify as cats. The school address, classroom, etc. If you cannot, do you agree to resign from office, as we cannot trust you to make intelligent decisions for your constituents if you promote such a laughable claim with zero evidence.”
At school, I will occasionally see see student, usually a girl, wearing those slip on cat ears. They are just being silly teenagers, there’s nothing to it. I guess they will be banning those now.
And as we laugh at the lies and the media reports, no one is talking about negotiating drug prices, yesterday’s stock market surge, DeSantis being sued, Trump’s deposition in the defamation case, etc. etc.
In this day and age when everyone can take photos and record videos on their phones why isn’t there visual evidence of at least one school litter box? You’d think some disgruntled custodian who has to dispose of the waste and refill the box with clean litter would have already been a special guest on Tucker.
The right has tried hard to equate drag shows with sexual orgies. They have convinced a lot of people that drag shows are the same as strip shows. Drag shows are not trans gender events either. Drag shows, doing drag is simply dress up role playing. It is no different than Halloween. The right loves to demonize anything they dislike or cannot understand. One last point. Dragging your kids to a hate protest where you are screaming and saying nasty things about a group of people is indoctrination and grooming them to hate. If these parents don’t want their children to go to drag show events then don’t take them there, but don’t try to deny parents who do want their kids to see them and enjoy them their parental rights to grant their permission. You raise your kids, don’t try to force others to live by your hatreds. These people want to force everyone to have their views of things, their idea of right and wrong, they don’t care that others disagree with them. They don’t care about the many parents and others that know these events are just good fun, but they want to rule over others and force everyone to live by their views. Hugs
Some protestors carried signs that read “No drag shows inviting our kids” about the family-friendly event.
Parents reportedly took issue with the event, specifically the drag show and some of Boo Bash’s sponsors, which include Fabulous Hillcrest, Rich’s San Diego, SD Loyals, North County LGBTQ Center, and San Diego Pride. An earlier version of the flyer also listed Align Surgical Associates, which provides gender-affirming care, as a sponsor.
“A lot of people are just generally not comfortable with the idea of pushing drag queen shows on little kids but separate and apart from that I think the biggest concern with this event are the sponsors,” said Paul Jonna, an attorney who says he was contacted by concerned parents. “We submitted a public records request to find out more about their involvement, their communication with these sponsors and sort of this event.”
“It is very clear what the agenda is,” said Joleene Burts, who home schools her children. “It is not a family-friendly event and the district is lying to our children and these are our children.”
According to a September statement from the school district, Boo Bash is a “non-district event” and all digital flyers distributed through Peachjar feature a disclaimer noting that “distribution of this flyer does not imply endorsement by the Encinitas Union School District.”
But TransFamily Support Services director Kathie Moehlig told San Diego’s NBC7 that the flyer would not have been delivered to Encinitas parents via Peachjar if the district had not approved it. The frequently asked questions section of the platform’s website clearly states that flyers submitted to Peachjar by community organizations are “routed to the appropriate school district(s) for approval.”
On Tuesday, the district released a statement claiming the flyer had been removed from the platform three weeks ago because it did not meet approval criteria.
Moehling said that the flyer remains on the Peachjar sites of four other schools. She also dismisses the idea that Boo Bash’s Disney-themed drag show is inappropriate for kids.
“These drag queens are going to be performing a Disney villain show and they are going to be dressed appropriately to Disney villain themes, just as you would see any other entertainer wear who is doing entertainment for young children,” she said.
Despite the protest, Moehling said that Boo Bash will take place as scheduled on October 29.
“We’re not going to back down from doing what we know is right and appropriate to support these youth and their families, just because some people think they can use it as their mega piece to get talking points and get attention,” she told KGTV in September.
Scottie's Playtime 