“The Fox host expressed sympathy during his show for an Amish farmer named Amos Miller who has run into legal trouble over food safety issues identified by the Food and Drug Administration dating back to 2016. The government is seeking $305,065 in fines, and, according to a legal update on the farm website dated last September, has put meat production on hold.”
Category: Animals / Insects / Water Life / Plants / Nature
“Separate But Equal” Except It’s For LGBT Students
Judge throws out parents’ lawsuit over school policy to not out trans kids to their parents
Finally a judge that uses common sense and gives a win for child safety. The only reason these parents are demanding to know if their child is not being a “traditional good cis straight kid” is so they can fix them. If the kid thinks they will be unsafe or their parents would react badly they are in the best position to know. If they tell a teacher that their parents would freak out, that they are anti-trans anti-gay, if they tell the teacher the parents are highly religious the chances are the kids will be in trouble and or forced into conversion therapy or isolated from friends and support. Why else would it be so critically important for a parent to know? It is not dangerous or harmful for a kid to be gay / lesbian or use a different pronoun than the cis ones. If the parents wanted to be supportive, they would let the child know that and would wait for the child to feel comfortable to come out to them. No this is about parents who want to stop the child from being who they are. These are parents who think that the kids are making a lifestyle choice rather than that they are born this way. So they will demand the kids not chose to be what they really are. If they must punish a kid to be straight or punish a kid to be cis, they will do so. Hard and to the extreme! That is why they are going to such lengths to know what the kids are doing / saying at school. The decision to come out or be public about one’s sexual orientation or gender identity is a very personal one that should be up to the person entirely. If they are not yet comfortable with being out / open why would anyone think it is OK to force that on them, especially kids? Hugs
Photo: ShutterstockFederal Judge Paul Grimm from the District of Maryland has thrown out a lawsuit from parents who opposed a school district’s plan to support its transgender students.
Three unidentified parents filed the lawsuit in October 2021 against Maryland’s Montgomery County Board of Education. The parents said the district’s guidelines on student gender identity violated state laws and the U.S. Constitution by encouraging school staff to keep a child’s chosen gender identity hidden from parents.
The guidelines state that students can disclose their gender identity to school staff as well as the level of support they anticipate receiving from their caretakers at home. However, the guidelines also state that school staff members aren’t required to disclose a student’s gender identity to a child’s parents unless they are legally required or authorized by the student.
The suing parents said that the guidelines violated the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a 1974 law that gives parents the right to access their children’s educational records.
The parents also said the guidelines violate the Maryland Declaration of Rights provision allowing adults to “direct the care, custody, education, welfare, safety, and control of their minor children” as well as the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment Due Process clause.
In their lawsuit, the parents said the guidelines are “expressly designed to circumvent parental involvement in a pivotal decision affecting [their children’s] care, health education, and future,” The Washington Times reported.
The parents also claimed that the policy would allow children “to transition socially to a different gender identity at school without parental notice or consent”. While the district policy allows students to use the pronouns and gendered facilities of their choosing, it doesn’t authorize the school to provide any other sorts of gender affirming medical or mental health care.
Grimm disagreed with the parents’ arguments. In his decision, the judge wrote that the guidelines are meant to be flexible and don’t necessarily instruct school staff to hide such information from parents.
In fact, in a statement hailing Grimm’s ruling, the Montgomery County Board of Education wrote, “The Court rightly found that our Guidelines for Gender Identity actively encourage familial involvement in developing and implementing a transgender or gender nonconforming student’s ‘Gender Support Plan’ whenever possible.”
The parents’ attorney Rick Claybrook said his clients are considering an appeal to Grimm’s ruling.
Mark Eckstein, chair of the Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations’ LGBTQ subcommittee, said that some parents are opposed to the guidelines because there isn’t a lot of case law on the subject, Bethesda Magazine wrote.
“The ideal situation is to get the parents and child together and get everyone on the same page, but when that doesn’t happen, for whatever reason, it creates conflict,” Eckstein told the magazine. “But you do have a lot of instances where a child is out at school, but not at home. It’s not easy whatever way you cut it. Even if everyone is at their best, it’s a complicated situation.”
This isn’t the first time parents have sued over such a law.
In August, the right-leaning group Parents Defending Education (PDE) sued the Linn-Mar Community School District of Iowa over a similar policy using similar legal reasoning.
Texas school board bans teachers from saying that trans people exist
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/08/texas-school-board-bans-teachers-saying-trans-people-exist/
What have I been saying. This goes against medical data and scientific evidence. Are they going to insist that teachers deny gayss / lesbians exist? Will they insist teachers teach that same sex attraction is a mental illness and must be treated as such? This denies reality. This is a hate driven attempt to wipe out the trans people first then the rest of the LGBTQ+. Yes they will come for the gays and lesbians next. Just as these people never accepted that abortion was a legal right they wont accept that the LGBTQ+ have rights. They cannot stand the tolerance, acceptance, and changing social status of the LGBTQ+ have gained. They cannot just live the way they want and let others do the same, they must force their backwards views on everyone. They will not stop and if not apposed, if we don’t push back hard they simply will keep pushing until everything the LGBTQ+ has worked for will be wiped away. They want to enforce that they must not be offended yet they feel entitled to offend everyone else. These people like to scream they are being canceled and they want to cancel the LGBTQ+ along with any difference in thought from theirs. This is why I fight back so hard and correct the misinformation. I am fighting for the existence of myself and the rest of the LGBTQ+, and really, I am fighting for the rights of everyone who doesn’t live lock step with these right-wing Christian Nationalist hater thugs. They are the Christian US Taliban. Note that the majority did not want this policy but the haters forced it on everyone. Hugs
Photo: ShutterstockA local school board in Texas has adopted a sweeping new set of guidelines that ban discussion about the existence of transgender people – which they call “gender fluidity” – and critical race theory, prohibits the use of pronouns that aren’t aligned with the sex on a student’s birth certificate, and restricts use of restrooms and locker rooms, among other new prohibitions.
The new guidelines, approved by the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District near Dallas, are the result of a concerted campaign organized by conservative Christian group Patriot Mobile Action, which has spent millions of dollars electing conservative majorities to Texas school boards.
Hundreds of residents showed up to the contentious meeting Monday night, with a majority speaking out against the proposed restrictions.
Among a far-right wish list of prohibitions, the new rules include guidance based on flawed definitions.
“Gender Fluidity” is defined in the text as “any theory or ideology that (1) espouses the view that biological sex is merely a social construct; (2) espouses the view that it is possible for a person to be any gender or none (i.e., non-binary); or (3) espouses the view that an individual’s biological sex should be changed to ‘match’ a self-believed gender that is different from the person’s biological sex.”
Gender fluidity is actually the idea that a person’s gender identity or expression can change over time. What the school board is calling gender fluidity is, in fact, the idea that transgender people exist at all.
Also, “nonbinary” means that a person isn’t male or female; it doesn’t necessarily mean they have no gender (that’s usually called agender).
The district also banned the use of pronouns for students and teachers “in any manner that is inconsistent with the biological sex of such person.” The district also limited the use of restrooms and other facilities to the one associated with a person’s gender on their “biological birth certificate.”
The district also banned teaching certain aspect of the history of racism in the U.S., specifically citing the 1619 Project and “critical race theory,” a catch-all term used by conservatives to describe teaching about racism in history.
Over a hundred people spoke in opposition to the proposal, including a United Methodist pastor who said the guidelines reflect a “fascist agenda” that does not represent Christian values.
A Patriot Mobile activist can be seen behind him.
Texas Karen calls cops over gay graphic novel
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/08/texas-karen-calls-cops-gay-graphic-novel/
I am other people have been saying since the start of the anti-LGBTQ+ stuff in schools this was about making the LGBTQ+ and every mention of us go away just like in Russia / China / Islamic countries. These people think that by doing this we LGBTQ+ people will disappear also. If not, they will ban us also again like in Russia / China /Islamic countries. One person feels entitled to ban everyone from reading this book. This entitlement and hate is driven by the top republican elected officials in the state. While this story is from Texas it is happening in Florida and other red states. These people will come after others not like them, the jews, Muslims, or other sects of Christianity when they get rid of the LGBTQ+. Think how much hate and privilege has been given to these haters in just a few years. I could list the reasons the republicans are pushing this hate and why the base is loving it but I have covered it many times before. Hugs
A police officer in Katy, Texas recently removed a copy of Mike Curato’s Flamer, a gay YA graphic novel, from a high school library shelf in the small town near Houston.
And then he put it back.
The school district kerfuffle was instigated by a local book-banning Karen, who remains anonymous.
The woman claimed the coming-of-age story, with a publisher’s recommended reading age of 14+ or with adult guidance, was “pornographic” and “harmful” to minors.
According to a Katy Independent School District police report, the one-woman dust-up started July 21 when she arrived at police headquarters (Texas school districts maintain their own police forces).
She complained that Katy ISD was violating Texas penal code 43.24, which “prohibits the sale, distribution or display of harmful material to minors,” because the book was available in high school libraries.
The woman said she’d already filed complaints about the book with the school district, but wasn’t satisfied with the outcome.
She wanted to speak to a manager.
Curato’s Flamer is a semi-autobiographical story about a boy navigating friendship and bullying at summer camp. It won the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature and made Texas’ own 2021 Maverick Graphic Novels Reading List of the Texas Library Association, among many other accolades.
The book had already been reviewed by a school district committee in March, and deemed appropriate for high-schoolers.
According to the police report, the woman said her complaint originated at Jordan High School in Katy, but the book was also in other high schools, so she wanted to “extend the grievance” to the entire district.
“Per Governor Abbott and the TEA, the book ‘Flamer’ should have been removed from KISD library shelves but it still remains,” the woman said in a follow-up email to police. “The KISD Police Report will be sent to the Texas Rangers office.”
According to Maria Corrales DiPetta, general manager of media relations for the district, that’s when a Katy ISD officer “checked out” the book as part of the investigation.
The school’s principal “explained that when ‘Flamer’ was initially complained on [sic], it was pulled from school library shelves, reviewed, permanently removed from junior high libraries, and then returned to high school libraries upon being deemed appropriate for high school,” the police report states.
A district deputy superintendent provided documents from the review process.
Katy ISD police deemed the Karen’s claim “unsubstantiated”.
“The book has gone through multiple review processes by the district, including one with a committee made up of librarians, parents, and teachers, and deemed appropriate for high school libraries,” the report reads. “The complainant also still has the opportunity to take her complaint before the KISD board.” Again.
A Houston Chronicle analysis found that in Katy ISD, 104 books were reviewed and 43 were removed or partially removed since 2018, making it one of the most restrictive school districts in the state.
OAN Host Uses Photo Of Nazi Book Burning In Call For Public School Libraries To Purge LGBTQ “Filth” [VIDEO] from JMG
Media Matters reports:
On August 22, OAN host Kara McKinney defended a right-wing push to ban LGBTQ books from schools, using a photograph of a Nazi book burning in her commentary.
“I think banning pornographic books from school libraries is not only justifiable – it’s the only moral option,” McKinney said. “It’s our duty, in fact, to purge our schools of such filth.”
Before the Nazis took power in Germany, the “Institute for Sexual Science” was a global pioneer in studying homosexuality and transgender identity, and its founder, Magnus Hirschfeld, was a known advocate for LGBTQ equality.
After taking power, the Nazis labeled the institute “offensive for public morals,” shut it down, and burned its contents on May 6, 1933.
Let’s talk about talking points that are destroying families….
Carlson: “Chemicals In Milk Turn Kids Trans” [VIDEO] From JMG
The Daily Beast reports:
Tucker Carlson sounded just like his good pal and right-wing conspiracy nut Alex Jones on Monday, at one point commenting about chemicals in milk that “turn kids trans.”
The Fox host expressed sympathy during his show for an Amish farmer named Amos Miller who has run into legal trouble over food safety issues identified by the Food and Drug Administration dating back to 2016.
“Maybe if he promises to put more chemicals in the milk that turn kids trans, they’ll lay off,” blurted out Carlson, who has targeted transgender people before. His comment was reminiscent of Jones’ loony theory that the government is “putting chemicals in the water that turn the friggin’ frogs gay.”
Read the full article.
What Carlson said is stupid. He knows it’s a lie but he also knows he can say whatever he likes without consequence, and that saying nutty things keeps his name in the news, so that’s what he does.
Wait, so it’s not Drag Queen Story Hours turning kids trans, it’s chemicals? Quick, someone needs to make a Kickstarter for a special dip stick concerned parents can put in the milk and other goods to indicate if it detects the super scary “turn kids trans” chemical. Possibly with a stretch goal of one that can detect “turn adults trans” chemical?
Since there doesn’t appear to be any science behind any chemical that turns anyone trans, a simple stick that does nothing would not technically be fraud.
This Is What the Earth Looked Like Before the Dinosaurs Era
Small-town young LGBTQ+ person left a heartwarming note for a woman who flew Pride flag
This is why it is important to keep LGBTQ+ symbols, books, information, and our presence in all communities. This is why the right / republicans want to destroy these same things. Somehow they think if kids don’t see it they won’t be LGBTQ+, but what they really want is LGBTQ+ kids to be afraid and unhappy. Someone once asked me why I thought it was OK for teachers to have rainbow flag stickers in their classrooms or on their classroom doors. This is why. Hugs
A beautiful story out of Paris, Arkansas (population 3,413) shows the power of representation and how it can have an incredible effect on a child’s life.
Stephanie Robertson, 52, received a Progress Pride flag last year from her son, Levi, 30, and she’s had it up throughout the month of June. Stephanie is a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve who currently works part-time as a support specialist for the Forest Service at Ozark St Francis National Forest.
“She was excited to hang it up for the first time this year and kept it hanging up outside her home all throughout June,” Levi told PinkNews.
For some perspective, Paris is located in Logan, County Arkansas which is very conservative.
In the last presidential election, 18.8% of residents voted Democrat while 78.3% voted Republican. It’s safe to say a pride flag isn’t something you see every day in that community. That’s why when a self-described “young LGBTQ+ person” saw the flag hanging from Stepanie’s house, it had a huge impact.
The child felt so welcomed by the flag that they put a letter in Stephanie’s mailbox. “She texted me yesterday and was like, ‘You’re not gonna believe the letter I found in our mailbox,’ and sent me a photo of the letter,” Levi told Pink News.
“Hello, this is probably kinda weird,” the letter began, “but I walk past your house every day and I’ve noticed your flag and I’m glad to know there is at least one ally in this little town – from a young LGBTQ+ person.”
The letter was written on a small legal pad and had several words crossed out.
The child’s words provide a small glimpse into what it’s like to live in a small town where people aren’t openly accepting of the LGBTQ community. For the child to learn that there is “at least one” ally in town has to mean the world to them. By hanging that flag, Stepanie showed the child that there was one safe place in their town where they are welcome to be their true self.
“I immediately called her and told her how profound and awesome it was that her hanging it made a child feel seen,” Levi said. “She agreed and kept saying how she couldn’t get over how sweet it was.”
Levi tweeted out a photo of the letter and it has received over 750,000 likes. The viral tweet is a great reminder of the impact that allies can have when they make themselves known through simple gestures such as flying a Pride flag.
It’s also a reminder that there’s still a lot of work to be done to make sure that LGBTQ children feel safe no matter where they live.
The child’s note has encouraged Stephanie to do even more for the LGBTQ community in Paris, Arkansas. “She’s going to find a Progress Pride flag window sticker for the front of her house to keep up all year,” Levi said.
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