Notice this is in the news section, not in the opinion writer section. I went to the link. It is the supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics. I read the report, looked at how the study was done. The findings seem solid. This is the short version, easy to read version. That the totally discredited / debunked ROGD (rapid onset gender dysphoria) is used and pushed even though proven wrong is true. It has been pushed on my own Play Time by Tildeb and Nan. It just makes sense they said. Nope, only does if you are anti-trans looking for a reason not to agree with gender affirming care. The same thing happened when kids and adults felt safe coming out as gay, the number of people reporting to be gay increased dramatically, then remained steady. It is called the left handed syndrome, the idea that when people stopped being punished for being left handed, when the stigma was gone, the numbers of left handed people increased. Below are a couple quotes. Hugs. Scottie
The ROGD theory posits that trans identification is exploding specifically among AFAB youth, who are being preyed upon by “gender ideology” — but this analysis of nearly 200,000 adolescents disproves that hypothesis.
Of course, these findings are not the first to indicate that ROGD is junk science. The theory was first floated in 2018, and problems with the study that justified it were obvious from the start. Dr. Lisa Littman, a board member of the “gender critical” group Genspect, published a survey of less than 300 parents of trans youth recruited from openly anti-trans communities like the UK-based TERF-y site Mumsnet who provided testimonials supporting Littman’s hypothesis. That the paper was immediately retracted or that Littman herself has misrepresented her own data haven’t prevented these “findings” from becoming enmeshed on the right, though, in part because anti-trans dogma isn’t just about gender.
Scientists said any claims that people are becoming trans just to fit in “does not hold up to scrutiny.”
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 2021/08/06: Protesters wrapped in pride and trans pride flags sit on a wall during the trans rights demonstration.Protesters gathered outside Downing Street demanding an end to discrimination against the trans community, better support from the government against hate, and improvements to trans healthcare waiting times. (Photo by Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)SOPA Images/Getty Images
Over the past four years, opponents of transgender rights and protections have pushed a theory called “rapid onset gender dysphoria,” or ROGD, asserting that more young people are publicly identifiying as trans due to “social contagion.” “Trans people have long known this theory to be completely false, but now, a new study has finally proven it for good.”
A study published Wednesday in the journal Pediatrics is the latest to demonstrate how the numbers just don’t line up in ROGD’s favor. Scientists analyzed data from the CDC’s 2017 and 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 16 states, looking particularly at the ratio of trans and gender-diverse youth who were assigned female at birth as opposed to those assigned male. The ROGD theory posits that trans identification is exploding specifically among AFAB youth, who are being preyed upon by “gender ideology” — but this analysis of nearly 200,000 adolescents disproves that hypothesis.
Far from rising, the number of trans and gender diverse youth identified in the survey actually dropped significantly between 2017 and 2019, falling from 2.4% to 1.6%. And while the ratio of assigned-male to assigned-female trans youth did shrink, going from 1.5:1 to 1.2:1 over the two years analyzed, researchers found the numbers actually changed because there were fewer transfeminine youth in the latter survey, not more transmascs.
Proponents of ROGD, including J.K. Rowling and Joe Rogan, have also claimed that transness is a “social contagion” because young people are using trans identification as a way to escape homophobic bullying. There’s a lot of misconceptions to unpack in that one sentence, but the Pediatrics study addresses the most vital one: once again, it was found, bullying and suicidal ideation rates were both higher among trans youth than their cis-identified peers, making the ROGD claim nonsensical.
“The hypothesis that transgender and gender diverse youth assigned female at birth identify as transgender due to social contagion does not hold up to scrutiny and should not be used to argue against the provision of gender-affirming medical care for adolescents,” Dr. Alex S. Keuroghlian, one of the study’s senior authors, said in a statement. Lead author Dr. Jack Turban concurred, calling the idea that trans youth transition to escape social stigma “absurd.”
“The damaging effects of these unfounded hypotheses in further stigmatizing transgender and gender diverse youth cannot be understated,” Turban stressed. “We hope that clinicians, policymakers, journalists, and anyone else who contributes to health policy will review these findings.”
Researchers say it points to the growing scientific conclusion that “gender affirming care is life saving care.”
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Of course, these findings are not the first to indicate that ROGD is junk science. The theory was first floated in 2018, and problems with the study that justified it were obvious from the start. Dr. Lisa Littman, a board member of the “gender critical” group Genspect, published a survey of less than 300 parents of trans youth recruited from openly anti-trans communities like the UK-based TERF-y site Mumsnet who provided testimonials supporting Littman’s hypothesis. That the paper was immediately retracted or that Littman herself has misrepresented her own data haven’t prevented these “findings” from becoming enmeshed on the right, though, in part because anti-trans dogma isn’t just about gender.
We’d like to believe that this will finally put Littman’s harmful falsehoods to rest, but sadly, truth-telling is not a hallmark of the reactionary right. Hopefully this can at least reassure some trans youth that they’re not monsters or dupes, and that their identities deserve respect — even if some insist on screaming otherwise.
Last time it was mentioned to her that her followers attack the people / places she goes after, she was very proud of that fact. She likes it. That is the point. She is a female thug, a Christian fundamentalist thug, who feels entitled to force everyone to live as she demands they do. She feels it is her god given right to take rights away from others. Hugs. Scottie
The FBI and local law enforcement said bomb threats across the country have tied up government resources even when they turn out to be hoaxes.
Chaya Raichik, creator of LibsofTikTok, at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland last March.Michael Brochstein / Sipa USA via AP file
Last March, police in Coralville, Iowa, investigated a bomb threat targeting a junior high school. Authorities brought in specially trained dogs to sniff for explosives and started looking into why someone might try to target the community’s teachers and students.
Law enforcement quickly determined that the threat was a hoax. Detective Hanna Dvorak from the Coralville Police Department arrived at a theory.
“It appears this all stems from a post made earlier this week by Chaya Raichik and her ‘Libs of TikTok’ account,” Dvorak wrote in a report to her superiors.
Raichik, 29, is not accused of making any bomb threats in Iowa or anywhere else. But about a day and a half before authorities responded to the threat at Coralville’s Northwest Junior High, Raichik posted that the school offers a “pornographic” book in its library that “teaches kids about gay sex.”
“These are the books they’re giving your kids to read in school,” she wrote on the social media platform X. People have frequently targeted the book in question, “This Book Is Gay,” a coming-out guide for LGBTQ teens, with book bans going back years.
The Coralville detective wrote in her report that one of Raichik’s supporters could have had a role in the bomb threat.
Coralville was not alone. Officers and government officials in four other jurisdictions — Burbank, California; Minnetonka, Minnesota; Oklahoma City; and Tualatin, Oregon — told NBC News they believe Raichik sparked threats in their localities with her posts on social media that digitally heckle people such as drag performers, LGBTQ teachers and doctors who treat transgender patients. The name “Libs of TikTok” is a reference to the people Raichik mocks on social media — “Libs” being short for “liberal.”
While the direct inspirations for the threats are not known, the timing suggests that Libs of TikTok posts have been used to pick targets.
NBC News identified 33 instances, starting in November 2020, when people or institutions singled out by Libs of TikTok later reported bomb threats or other violent intimidation. The threats, which on average came several days after tweets from Libs of TikTok, targeted schools, libraries, hospitals, small businesses and elected officials in 16 states, Washington, D.C., and the Canadian province of Ontario. Twenty-one of the 33 threats were bomb threats, which most commonly targeted schools and were made via email.
NBC News emailed Raichik on Monday seeking comment on the threats. She did not respond directly, but said in a post on X that NBC News was working on a “hit piece.”
“They do it to try to paint me as an extremist to discredit me. This ‘b*mb threat’ narrative is really getting old,” she wrote, adding a yawning-face emoji.
NBC News identified the threats in a review of local news sources, social media posts and interviews with experts and victims.
The 33 threats drew both local and national resources. Law enforcement agencies in at least 13 jurisdictions reported receiving FBI assistance to find the responsible person or people. A police spokesperson in Burbank said he believed the FBI still has an open investigation into an incident there.
In an emailed statement, the bureau said it has, in general, observed an increase in threats of violence targeting institutions like hospitals and schools.
“As a country and organization, we have seen an increase in threats of violence targeting government officials and institutions, houses of worship, schools, and medical facilities, just to name a few. The FBI and our partners take all threats of violence seriously and responding to these threats ties up law enforcement resources,” the FBI press office said.
“When the threats are made as a hoax, it puts innocent people at risk, is a waste of law enforcement’s limited resources, and costs taxpayers. The FBI and our state and local partners will continue to aggressively pursue perpetrators of these threats — real or false — and hold them accountable,” the bureau said.
The FBI did not respond directly to questions about Raichik or the status of cases related to the 33 threats.
Prosecutors have pursued charges in only three of the 33 instances NBC News reviewed: At least three people have been charged with threatening Boston Children’s Hospital or Boston doctors, a juvenile was arrested after being accused of making a threat at an Oregon middle school, and five members of the white nationalist hate group Patriot Front were convicted of conspiring to riot at an Idaho Pride event.
The charging documents associated with those prosecutions did not mention either Libs of TikTok or Raichik.
A member of Patriot Front is searched after being arrested in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on June 11, 2022.John Rudoff / Reuters file
Of the 33 instances, law enforcement or school officials in four jurisdictions said, there were indications — such as email addresses with a non-U.S. domain — that the threats could have come from people in foreign countries.
Raichik, the founder of the Libs of TikTok social media brand, has become an internet celebrity among some conservatives for her willingness to criticize teachers, doctors and other professionals who are LGBTQ or who are accepting of LGBTQ people. Raichik often posts their names and photographs alongside accusations of wrongdoing to X, where she has 2.8 million followers.
Konstantine Anthony, a City Council member in Burbank, said he received violent threats by email less than an hour after Libs of TikTok posted a video of him. The video showed Anthony, who at the time was Burbank’s mayor, getting spanked by a drag queen at a political fundraiser, and Libs of TikTok’s post said it happened “in front of children.” Anthony said no children were present. He was clothed and laughing in the video.
Anthony told NBC News that based on the timing, he believes he and his City Hall staff received at least two bomb threats “as a direct result of Libs of TikTok.”
A spokesperson for the Burbank Police Department said the police had referred the threats to the FBI, which was investigating them.
Konstantine Anthony in Burbank, Calif., on March 15. Tommaso Boddi / Getty Images file
Anthony, a Democrat running for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, blamed Raichik for turning him and others into targets. He said he received harassing messages and threats by email, voicemail, social media and even handwritten letters.
He said he saw increases in the number of threats after subsequent tweets by Raichik.
Libs of TikTok has now taken on a large and growing role in the nation’s culture wars. It provides ammunition to conservatives by collecting and posting examples of what it considers far-left ideology, such as TikTok videos of teachers discussing race or screenshots from gender clinic websites. Elon Musk, who restored Libs of TikTok on X after it was suspended under previous ownership, frequently shares the account’s posts on his own X profile, and the account’s followers on X include a number of politicians such as Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Former President Donald Trump hosted Raichik for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago estate in January 2023. Tucker Carlson, then a Fox News host, featured her on his show in December 2022. Raichik claimed to be at the Jan. 6, 2021, riot outside the U.S. Capitol, though not in the building, according to The Washington Post.
On Jan. 23, Raichik was appointed to the Oklahoma Department of Education’s Library Media Advisory Committee by Superintendent Ryan Walters. At least one lawmaker has referred to the bomb threats when contesting Raichik’s appointment to the committee.
Oklahoma Public Instruction Superintendent Ryan Walters during inauguration ceremonies in Oklahoma City on Jan. 9, 2023.Sue Ogrocki / AP file
The threats have been taking up government resources and been highly distracting.
In response to the threats, some schools canceled classes for days, while others stayed open following quick sweeps from law enforcement.
Superintendent Sue Rieke-Smith dealt with two separate bomb threats in October after Libs of TikTok tagged Oregon’s Tigard-Tualatin School District. The account shared a video showing a school fight involving a person who some people said appeared to be a trans student.
The school district determined, with assistance from the FBI, that the threat was not credible, said district spokesperson Traci Rose.
Rieke-Smith said that social media accounts cross a line when they criticize kids or inspire threats.
“I think there should be consequences when social media is used inappropriately and a community is harmed,” she added. She said she had even raised her concerns with Oregon’s governor in a recent conversation.
Chief Greg Pickering of the Tualatin Police Department said he assigned a small team to investigate the threats.
“It takes time to vet those threats,” he said in a phone interview. “There’s a ton of due diligence.”
His department arrested a juvenile for making one of the threats on Snapchat. No one has been charged with the other bomb threat, made via email. Pickering said he believed that Libs of TikTok inspired the threat.
Raichik has said that she doesn’t support threatening the subjects of her posts, and that she is not responsible for how people respond to her content. She’s said that she has faced threats herself. When USA Today wrote about the threats, she posed with a copy of the article, smiling, and made it her profile photo on X.
Chaya Raichik at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on March 2. Zach Roberts / NurPhoto via AP
She continues to post the identifying details and images of her subjects. She has rarely criticized the threat-makers or urged them to stop. She told The Washington Post in September 2022, when the newspaper was reporting on threats against children’s hospitals: “We 100 % condemn any acts/threats of violence.”
Raichik has at times mocked the idea that she could influence people making threats, once joking that maybe she was also responsible for natural disasters.
But some of her followers take her posts as an invitation. People have replied with the phone numbers of schools, the names of teachers and school board members and requests for Raichik to provide more details so that users can take action.
“Need to post the school name so calls can be made,” one user replied to a recent Libs of TikTok post on X. Raichik did not respond.
Vice News reported Oct. 4 that at least 11 schools or school districts that were targeted by Libs of TikTok in the prior month received bomb threats days later.
Libs of TikTok is part of a right-wing ecosystem on social media that has targeted transgender people, drag performers, LGBTQ advocates and others in recent years.
“There are forces at work in our country that have fostered this sort of behavior, and that just needs to stop,” said John Sasaki, a spokesperson for the Oakland Unified School District in California.
One of the district’s elementary schools was targeted by Libs of TikTok for hosting an event to bring together Black, Asian and Pacific Islander, and other families of color. In August, Libs of TikTok called the event racist against white people.
The next day, Aug. 29, someone emailed a bomb threat to the school’s principal, Sasaki said. The school canceled classes for the day and sent home its 570 students as police responded.
Sasaki said the district deployed counselors and other school staff to the elementary school the next day.
For other school districts, the threats that followed a Libs of TikTok post have meant more than a one-day evacuation. Oklahoma’s Union Public Schools was the target of bomb threats for six days in August — a series that began one day after an Aug. 21 Libs of TikTok post criticizing an elementary school librarian. The librarian had said online that she emphasized social justice in her teaching.
Chris Payne, a spokesperson for the district, said the local police, with assistance from the FBI, investigated, but he wasn’t aware of any charges. He said he was told by law enforcement that many of the messages appeared to have come from outside the country.
In September, police in Salem, Massachusetts, said they responded to three hoax bomb threats in seven days against the city’s elementary school. Three days before the first threat, Libs of TikTok posted about the school.
“The frequency of school threats which turn out to be hoaxes has dramatically increased in the last two years and presents a quandary for school personnel and public safety alike,” Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller said in a statement.
He added that his department had to balance competing factors: taking all threats seriously while also considering the “mental trauma inflicted upon school children who are exposed to repeated police emergencies.”
Hate costs. These people wanted to limit other people, the LGBTQIA and their supporters, from public participation. But they tried to do it based on a lie they created. They tried to claim that drag was obscene and sexualized kids. I find it strange it only does it to kids in their minds, yet they want to ban porn from adults also? But there are already laws on obscenity if they think someone was showing a body part that should always be hidden to save the world. They did not want that, because it would still let the parade happen. So they passed a law outlawing one group … for public good. Just like in Russia, and just like that they were able to deny the pride parade permits, stopping “those people” from a public event. The law is illegal. Just because you don’t like a group, don’t like someone’s views or that they are different doesn’t give you the right to deny their human rights, their civil rights, and full equal participation in society publically. I wonder if it will pause some of the other laws pushed by fundamentalist religious right-wingers. Hugs. Scottie
A Tennessee city must pay $500,000 as part of a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups over an ordinance designed to ban drag performances from taking place on public property, attorneys announced Wednesday.
Last year, the Tennessee Equality Project — a nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights — filed a federal lawsuit after Murfreesboro leaders announced they would no longer be approving any event permit requests submitted by the organization.
At the time, the city alleged that the drag performances that took place during TEP’s 2022 Pride event resulted in the “illegal sexualization of kids.”
Read the full article. My October 2023 posts on the Murfreesboro ban are here and here.
STATEMENT from @tnequality on winning the settlement against Murfreesboro: "We celebrate the resolution of this case… Now we can turn our attention to preparing for the 2024 BoroPride and defending rights at the state legislature.” https://t.co/JlYvTFF4mdpic.twitter.com/j2ffhXjgBu
The thing about Murfreesboro is it’s a small town with a large university and campus population exceeding 20k. A lot of partying happens there and the student body is very diverse. The fact that the city council was trying to tamp down Pride activities tells me their Pride must really be a popular event. Murfreesboro, TN, Rutherford Co, is adjacent to Franklin, TN, Williamson Co. It also tried to ban Pride only to lose that effort when the LGBTQ community fought back. My friends in Franklin ( the home of Marsha Blackburn) tell me it’s Pride event was well attended with many Het families bringing their children to the festivities. FYI: In my childhood Murfreesboro TN was a sundown town. That might give you an idea about it’s deep and obviously still politically active Confederate roots.
Illegal sexualization of kids? Drag queens are only sexual if you find drag queen sexual. but if you really want to talk about the LEGAL sexualization of children, Let’s talk about this:
When I lived in PA in the 90s (“Pennsyltucky”), there was a country station which the entire frickin’ region listened to (“Froggy 98”).
They had a TV commercial w/ two little girls dancing to a country song. The younger of the two girls had obviously been (though I didn’t know this term then) GROOMED to “dance sexy”. It was beyond disturbing even then, but I regret not being aware enough to protest it.
These small towns and medium sized cities seem to be unable to consult with their attorneys, or they decide that they don’t like the answer and forge ahead. Inevitably they lose at least some of the lawsuits, and their taxpayers get stuck with the bill. Maybe the city fathers have swallowed the ALEC-like model legislation without considering that the model legislation is not viable when challenged.
Fiscally, won’t dent their budget much. According to their 2022-’23 budget docs, their budget was $573 million.
$500K is nothing for them. But the humiliation of spending taxpayer money to try to keep their homophobic and transphobic ordinance active, only to publicly retract it, will deservedly embarrass the local government there.
The rabid fundamental Christian right is trying to do in other places what they accomplished in Florida, a government take over so they can force everyone to live by their regressive rules. In a lot of red state areas that they did this, the majority has risen up to try to take back the government from the haters / fundies. But in sleep small towns in blue states, the people are not aware of the danger the anti-LGBTQIA fundamentalist right present. Anytime someone uses the word abomination to describe gay people, you know their stance is being directed by religious church doctrine, not science or reality. LGBTQIA are not abominations, but people who support hate, taking away equality from people, and oppression are. Hugs. Scottie
The quaint town of Littleton, New Hampshire, is seeing more tourists, drawn to a main street of shops and restaurants where rainbow colors and gay pride symbols can be seen alongside American flags. Its population of 6,000 is growing younger and more diverse, supporting LGBTQ-themed art and a local theater’s gay-themed musical.
The culture change doesn’t sit well with town selectboard member Carrie Gendreau, who also serves as a Republican state senator. Last year, she said that “homosexuality is an abomination” and spoke of regulating art on public property, prompting a backlash and now the resignation of the town manager, whose late son was gay.
“My son is not an abomination,” Jim Gleason told the selectboard in January, to a standing ovation, when he announced his last day was Friday. He accused Gendreau of creating a toxic work environment by repeatedly making derogatory comments about gay people. Friday also was Gendreau’s deadline to file for reelection to the board, but she didn’t, so her three-year term ends in March.
A former mill town in the White Mountains, Littleton reversed a long decline in part through art. Tourists come now for antiques, galleries, boutiques and “the world’s longest candy counter.” They also look at the bronze statue of Pollyanna, erected outside the public library to honor the 1913 book by local author Eleanor H. Porter, whose main character came to define relentless optimism.
Pollyanna’s motto “Be Glad!” — which hangs from banners up and down Main Street — has been tested as townspeople found themselves debating over inclusion, tolerance and equality.
The controversy began in August, after three small murals funded by a diversity, equity and inclusion grant appeared on the side of a building that houses a restaurant and clothing store. Covering boarded-up windows, the murals show a white iris against a color wheel, two birch trees bending under a night sky, and a dandelion reaching skyward from an open book.
“What went up was not good,” said Gendreau, urging the selectboard’s audience to research what such symbols really mean. “I don’t want that to be in our town. I don’t want it to be here.”
The board then sought an attorney’s advice on what they could do to regulate artistic expression on town property and Gendreau gave several interviews, telling The Boston Globe that the iris painting carried “demonic hidden messages.”
The artist, Meg Reinhold, said her “We Are Joy” painting was inspired by Iris, the Greek goddess of rainbows. She told The Associated Press in an email that she hoped to “evoke feelings of joy and empowerment,” add beauty to Littleton, and celebrate people living with pride in the LGBTQ+ community.
“If a viewer looks at these works and sees demons and darkness, what does that tell us about how they view the world?” Reinhold said.
Gleason, who answered to the board as town manager, said he tried to resolve matters. When a woman approached him demanding to stop the November production of “La Cage aux Folles” — depicted on screen as “The Birdcage” — he said she was free to protest outside the theater or not buy a ticket.
She responded by invoking his son, saying “He’s in hell with the devil where he belongs,” recalled Gleason, and he said Gendreau tried to justify the the comments. The woman later admitted sending Gleason a photo of him clipped from a newspaper with derogatory language written across his face. A judge granted Gleason a restraining order against her.
As fears of a public art ban spread, selectboard meetings drew large crowds.
Ronnie Sandler, 75, an out lesbian all her adult life, said she spoke up at a selectboard meeting last fall because some of her friends told her they were scared.
“I have never felt any hatred or anything targeted at me in all of those years,” she told the AP. “Back in the late ‘70s, my girlfriend and I used to walk around in Littleton holding hands.”
A group of local business owners led by auto dealership manager Duane Coute submitted a letter signed by more than 1,000 people from Littleton and across the country urging the board to abandon “a path so detrimental to business.”
“Our community is so much stronger because of this situation,” Coute said.
New Hampshire’s Democratic-led congressional delegation stressed “how integral public art and cultural expression are to the economic wellbeing and competitiveness of towns like Littleton and similar communities throughout New Hampshire.” Surrounding towns adopted inclusivity-equality resolutions.
Some people backed Gendreau.
“She speaks for those stakeholders who are afraid to speak out due to personal retribution. She speaks out for those who are afraid for their own personal safety,” Nick De Mayo of nearby Sugar Hill, in Gendreau’s Senate district, wrote in a letter to the editor.
Others called the whole experience disappointing and disgraceful.
“It’s coming from a very small group of people. Unfortunately, that small group of people hold elected office and have some degree of power within the town,” said Kevin Silva, a physician who has lived in Littleton for about 20 years.
The board ultimately announced that they never sought an art ban. Selectboard member Linda MacNeil drew a standing ovation when she said “Whether we agree with the content or not, art is part of the fabric of history and should not be censored.” Roger Emerson, chairperson of the three-member board, did not take a position on the subject.
Gleason, 65, expressed amazement during his resignation speech at an outpouring of support for his defense of the arts, and urged his fellow townspeople to keep working “for civil rights and equality for all.”
“Keep up the fight,” he told the audience in a quavering voice. ‘You’ve got a beautiful town.”
Gleason, who was hired in 2021 following a similar job in Florida, told the AP he’s been thinking of his son Patrick, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2016.
“I believe he’d be proud of his dad for standing up, not just for him, but for everybody in the LGBTQIA-plus community, and anyone who has been marginalized or discriminated against in terms of that process,” Gleason said. “This is one of those moments. We don’t always get them in life.”
Gendreau didn’t answer directly when asked for comment on the controversy, but she suggested she wasn’t done trying to change her community. “There’s a lot of undertones that need to get corrected,” she said.
From the linked article, here is what the class would teach. “…class and school wide presentations showcasing the achievements and recognizing the rich and diverse traditions, histories, and innumerable contributions of the Black communities.” So we are catering to the parents that don’t want kids to know that gay / trans people exist, now we are catering to the racist parents that don’t want black history and achievements taught. Well the first one, don’t say gay increases harassment / attacks on gay and trans kids, the second does the same for black kids, it increases the racism they have to deal with. Some more quotes from the article.
But Gallon said he is concerned about the unintended consequences this may have on children whose parents choose not to have them attend. “Something feels very off here, and the fact that the school needs to cover themselves against the state feels even worse,” said Peeling. Florida International University Professor Marvin Dunn, who is an expert in African-American history, said this will create a generation of people who are miseducated when it comes Black history.
“When parents become involved in making that decision, keeping some kids out, some kids in, you have unequal learning,” said Dunn.
Here is the entire goal of the right, DeathSantis, and maga.
“The intent of the DeSantis attack on education is to make schools more cautious, to make teachers more cautious about what they teach, and it’s working,” he said. “It’s not about banning books necessarily, it’s about banning ideas.”
Hugs. Scottie
Miami School Asks Parents To Sign Permission Slips Allowing Children To Learn About Black History Month
February marks Black History Month, an important topic being taught at South Florida schools, but now parents at IPrep Academy are being asked to sign off on whether they want their children to participate in some of the educational events.
“I was shocked,” said concerned parent Jill Peeling, who said she thought she may have misunderstood the document. “I’m concerned. I’m concerned as a citizen.” Miami-Dade School Board Member Steve Gallon said it all has to do with getting parental consent when individuals come on campus.
“This is a policy that’s an extension of a new state board rule,” said Gallon. It’s a policy that was just enacted last year in November, an extension of the Parental Bill Of Rights.
Read the full article. Those of here will know the Parental Bill of Rights by its more accurate name, “Don’t Say Gay.” To which we can add, “Don’t Say Black.” Last year the Miami-Dade School Board banned any recognition of LGBTQ History Month.
I am so glad I am not a parent and live in Florida.
These A-Holes are setting these kids up to fail when they get jobs in the real world because I can tell you my company won’t put up with discrimination.
A good friend sent this to me about a month ago.I think it came from a “reader poll” in his local paper, but I’m not sure. I can’t vouch for its accuracy, but I wasn’t surprised when I saw it. Friend is an MIT math grad who doesn’t traffic in conspiracy theories or create memes, so I give it some credence. He sent it with the comment “what a great country we live in”.
Fuckers. Why not turn this around and make the white supremacists sign OPT OUT slips so they can keep turning their own kids into good little klansmen, rather than trying to do it to everyone’s kids?
These are some of the disadvantages of leaving Black history* to a particular month — it becomes a set of optional activities, rather than facts and concepts to be learned.
*The history of African descendants in America is really the history of America, inextricable from the history of white America.
What is with the forced patriotism of the right? They want no independent thought, just everyone marching in lockstep. It doesn’t install a love of country to force someone to say the Pledge of Allegiance, nor by making them sing a song, just like forced morning prayers never made kids religious. If it is illegal to force kids to stand and say the pledge, it has to also be illegal to make them stand and sing the national anthem. Notice the other things this guy wants, no same-sex marriages and no trans people. Is this because he is a fundamentalist religious person? A fundie? Is this what he thinks is patriotic because in church everyone is required to do group think and never question the leader? Hugs. Scottie
A new bill in the Iowa House of Representatives would make it a legal requirement for public school students and teachers in grades 1-12 to sing the national anthem. The proposed bill passed the subcommittee in a 2-1 vote. The bill would mandate students to sing the anthem at least once a day and for social studies classes to teach about the meaning and history of the national anthem. Physically able students would need to “stand at attention” and “remove any headdress that is not being worn for religious purposes.”
Connie Ryan, Executive Director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, compared it to what Adolph Hitler did when he took power in Germany. “Adolph Hitler became the chancellor of Germany in January 1933 and made a national anthem required for all students, all people to know, to be able to sing, to sing it at the same tempo. There were lots of different requirements the Nazis put on that,” Ryan said. “That is not my idea of a free democracy, and I would urge us to oppose this legislation simply on those grounds.”
The bill’s author, Rep. Skyler Wheeler [photo], last appeared here in March 2023 when he sponsored a bill to place a ban on same-sex marriage in the state constitution in case Obergefell ever gets overturned. Wheeler is also the author of recent anti-trans legislation.
An Iowa bill would make students sing the national anthem every day. One lawmaker sang it https://t.co/DI3PiAJx4d
It’s like there is one great wave of self-delusion going on, whether the use of terminology, ‘patriots’, chants of USA/USA, or the interminable flags that appear compulsory behind every moron running for election. It’s all a charade of how united we are, when the exact opposite is the truth.
It’s been like this my whole life. We did all this crap when I was in elementary school. We said the pledge of allegiance and some other crap. Texas even has a pledge to the state flag that a lot of kids say. (It’s dumb. It’s something like “Honor the Texas flag.” I might be misremembering. It wasn’t interesting enough to commit to memory verbatim.)
You forgot bringng back the Lord’s Prayer, and Pledge of Allegiance. But, fuck any book that mentions slavery, or the Native American genocide, or segregation, etc
Why, when, how did the US flag become a symbol of christian nationalism and fascism? It has been co-opted by the right as if waving the flag demonstrates only their “patriotism” to the exclusion of all others.
For me, it’s Trump’s mugging for the cameras as he hugs the flag, and the faux patriotism of many who wave it, that triggers strong, negative feelings. The ultimate though has to be the girl at the Trump rally wiping her nose with it. The people who have turned it into a wearable commodity sicken me.
Republicans have been doing this schtick of pretending they’re more patriotic than anyone else for a long time. What they really are is isolationists, nationalists, and fascists.
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.
So Lance is a video YouTuber I enjoy listening to. But the thing about his well researched true science rebuttal to the new trans hate battle in Canada I wanted to respond to is he missed an important aspect of the hate drive on the right.
During the video the political leader says that they are requiring all teens to wait until 16 before using puberty blockers, and she says this is because no harm is done. But this is the propaganda of the anti-trans people. First the truth is puberty blockers are safe, long time used for at least 60 years, and the only time the right has an issue is when used for trans kids.
But more importantly these people have to ask themselves why do they want trans kids to go through the assigned gender at birth puberty? Because after the puberty changes happen, it is so much harder to reconcile the internal gender ID with the outside look.
Think of it, a 12 year old boy who knows they are a girl is about to have his face change, hair grow on parts that women don’t, his shoulders broaden, his bones and muscles change, his chest and hips change. Her entire body is about to become what she is not, a male. Her testis will grow and produce even more of the hormone they want stopped. They will turn more into what they know they are not. Hating their own bodies even more. Again requiring that surgery that the right hates and calls mutilation.
Now think about a female who knows they are a male. They are about to develop breasts that they hate and will have to have cut off, they will develop softer face features, they will turn more into what they know they are not. They will have smaller shoulders and wider hips. Hating their own bodies even more.
The problem is not that these physical changes can not be changed, but that a person’s looks don’t change easy. Plus it creates the very thing the right claims to hate, confusion over gender identity and trans kids having surgery to change their breasts. But worse so very worse it sets them up with face, hair, and so many other body images they have to deal with that they know deep inside them are wrong for them. The thing is it could all be avoided by listening to the child, and administering the proper medical treatment which is totally safe puberty blockers.
In both the male and female trans kids by forcing them to go through the WRONG puberty their body develops the very things they will hate all their lives about themselves. Those body changes they will have to have surgeries, and forever try to hide, or worse always be accused of noting being pretty enough or not being masculine enough to be who in their mind they know they are.
This is the critical point, and why the right hates puberty blocker, desperate to force trans kids to go through the wrong puberty. So later they can look at these adults and shout at them … You are not a woman, or you are not a man. So they can identify them when they go to the bathroom, or in public, so they can call them out. It is sick.
The right is so desperate to keep the clearest division between what is recognizable as a male or female. That is why the right hates fem gay boys and twinks. Shit, they are too easy to be attracted too. The very thing the right is horrified about, they might be attracted to a trans person. If you have questions you don’t feel you can google for yourself, comment for me to explain it to you. If you are one of the normal people / viewers here, please comment and add your voice to correct the right wings insanity. Hugs. Scottie
Ron is out grocery shopping. I want to start going with him, and have a few times, but lately I am not up to it and there are things I need to take care of while he is shopping. I was doing the dishes so he would have counters to put the groceries on when he got home. Yes, I am tired. But the funniest thing happened while I was doing them.
It has been cold on and off here in Florida during January and February. This last few nights it has been around 46 degrees or lower at sunrise. So before he goes to bed Ron turns the radiator on low with the temp dial about 72. The heater we have in our bedroom bathroom heats both rooms and as I get up about every hour to pee, when it gets cool enough I turn it on. Between the both of them they heat the main space and we keep the other doors closed until it warms up outside. Also the electronics in the Pink Palace keep the room about 74 on the coldest nights so far. I just have to remember to leave the computers up and running with the door closed.
So to the point of the post, while I was doing the dishes Odie wanted food. I gave it to him. But Odie is older, we think at least 12 but more likely older, and not in the best health. So while I went back to doing dishes after he finished eating, he went to the radiator heater that he often lays next to when it is running. We have noticed that when it is active he will lay near it or against it. He clearly loves the warm heat coming off it.
So he finished eating, came out, stretched out next to the heater. But no heat came out. So he got closer. Then he tried hitting it with his paw. Finally, as I was rushing to get my phone, I saw him rubbing his face on the fins. Yes even though the house was warm enough I gave in and turned on the radiator to the lower setting. But that was not working fast enough for him and he was getting upset so I went over and activated the medium 1,600 watt setting. That made it heat up fast enough and he laid back down next to it happy. As he fell asleep, I turned it back to the lower watt setting. Below is the pictures of our really spoiled fat cat. Hugs. Scottie
Understand this is about indoctrination and preventing social acceptance. Where do kids encounter their most diverse and accepting environment, yes watching social media influencers who are openly different, LGBTQIA / or supporting of, and display rainbow flags and talk about how grand diversity and inclusion is? That leads kids to understand the truth, it is OK to be different. Young people’s programming on media starts with cartoons, and animated shows, and moves online. Why do you think the right / DeathSantis went after Disney so hard also why the hard rabid right Daily Wire started all their own kids programming with hard right indoctrination? It is why states like Florida approved using Prager U YouTube videos in public schools. It is all about getting to the kids when they are young and developing so they can be indoctrinated in a regressive fundamentalist Christian right wing philosophy. Also to prevent the Taylor Swift phenomenon from happening. Hugs. Scottie.
Ever wonder why left leaning stars are so popular they can sway large majorities of the public, but the right wing stars are so much less able to do it, especially individually? Because the idea, policies, and goals of the repressive right are unpopular with the majority. They want minority rule.
“Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man.”
The Florida House of Representatives has passed two bills banning social media for minors under age 16 and requiring age verification for pornographic sites, just two weeks into their 2024 legislative session.
With House approval, the bills will now head to the state Senate before making its way to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk. If the governor signs both bills, they will likely go into effect in July, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
The measure does not include which social media platforms will be banned for users under 16. State House Speaker Paul Renner, R, said the bill doesn’t focus on content, but on “addictive technologies” and “the courts will decide” what those are.
Read the full article. As I reported earlier this month, the social media ban is authored by freshman Rep. Fiona McFarland. Republicans hold supermajorities in both Florida chambers and can therefore force pretty much anything they want into law.
RELATED: McFarland’s mother, K.T. McFarland, served as Trump’s Deputy National Security Advisor under Michael Flynn and she was accused by Robert Mueller of complicity in Flynn’s lies to the FBI. The accusations scuttled the elder McFarland’s nomination by Trump to be US ambassador to Singapore.
ONE STEP CLOSER: Florida bill meant to ban minors from having social media accounts has passed. What it could mean for teens across the state 📱 https://t.co/yQWLF7oSPR
The measure does not include which social media platforms will be banned for users under 16. State House Speaker Paul Renner, R, said the bill doesn’t focus on content, but on “addictive technologies” and “the courts will decide” what those are.
I thought the exact same thing. Then I was going to say it sounds like they’d probably put the onus on Social Media sites to follow the law, but the point would remain the same: Enforcement is going to be a bitch.
I hope social media co.s do what pornhub did and just make their sites unavailable in that state (although I could see how that could have a negative impact on the kids who count on it for social support and stuff).
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