Diversity efforts are designed to bring more minorities into positions of authority and better paying jobs. Ask your self why anyone would be against that? Ask why those people would go to the point of using the power of the entire state to deny such programs? It is about white cis straight power! It is flat out racism! I don’t know how else to explain it. These people are threatened by programs that reach out to minorities instead of just giving all the good jobs to white people or include black / brown people in higher education. Hugs. Scottie Some quotes below
However, DEI programs typically provide support not only for students from marginalized communities, but also for veterans, low-income students, first-generation students, single parents and students with disabilities.
“Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) departments, programs, and entities play a pivotal role in providing a safe and inclusive space for minority and marginalized communities on higher education campuses,” the statement reads. “These initiatives offer students a platform to voice their concerns, establish a home away from home, and foster unity within the student life community. Any attempt to remove personnel, funding, and programming jeopardizes the very existence of these essential spaces.
Oklahoma’s ban is the latest in a wave of efforts across the country to walk back DEI initiatives that were largely popularized during and after 2020. Earlier this year Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, signed bills banning institutions from spending federal or state dollars on DEI initiatives, while, last month, the Iowa Board of Regents voted to direct the state’s public universities to cut DEI programs that are not necessary for research contracts or accreditation. The same day Stitt signed his executive order, according to WPR, Wisconsin Republicans successfully pushed the University of Wisconsin to freeze DEI staffing through 2026 and eliminate or refocus about 40 positions focused on diversity.
Order prohibits agencies and public colleges and universities from using state funds, property or resources towards DEI initiatives
University of Oklahoma Sooners’ college campus. The university’s president has stressed its commitment to ‘access and opportunity’ for all students. Photograph: Forge Productions/Alamy
On Wednesday Kevin Stitt, Oklahoma’s governor, signed an executive order in effect banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at agencies and public colleges and universities across the state.
The order prohibits them from using state funds, property or resources towards DEI initiatives and orders them to dismiss “non-critical personnel”. It is effective immediately, but institutions are expected to comply no later than 31 May 2024.
The 25 public colleges and universities in the state also have to provide reports that detail the expenditure of their former DEI initiatives and job positions. Stitt said he is “implementing greater protections for Oklahomans and their tax dollars”. But according to local news outlet KFOR, only “around $10.2m was spent on DEI programs in the past decade. It accounted for three-tenths of one percent of all higher education spending.”
Kevin Stitt, the governor of Oklahoma. Photograph: Sue Ogrocki/AP
The governor also said that Oklahoma should focus on supporting low-income and first-generation students instead of supporting students based on their race. However, DEI programs typically provide support not only for students from marginalized communities, but also for veterans, low-income students, first-generation students, single parents and students with disabilities.
In response to the executive order Joseph Harrosz Jr, the president of the University of Oklahoma, sent a letter to the OU community acknowledging how alarming the elimination of these programs may be for some people. But he doubled down on the university’s commitment to accessible education, writing, “Please be assured that key to our ongoing successes as the state’s flagship university – now and forever – are the foundational values that have served as our constant north star: access and opportunity for all of those with the talent and tenacity to succeed; being a place of belonging for all who attend; dedication to free speech and inquiry; and civility in our treatment of each other. These values transcend political ideology, and in them, we are unwavering.”
“Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) departments, programs, and entities play a pivotal role in providing a safe and inclusive space for minority and marginalized communities on higher education campuses,” the statement reads. “These initiatives offer students a platform to voice their concerns, establish a home away from home, and foster unity within the student life community. Any attempt to remove personnel, funding, and programming jeopardizes the very existence of these essential spaces.
Oklahoma’s ban is the latest in a wave of efforts across the country to walk back DEI initiatives that were largely popularized during and after 2020. Earlier this year Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, signed bills banning institutions from spending federal or state dollars on DEI initiatives, while, last month, the Iowa Board of Regents voted to direct the state’s public universities to cut DEI programs that are not necessary for research contracts or accreditation. The same day Stitt signed his executive order, according to WPR, Wisconsin Republicans successfully pushed the University of Wisconsin to freeze DEI staffing through 2026 and eliminate or refocus about 40 positions focused on diversity.
Read the full article. Stitt, who appeared here last month when he publicly praised illegal cockfighting, is a self-avowed Christian nationalist. He recently declared November to be “family month as ordained by God.” In June 2023, he authorized the nation’s first state-funded religious charter school. Last year he claimed “every square inch of Oklahoma in the name of Jesus.” Upon his inauguration, Stitt’s wife declared that his administration’s main priority would be “bringing people to Jesus.”
When he states that he wants to”protect Oklahomans” he really means the lily white males. Of course. The universe protect us from these Christian fanatics!
“Last year he claimed “every square inch of Oklahoma in the name of Jesus.” Upon his inauguration, Stitt’s wife declared that his administration’s main priority would be “bringing people to Jesus.””
Books at Vandegrift High School’s library on March 2, 2022. Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune
Texas banned more books from school libraries this past year than any other state in the nation, targeting titles centering on race, racism, abortion and LGBTQ representation and issues, according to a new analysis by PEN America, a nonprofit organization advocating for free speech.
The report released on Monday found that school administrators in Texas have banned 801 books across 22 school districts, and 174 titles were banned at least twice between July 2021 through June 2022. PEN America defines a ban as any action taken against a book based on its content after challenges from parents or lawmakers.
The most frequent books removed included “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, which depicts Kobabe’s journey of gender identity and sexual orientation; “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison; “Roe v. Wade: A Woman’s Choice?” by Susan Dudley Gold; “Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Pérez, which follows a love story between a Mexican American teenage girl and a Black teen boy in 1930s East Texas; and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, a personal account of growing up black and queer in Plainfield, New Jersey.
“This censorious movement is turning our public schools into political battlegrounds, driving wedges within communities, forcing teachers and librarians from their jobs, and casting a chill over the spirit of open inquiry and intellectual freedom that underpin a flourishing democracy,” Suzanne Nossel, PEN America’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Across the country, PEN America found that 1,648 unique titles had been banned by schools. Of these titles, 41% address LGBTQ themes or have protagonists or prominent secondary characters who are LGBTQ. Another 40% of these books contains protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color.
Summer Lopez, the chief program officer of free expression at PEN America, said what’s notable about these book bans is that most are on books that families and children can elect to read, not any required reading.
Florida and Pennsylvania followed Texas as the states with the most bans, respectively. Florida banned 566 books, and 457 titles were banned in Pennsylvania, where a majority of books were removed from one school district in York County, which is known as being more conservative.
Lopez said her organization could not recall a previous year with as many reported book bans.
“This rapidly accelerating movement has resulted in more and more students losing access to literature that equips them to meet the challenges and complexities of democratic citizenship,” Jonathan Friedman, director of PEN America’s free expression and education programs and the lead author of the report, said in a statement.
Texas’ book challenges can be traced to last October, when state Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, sent a list of some 850 books about race and sexuality — including Kobabe’s — to school districts asking for information about how many of those are available on their campuses. This one move spurred parents to challenge and successfully remove books they believe are not appropriate and “pornographic.”
The Keller Independent School District in Tarrant County was one of the first to successfully remove “Gender Queer” from school libraries after a group of moms complained it was “pornographic.”
This recent series of book bans has unfolded against the backdrop of a national debate over critical race theory, a college-level academic discipline that examines how racism is embedded in the country’s legal and structural systems. It is not taught in Texas’ public schools. However, some conservative politicians and parents have assigned the term “CRT” to dismiss efforts in public schools to incorporate a more comprehensive and inclusive public school curriculum, something they equate to indoctrination.
Conservatives in some school districts have used the book bans and rancor over social studies teachings to help bring rally support and attracted unprecedented money to win school board seats campaigning under the promise to clear out “critical race theory” and “pornographic” materials from schools. In the midst of continuing Republican-led political fights over how issues related to race, gender and sex are allowed to be taught in public schools, Gov. Greg Abbott has put a promise to increase parental rights at the center of his reelection platform.
However, Texas parents already have the right to remove their child temporarily from a class or activity that conflicts with their religious beliefs. They have the right to review all instructional materials, and state law guarantees them access to their student’s records and to a school principal or administrator. Also, school boards must establish a way to consider complaints from parents.
PEN America’s analysis also found that these bans have been largely driven by organized groups formed over the last year to combat “pornographic” and “CRT” materials in school.
“The work of groups organizing and advocating to ban books in schools is especially harmful to students from historically marginalized backgrounds, who are forced to experience stories that validate their lives vanishing from classrooms and library shelves,” Friedman said.
You told me I lived in the Land of the Free but seek to force me to pray to your God.
You told me I lived in the Land of the Brave, but you fear the love of two men, two women.
You told me I lived in a land of laws, yet you refuse to hold the powerful to them.
You told me not to ask what my country can do for me, but you take hand over fist.
You told me how mighty our military stand, yet you undermine, pauper, and deny the soldiers.
You told me how great my country is, yet restrict education, price me out of healthcare, refuse school lunch programs, deport the homeless, ignore the mentally ill.
You told me to love my country, then told me to hate my neighbor because he believes differently, speaks differently, dresses differently, loves differently, lives differently.
You told me my country loves me, but I think you are a liar.
[Chorus]
What about us?
What about all the times you said you had the answers?
What about us?
What about all the broken happy ever afters?
What about us?
What about all the plans that ended in disaster?
What about love? What about trust?
What about us?
[Verse 2]
We are problems that want to be solved
We are children that need to be loved
We were willin’, we came when you called
But man, you fooled us
Enough is enough, oh
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[Chorus]
What about us?
What about all the times you said you had the answers?
What about us?
What about all the broken happy ever afters?
Oh, what about us?
What about all the plans that ended in disaster?
Oh, what about love? What about trust?
What about us?
[Post-Chorus]
Oh, what about us?
What about all the plans that ended in disaster?
What about love? What about trust?
What about us?
[Chorus]
What about us?
What about all the times you said you had the answers?
So, what about us?
What about all the broken happy ever afters?
Oh, what about us?
What about all the plans that ended in disaster?
Oh, what about love? What about trust?
What about us?
[Outro]
What about us?
What about us?
What about us?
What about us?
What about us?
What about us?
Last night was the big debate between Govs. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Gavin Newsom (D-CA). We’d like to give you a link so that if you missed it, and would like to watch, you could do so. However, at Fox, the news is a business and not a public service, and this was (technically) a regular episode of Hannity. So, if you want to watch it, you have to pay for Fox’s streaming service. Sorry. That said, here’s a pretty good 3-minute rundown of the highlights.
We watched it, of course, because that’s part of our responsibilities. And we’re going to give you our assessment by focusing on the four entities that were (or, in one case, were not) a part of the debate:
Newsom: Newsom may have been going into hostile territory, but he almost certainly had the easier task, which was to establish himself as a credible candidate of national stature. And he managed to achieve his goal.
Newsom would love, love, love to be butter-smooth, like Barack Obama, Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan, but he’s not that. It’s probably not a coincidence that all three of those men were either college professors or actors; two jobs that force you to learn how to read and respond to an audience. Newsom is also not a passionate, fire-breathing true believer, like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT); not that the Governor is shooting for that.
No, Newsom is a wonky debater, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). That’s not an insult; Warren was a champion debater who was good enough at it to earn a college scholarship. Being like Warren means that Newsom had strong command of facts and statistics, that we was well-prepared for DeSantis’ lines of attack and was generally able to parry them, that he generally was capable of thinking on his feet and adapting when needed, and that he got off the occasional bon mot. Certainly the line of the night (which was undoubtedly pre-written) was when Newsom looked at DeSantis and said that “[what] we have in common is that neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.”
DeSantis: DeSantis, meanwhile, had de facto home field advantage, but he had the harder task, namely to try to change the trajectory of the 2024 GOP primaries. The Governor did not come within a country mile of doing that.
To start, DeSantis showed once again that he has exactly one facial expression, which is “grimace.” And he has one tone of voice, which is nasal/whiny. No matter what he says, whether it’s pro-Democratic or pro-Republican, it’s going to be kind of a turn off because he is kind of a turn off.
Beyond that, however, DeSantis’ remarks and responses had three themes: California sucks, Democrats suck and Joe Biden sucks. If you can explain how any of those three messages help explain why you should vote for DeSantis instead of Donald Trump, then you are cleverer than we are.
It is also the case that DeSantis seems to live in a fantasy world (but definitely not in Fantasyland, where he’s not welcome). Most obviously, his version of California is that it is a dystopian hellscape. This comports with Republican talking points, but not with reality. At various points, DeSantis claimed that California has made it legal for unhomed people to defecate on the sidewalk (he even held up a map of defecation hotspots in San Francisco) and to light their own encampments on fire, that it takes twice as long to shop in California because everything is under lock and key to prevent theft, and that women in the state can never wear jewelry in public because they are certain to be mugged. The Governor shared similar fantastical ideas about Democrats and about Biden.
This is not to say that everything that came out of DeSantis’ mouth was a lie or an exaggeration, or that some of his ideas about California don’t have SOME basis in reality. For example, (Z), who walks around Los Angeles a lot, has seen human feces on the sidewalk… twice. At his local drug store, the razors, baby formula, cigarettes and liquor are under lock and key… while 95% of the inventory is not. And he knows a couple of women who turned their wedding rings around while in downtown. On the other hand, he’s been to Florida, and he’s seen most of these things there, too.
Maybe there are people out there who accept everything DeSantis says uncritically. Probably there are. But anyone watching with even a sliver of an open mind surely has to be left with the impression that he’s as truth-challenged as Trump is, while being considerably less effective at selling his lies and exaggerations.
Hannity: Hannity made clear that he should never, ever, ever be allowed to moderate a real debate, even if it’s candidates for assistant dogcatcher of East Cupcake. The first problem is that despite the fact that it was his show, and his studio, with microphones ostensibly controlled by his staff, he had absolutely no ability to enforce discipline. The candidates constantly talked over each other. Not only was Hannity unable to control it, but he eventually became petulant and whiny, at one point complaining that “I’m not a potted plant here!”
The second problem is that a disproportionate number of Hannity’s questions were, to be blunt, stupid. For example, he asked the two governors to “grade” Joe Biden, while not allowing them to explain their choice of grade. Surprise, surprise; DeSantis gave Biden an “F” and Newsom gave an “A.” What on earth was the point of that exercise? What could possibly be learned from that? And there were a lot of questions of that sort, that basically boiled down to: “Please give me your talking point on [Subject X].”
And the third problem is that Hannity started the debate by promising to be a neutral arbiter, but then spent the entire debate putting his thumb (and the rest of his hand, and arm) on the scale for DeSantis. To take one example, Hannity’s staff had a pre-prepared graphic that revealed that since 2019, California has had 19 mass shootings that killed 4 or more people while Florida has had 9 such shootings. This was part of the discussion of gun-control laws (California) or lack thereof (Florida), and was meant to help DeSantis make his point that gun-control laws don’t work.
We are not experts on gun-violence statistics, but we suspect some cherry picking here. At very least, with such a small number of qualifying incidents per year, there has to be some amount of random variation here, which means that 4 years is too small a sample size. Also, the population of California is 39.24 million, while the population of Florida is 21.78 million, which means California has 180.1% of the population that Florida does. Meanwhile, 19 is 211% of 9. So, it would seem the primary difference between California and Florida when it comes to the total number of mass shootings is… California has way more people. And there were at least a dozen things like that, where Hannity and his team had chosen statistics or had made infographics clearly designed to prop up DeSantis.
The Audience: One of Newsom’s requirements for attending the debate was “no audience,” and he got what he wanted. And wow, even with the two governors yelling over each other on a constant basis, the absence of an audience was still noticeable and a vast, vast improvement. Debates are not a football game, and the viewing audience does not need to be told what to think or feel by a bunch of howling yahoos.
Who knows if this is a one-off, or if it will establish some sort of tradition? We tend to suspect that DeSantis will not be eager to repeat the experiment, once someone tells him that he did himself absolutely no good when it comes to the 2024 presidential race, but that’s just a guess. (Z)
School vouchers are all the Republican rage right now, particularly in my home state of TN. This is why that’s bad. Tour/book: http://www.traecrowder.com
Hi, this is a wonderful display of a normal 19 year old who is autistic. She is open about it, how it affects her daily life, how her celebrity which she is not using for her own benefit, and how she copes she mentions she really doesn’t like what she feels she has to do and often retreats to an environment that soothes her emotion distress. One of the things she mentions is her love of beans, and eating one bean at a time, as it helps her deal. The interview was grand. Here is a 19 year old who could have been using her status to make millions as an influencer yet proudly admits she will use her large platform to introduce other people who have expertise or experience in fighting the climate emergency, and then she steps aside, giving them the entire stage to say what needs to be said.
She is engaging, dare I say cute, without being called out as a sexist pig? She laughed at the host, who was not trying to be funny because that was how it struck her. I loved how she totally was not like other guests, she was herself.
If I don’t clip this right and you want to hear her talk about her autism and how it affects her and her activism, please go through the video. Oh one thing before where I start with her interview, they have kids on, and the kids love her. To the point where the host tries to ask one of the kids if he knew who he was or wanted to talk to him and the kid was like, no, I want to talk to her. What an ego busting moment. Hugs, best wishes, loves. Scottie
Oh notice one thing, she says she doesn’t need to make money from the books and activism, because she is in what we call college or university and her country pays her not only to be there but enough to live. Her living costs are paid because she is a student. Think about that next time an argument about student loans comes up and how great the US is. Hugs
The haters seen the writing on the wall and wanted to give a lot of money to one of them that helped them foment hate and harm to the LGBTQIA kids in schools. Because protecting kids was never the goal, doing the best for schools was never the goal. It has always been to promote and enforce their religious fundamentalist right wing views on students. And they will be back, that was the point of such a huge payout. To make others see the profit in harming the LGBTQIA kids. Hugs. Scottie
This image taken from video shows Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh and Board President Dana Hunter preside over a Central Bucks School District meeting in Doylestown Pa., Nov. 15, 2022. Democrats who swept out a Moms for Liberty majority on the board are challenging Lucabaugh’s last-minute $700,000 exit package. (AP Photo)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Pennsylvania school board that banned books, Pride flags and transgender athletes slipped a last-minute item into their final meeting before leaving office, hastily awarding a $700,000 exit package to the superintendent who supported their agenda.
But the Democratic majority that swept the conservative Moms For Liberty slate out of office hopes to block the unusual — they say illegal — payout and bring calm to the Central Bucks School District, whose affluent suburbs and bucolic farms near Philadelphia have been roiled by infighting since the 2020 pandemic.
“People are really sick of the embarrassing meetings, the vitriol, they’re tired of our district being in the news for all the wrong reasons. And … the students are aware of what’s been going on, particularly our LGBTQ students and their friends and allies,” said Karen Smith, a Democrat who won a third term on the board.
The district, with about 17,000 students in 23 schools, has spent $1.5 million on legal and public relations fees amid competing lawsuits, discrimination complaints and investigations in the past two years, including a pending suit over its suspension of a middle school teacher who supported LGBTQ and other marginalized students.
The jostling — and spending — look likely to continue as Democrats who won a 6-3 majority in the Nov. 7 election prepare to challenge the severance package for superintendent Abram Lucabaugh, which was added to the Nov. 14 agenda only the night before.
Meanwhile, several voters in the quaint town of Chalfont filed a court petition Monday challenging the school board election tallies, alleging unspecified “fraud or error.”
Student Lily Freeman, a vocal critic of board policies on LGBTQ issues, decried the district’s spending priorities. She called the severance package a bad deal for both students and taxpayers.
“It’s kind of like a slap in the face,” said the senior at Central Bucks East High School. “Teachers are struggling, and there’s a lot of students that are struggling.”
“There are so many resources out there that we could be putting that money to,” she said, noting her school desperately needs better WiFi.
Neither Lucabaugh, who skipped the final meeting, nor outgoing board president Dana Hunter returned calls for comment. School board solicitor Jeffrey P. Garton said he was not involved in the severance agreement.
“I didn’t prepare it and gave no legal advice concerning its content,” Garton said in an email.
Some of the incoming Democrats tried to warn the outgoing board that the payout violates a 2012 state law designed to curtail golden parachutes bestowed on school superintendents, including one that topped $900,000. The law now caps severance pay at a year’s salary, along with limited payments for unused sick time and other benefits.
“The particular circumstances in this case are even more egregious. The board gave Dr. Lucabaugh a 40 percent salary increase (to $315,000) in late July of this year, making him the second-highest paid school district superintendent in Pennsylvania, and is now using that increase less than four months later to calculate a severance payment,” lawyer Brendan Flynn, who represents them, wrote in a letter distributed to the board before the vote.
Lucabaugh’s package includes more than $300,000 for unused sick, vacation, administrative and personal time during his 18 years in various roles with the district; $50,000 for signing the deal; and health insurance for his family through June.
The package also includes a puzzling ban on any district investigations of his tenure and an agreement that he can keep his district-issued laptop as long as he wipes it of school records.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Savage nixed that last provision on Friday when he ordered Lucabaugh, a defendant in middle school teacher Andrew Burgess’s retaliation suit against the district, to preserve documents that may become evidence in the case.
“It’s hard to imagine a lawyer drafted that contract,” said Witold “Vic” Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, who represents Burgess. “No lawyer would think that a school board could insulate an employee from any kind of of court action or criminal investigation.”
Freeman, the high school senior, declined to revisit the threats and sense of danger she said she and her family have endured as she took on the board the past two years. However, her forceful public remarks at last week’s meeting, posted to TikTok, have drawn thousands of views and comments.
“It was never about protecting kids. It was about erasing people like me from Central Bucks,” she told the board last week as it voted to make students play on sports teams based on their gender assignment at birth. “You continue to make policy after policy preventing people like me from just living our lives.”
On Monday, Freeman said she’s hopeful the tensions will ease under the new board: “I feel as if we shouldn’t have to worry about a lot of these things if our needs are being met.”
Dale covers national legal issues for The Associated Press, often focusing on the federal judiciary, gender law, #MeToo and NFL player concussions. Her work unsealing Bill Cosby’s testimony in a decade-old deposition led to his arrest and sexual assault trials.
My great feeling now that I am clearing some of the backlog. Yes I have gone from 68 tabs to 3 open tabs. Don’t cheer, I have been at this since a little after 1 am, and I am getting exhausted now at nearly 10 am. Ron is trying to make a great Sunday breakfast meal, So we will see. But this is such a needed and grand post, I really wanted to get it out to the public that don’t go to Joe My God! But as always do go to the places I post from. Hugs.
“You are never going to find a right way to do the wrong thing and Governor Youngkin’s policies are wrong. Never in history have the good guys been the segregationist group pushing to legislate identity.
“Never in history have the good guys been closely connected with and supported by hate groups like the Proud Boys. And the good guys don’t put Hitler quotes for inspiration on the front of their newsletters.
“News flash: they’re the bad guys. They’re the bad guys supporting bad policy. And if you support the same bad policy, guess what? You’re one of the bad guys too. When you look around and see only the wrong people supporting what you’re doing, you’re doing the wrong thing.
“Now you’ve heard some speakers come up here and say how they love these kids but won’t accept them. I’m here to tell you that if your love makes somebody not want to be alive, it’s not love. That’s not love.
“Some of you are going to get up here and say ‘it’s the law.’ Well, I remind you that slavery and segregation used to be the law here in Virginia.” – Virginia Beach father of three Cody Conner, in a speech going viral today on TikTok.
It starts with a recap, but they’ve talked to him, and included that. He seems like a good guy.
Conner started speaking out at school board meetings (he’ll be speaking for the 17th time on November 15) because he moved his family to Virginia Beach right before Youngkin’s policies passed and he worries about the future of his 13-year-old trans daughter who is now in the 8th grade.
Thanks! The article mentions Youngkin’s transphobic “model policies” that are apparently up to each school board to decide on adopting, adapting, or rejecting.
This Washington Blade article is much less detailed, but short and sweet:
Virginia Beach schools adopt new policy for transgender, nonbinary students 9-1 vote took place after impassioned debate https://www.washingtonblade…
❝… This decision was made following more than a year of student walkouts protesting Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s new guidelines for trans and nonbinary students and the formation of Students4Trans. Several parents before the vote came out in support of the policies and voiced their opinions as well to the board.
Board member Jessica Owens is the only one who voted against the policy.
“My sticking point being the issue of not being able to address students in the manner that they would like to be addressed,” she said.
Arlington County Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools and Prince William County Schools are among the Virginia school districts that have refused to implement them.❞
His words deserve to be shared widely! I used what you transcribed and filled in the rest:
“I wasn’t surprised by another delay at the last school board meeting, ’cause no matter how hard you try to implement these discriminatory policies in the ‘right way’, you are never going to find a right way to do the wrong thing. And Governor Youngkin’s policies are wrong.
One of the ways you can tell is because you have speakers from groups like Moms for Liberty here to support them, and I’ll be real simple in case you aren’t paying attention: they’re not the good guys.
How can you tell? I can help: the good guys don’t get declared extremist groups by human rights organizations. Never in history have the good guys been the ones trying to ban books. Never in history have the good guys been the segregationist group pushing to legislate identity. Never in history have the good guys been closely connected with and supported by hate groups like the Proud Boys. And the good guys don’t put Hitler quotes for inspiration on the front of their newsletters.
News flash: they’re the bad guys. They’re the bad guys, here supporting bad policy. And if you support the same bad policy, guess what? You’re one of the bad guys too. When you look around and see only the wrong people support what you’re doing, you’re doing the wrong thing.
Now you’ve heard some speakers come up here and say how they love these kids but won’t accept them. I’m here telling you that if your love makes somebody not want to be alive, it’s not love. That’s not love.
Some speakers are going to get up here and talk about ‘parental rights’. The only right a parent has is the right to responsibility. And if you need somebody else to tell you who your kid is, you’re probably not that good a parent.
And some are going to get up here and tell you how ‘it’s the law.’ Well, I remind you that slavery and segregation also used to be the law here in Virginia, and that there is no right way to do the wrong thing.
So do the right thing. Reject these policies that harm and endanger our LGBTQ students. Be the good guys, while you still can.”
– Virginia Beach father of three Cody Conner, in a speech going viral on TikTok. (11/15/2023, via JoeMyGod) https://www.tiktok.com/@bee…
Let’s talk about the crisis at the US border with Mexico. Is it as bad as conservatives say it is? Turns out when you look at the data, immigrants aren’t the boogeyman that Fox News would have you believe. Let’s talk about what’s ACTUALLY happening at the border.
University of Oklahoma Sooners’ college campus. The university’s president has stressed its commitment to ‘access and opportunity’ for all students. Photograph: Forge Productions/Alamy
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Scottie's Playtime 