Again it is not about sex, pornography, or protecting children from sexualization. It is about denying same sex couples, gay people / kids, or that people can have a gender different for their assigned sex from public and society. It is about erasing an entire group of people from society. One of the ways the LGBTQ+ gained acceptance was people knew others that were LGBTQ+. They were family members, they were school peers, they were their friends / doctors / auto mechanics / and so much more that people realized they were not the monsters the haters claimed. There was no sex in the book about penguins but it gave the impression that same sex couples were OK, it gave kids the idea that same sex couples could be parents, all things that the Christian right maga cannot tolerate. They won’t allow society to progress past the 1950s as they are not comfortable with people living their lives in freedom or happiness because they demand to force people to live as makes the haters / Christian right live their lives. Also the military is not happy with these red state hate rules against the gays and trans people along with abortion bans. It interferes with military readiness as there are many same sex couples, gay people, trans people, trans / gay dependents, and females who want the right to control their own reproductive health. The military is under attack from the right because they give three weeks no questions asked leave for pregnant people needing to leave state for an abortion. I wouldn’t recommend a red state try to interfere with the travel of a military person. The military is going to cut back facilites and tranning in these red states. Hugs
The Escambia County school board voted Monday night to remove three challenged books from school libraries. The removed books below all contain LGBTQ+ characters. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” is a novel about a boy growing up Black and queer in America. It was available in all high schools.
“And Tango Makes Three” is a real story about two male penguins who raised a chick together at the Central Park zoo. “When Aidan Became A Brother” is a children’s picture book about a transgender boy becoming a big brother.
Dozens of people addressed the board Monday night both in support and against keeping these books in schools. “I am currently embarrassed to be an Escambia County student tonight,” one high school student said.
Escambia County borders Alabama and is home to Pensacola and a major military aviation training facility.
The Escambia County (FL) school board banned a children’s book that tells the true story of two male penguins who started a family together in the Central Park Zoo. The book contains no sexual content. The board accuses the book of “trying to indoctrinate kids through penguins.” pic.twitter.com/kFjIJz05se
I agree. I am old, fat, and have some physical issues now. I am not as spry as I used to be but, I can still shoot and fight if I have to. Sto-vo-kor awaits.
In Wisconsin, in leading up to the 2004 anti gay marriage amendment, during debates, Julian appalling said: “I think we have been very good to the gays. We let them live where they want to.” The reply in newspapers and online was: “Think of the money you save in barbed wire.”
There are a good many on the right and Christianity who want us in camps and dead.
Ever notice how if someone on the left says something, the press asks every democrat if they agree. Republicans framed the left with Vietnam war protestors and the press helped associate all democrats. Ever notice the press never asks the right if they agree with things like putting us in camps?
As far as Trans kids (and if they get their way here in Oklahoma up to the age of 26) they would rather force them to live in misery and despair and hopefully do themselves in.
If a book about two male penguins raising a young one can influence someones sexuality then they certainly are questioning their own sexuality and should seek therapy
I know several men who are proud of the fact they don’t read anything. If it’s longer than a sentence or two they are done with it. According to them, its not “manly” to read…….
(my adoptive father felt this way. His ability to read was very limited and he felt boys and men should play hard outside and work hard, then watch sports. Reading was left only for the stats on the sports page. The issue was a cause of much misery for me growing up. Hugs, Scottie)
What can we do… we can protest, we can march, we can sign petitions, we can elect democrats but the red states are not going to stop and as long as they frame it being about parental rights the SCOTUS is going to give them everything they want.
People are going to have to lose a lot before they pay attention and start voting in numbers to make a real difference. 80 million could not be bothered to even show up in 2020
Despite how the republicans like to frame these bills it is about removing the LGBTQ+ representation from schools and society. It is not about protecting kids against sexualization because in Wyoming GOP Opposes Bill To Ban Child Marriagein a state with no limits to how young kids can get married; the republicans refuse to limit that to 16 and above. They say it goes against religious liberties. Yes I guess the right to marry and have sex with 10 or 12 year olds is not sexualizing them but don’t let a drag queen read to them or them know that their teacher is in a same sex marriage because they will rush to be gay? Plus the way these bills are written shows the target is anything not straight heterosexual 1950s norm. Schools would not be able to provide any program, curriculum, material, test, survey, questionnaire, activity, announcement, promotion, or instruction of any kind relating to gender identity or sexual activity in grades K-3. That would require no use of Mr. or Mrs. / Miss. It would require no use of the word boy or girl. It would require no mention of either boy / girl dating as well as stopping any same sex dating in school. Teachers wouldn’t be able to announce they are pregnant and might even have to hide it or be removed as that happens only to females and is caused by sexual activity. Really it would mean getting rid of separate boy / girl gendered bathrooms as the bills are written. No gender roles can be discussed such as who can play on which teams as that is related to gender. Also no girls or boys only clothing as that is gender promotion / instruction. But all that is ignored with a wink and a nod because everyone understands these are targeted to stop acceptance of gay and trans or other LGBTQ+ kids / people. It is to stop kids who are different from seeing themselves in books or movies, making it seem they are wrong, evil, sick, or just not to be tolerated in the US society. It is to promote hetero straight society and remove those who don’t fit that mold. It is to roll back all the advancements in society. These same people will target blacks and native people next to be removed. Also what is social-emotional learning. That is anti-bullying and programs to promote tolerance of those that are different. It is about being kind and civil to others. That is what these republican maga haters are desperate to prevent. They don’t want kids taught to be nice to others, but they want their kids to be allowed even encouraged to attack and target those who are different from them. They don’t want non-straight kids to feel safe, they want them scared and in hiding. I am tired of the attacks, and the clear assault on the rights of people to just be who they really are that harms no one. Just as straight people are born straight so are gay kids / trans kids. But these republicans insist that everyone be just like them and that only they have rights. We must fight to stop what the right is doing to harm the kids and people in our country. One republican Governor said on the news that there seems to be more trans people now and he did not understand that, maybe kids were being pushed into it. But that has been debunked. Has he thought that kids who were not being targeted for how they felt about themselves felt free to express it? These republicans don’t want information they want to run on feelings, impressions, and misinformation that reenforce their feelings that it is not a true thing. One republican on the panel said that rather than letting kids change their hair and go by a different name that they should be forced into mental health treatments. Hugs
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds proposes a wide range of changes for schools including restrictions on LGBTQ topics, new history class requirements and a process to restrict access to certain books.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds unveiled a sweeping education bill Thursday that would set new standards for what students can and can’t learn. It also establishes more control for parents over their children’s education. Here’s what’s in the bill:
Restrictions on topics involving gender identity and sexual orientation
The bill would ban any instruction related to gender identity and sexual activity in school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, charter schools and innovation zone schools in grades K-3.
Schools would not be able to provide any program, curriculum, material, test, survey, questionnaire, activity, announcement, promotion, or instruction of any kind relating to gender identity or sexual activity in grades K-3.
Schools would be required to tell parents any information their child shares with a teacher or staff member about their gender identity if what the student expresses is different from the “biological sex” listed on their birth certificate.
The bill does provide an exception if a school district believes that notifying the parent or guardian would lead to a case of child abuse. In that instance, the school district does not need to notify the parent but would be required to immediately report the safety concerns to the department of health and human services. The department would then determine whether the child is in need of assistance.
Parents would have to give schools written permission for teachers or any school employee to use a nickname or pronoun that does not match the biological sex listed on their child’s birth certificate.
Removing books from schools
The bill would require each school district to publish online all materials used in all classes throughout the district, all employees in direct contact with students, all books available in classrooms and school libraries, and a detailed process for parents to request any material be removed.
Districts would be required to update that information two times a semester or at the start of each trimester.
Any book removed from a school would be put on a statewide “removal list” maintained by the Iowa Department of Education. The “comprehensive removal list” would be available online, updated every month and sortable by the book’s title, author and the school districts that have removed the book from school libraries, classrooms or any areas on school property.
A school district must receive written parental permission before allowing a student to check out or access any book that is on the statewide removal list.
Establishes ‘parental rights’
The bill establishes that “a parent or guardian bears the ultimate responsibility, and has the constitutionally protected right, to make decisions affecting the parent’s or guardian’s minor child, including decisions related to the minor child’s medical care, moral upbringing, religious upbringing, residence, education, and extracurricular activities.”
Schools would be required to receive parental permission for students to attend any activity or instruction provided by a guest lecturer or outside presenter or any activity or instruction that involves obscene or sexually explicit material.
If school districts break that rule, they could face fines of up to $5,000.
Changes to the social studies curriculum
The bill would require all Iowa high school students to take a U.S. citizenship test, and schools would be required to provide the results to the Department of Education.
High school students would need to answer at least 70% of the questions to graduate. Students can continue to retake the citizenship test until they earn a passing grade.
Removing HPV from health curriculum
The bill would remove the current requirement that Iowa schools teach seventh-grade through 12th-grade students instruction related to human papillomavirus and the availability of a vaccine to prevent HPV.
Restrictions on social-emotional learning
Schools would be required to receive written parent permission in order for a student to take any survey or test that evaluates mental, emotional, or physical health that is not required by state or federal law.
Teachers would have to give parents written notice at least seven days before any test or survey that evaluates their child’s mental, emotional, or physical health.
A book about late Afro-Puerto Rican MLB legend Roberto Clemente can’t be found in the shelves of public school libraries in Florida’s Duval County these days.
“Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates” by Jonah Winter and Raúl Colón — and other books about Latino figures such as the late Afro-Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz and Justice Sonia Sotomayor — are among the titles that have been “covered or stored and paused for student use” at the Duval County Public Schools District.
In January, 52 certified media specialists for Duval started reviewing about 1.5 million book titles, Sonya Duke-Bolden, a spokesperson with the public schools district told NBC News Friday. Close to 2,800 books have been approved by media specialists so far.
A Roberto Clemente book and others about Latino figures like singer Celia Cruz and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor are among more than a million titles that Florida school officials are determining whether to exclude from libraries. https://t.co/RaEol9OMMc
“His story is his story. He went through racism. It’s something that can’t be changed,” Clemente’s son, Roberto Clemente Jr., told NBC News.
Roberto Clemente, pictured here in 1966, often denounced racism and spoke publicly about his experiences as a Black Latino climbing the baseball ranks during the civil rights movement.Bettmann Archive
A book about late Afro-Puerto Rican MLB legend Roberto Clemente can’t be found in the shelves of public school libraries in Florida’s Duval County these days.
“Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates” by Jonah Winter and Raúl Colón — and other books about Latino figures such as the late Afro-Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz and Justice Sonia Sotomayor — are among the more than 1 million titles that have been “covered or stored and paused for student use” at the Duval County Public Schools District, according to Chief Academic Officer Paula Renfro.
School officials are in the process of determining if such books comply with state laws and can be included in school libraries.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed laws last year that require schools to rely on certified media specialists to approve which books can be integrated into classrooms. Guidance on how that would be implemented was provided to schools in December.
In January, 52 certified media specialists for Duval started reviewing about 1.5 million book titles, Sonya Duke-Bolden, a spokesperson with the public schools district told NBC News Friday. Close to 2,800 books have been approved by media specialists so far. Duke-Bolden did not say if more books were reviewed but not approved.
PEN America, a nonprofit group that advocates for free expression in literature, said in December that 176 elementary school books from their Essential Voices collection were among the titles removed from Duval County public school libraries.
The organization said the books removed included some substituted titles and more than 100 deemed to have “content too mature for the grade level for which they were included in that collection.”
Duke-Bolden said that 47 substituted titles, which were swapped in for books in the Essential Voices collection that were unavailable,were sent back. Of the more than 170 books, “106 were deemed to be useful for our reading goals and have been distributed to classrooms” while 26 others remain under review.
“Note that even though a title may appear to be appropriate, we must evaluate each book’s full content for its age-level appropriateness and full compliance with Florida law,” Duke-Bolden added.
Of the books removed from Duval County, more than 30 were by Latino authors and illustrators or centered Latino characters and narratives. Among these were “Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa” by Veronica Chambers and Julie Maren, “Sonia Sotomayor (Women Who Broke the Rules Series)” by Kathleen Krull and Angela Dominguez, and Winter’s Clemente book.
“Robert Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates” by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Raúl Colón.Atheneum Books for Young Readers via Simon and Schuster
The son of the Pittsburgh Pirates player, Roberto Clemente Jr., told NBC News he owns the book, which was written for children K-3.
“His story is his story. He went through racism. It’s something that can’t be changed,” Clemente Jr. said. “But obviously, for the younger students, if it’s something that they feel is too much for them, they might be able to utilize a different book with the same story, but it’s framed differently for them, for that for that age group.”
Clemente Jr. added that he expects his father’s life story and legacy to empower people of all ages.
LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a Latino civil rights organization based in New York, blasted the school district in Duval for removing the Clemente book over its “references to racism and discrimination.”
“Learning about Clemente’s achievements, his pride in his Afro-Boricua identity and his struggles with racism and discrimination would provide needed insight on historical conditions in the U.S., and inspiration for the majority Black and Latino student population in Duval County schools,” Lourdes Rosado, president and general counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, said in a statement.
“We urge the school district to restore this book and others that shine a light on the experiences of exemplary people in our country who have contributed greatly to our society and culture,” Rosado said. “Our children deserve to understand the full scope of our society’s flaws and strengths.”
Clemente died in 1972, when his plane crashed off the coast of Puerto Rico as he was delivering relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He was 38.
His humanitarian efforts are perhaps his greatest legacy in addition to his professional baseball career. Clemente became a posthumous Baseball Hall of Famer, with exactly 3,000 hits, four National League batting titles, 12 Gold Gloves, an MVP award, two World Series championships and 15 All-Star appearances.
Clemente often denounced racism and discrimination in his native Spanish language, and he spoke publicly about his experiences as a Black Latino climbing the baseball ranks during the civil rights movement. He even spoke about political and social issues alongside Martin Luther King Jr.
“The book on Roberto Clemente is pending review,” Duke-Bolden said. She couldn’t immediately share the review status on the books about Cruz and Sotomayor.
Clemente Jr. and his family are waiting to see what happens with the book about the baseball great and plan on reaching out to the school district some time next week.
“We need to continue to figure out how to continue that conversation and unifying our cultures and nationalities,” he said.
LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a Latino civil rights organization based in New York, blasted the school district in Duval for removing the Clemente book over its “references to racism and discrimination.”
“Learning about Clemente’s achievements, his pride in his Afro-Boricua identity and his struggles with racism and discrimination would provide needed insight on historical conditions in the U.S., and inspiration for the majority Black and Latino student population in Duval County schools,” Lourdes Rosado, president and general counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, said in a statement.
“We urge the school district to restore this book and others that shine a light on the experiences of exemplary people in our country who have contributed greatly to our society and culture,” Rosado said. “Our children deserve to understand the full scope of our society’s flaws and strengths.”
Clemente died in 1972, when his plane crashed off the coast of Puerto Rico as he was delivering relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He was 38.
His humanitarian efforts are perhaps his greatest legacy in addition to his professional baseball career. Clemente became a posthumous Baseball Hall of Famer, with exactly 3,000 hits, four National League batting titles, 12 Gold Gloves, an MVP award, two World Series championships and 15 All-Star appearances.
Clemente often denounced racism and discrimination in his native Spanish language, and he spoke publicly about his experiences as a Black Latino climbing the baseball ranks during the civil rights movement. He even spoke about political and social issues alongside Martin Luther King Jr.
“The book on Roberto Clemente is pending review,” Duke-Bolden said. She couldn’t immediately share the review status on the books about Cruz and Sotomayor.
Clemente Jr. and his family are waiting to see what happens with the book about the baseball great and plan on reaching out to the school district some time next week.
“We need to continue to figure out how to continue that conversation and unifying our cultures and nationalities,” he said.
Well what a mind altering interview. I know the video is described as a debate but it really was a conversation. At first I was bored and almost shut it off even though I mostly enjoy the channel. Then I noticed something. The call in guest got angrier and ever more abusive getting very insulting yet Vaush never reacted to that and instead tried to keep the conversation going centered on the topic. I loved it. I have tried to talk to right wing bigots and I have not had the same composure that Vaush did. It is a great watch if you want to see how a person on the right starts out trying to show how trans people are bad and confused then moves to the point where the one saying this stuff gets very abusive and then just gets really out classed with information to the point where he has to just admit he doesn’t like those trans and hates those people that accept them. Like I said the first part is boring and forgettable, but fast forward through that if you must and watch the rest. For me it was worth it. Hugs
I regret I am so far behind. It is too hard to sit at my desk, every 15 minutes or so I have to get up and walk around, but then after a few minutes have to sit. If I have a task I need to do standing for more than 15 minutes I have to take more medication to stop my back from giving out. I managed to get my MRI I needed this morning, came home ate and went right to bed. I got up at 2:30 as my back was not getting better. I see my pain doctor on the 6th of Feb. Hopefully I can quickly schedule some shots to my spine. I was getting them regularly to keep the pain down but I got hit with a couple very expensive bills from the spine shots and decided to see if I could handle the pain with muscle shots and pills. Turns out that won’t work. I have already had to take more medication than I like to take. If this doesn’t work I will go to the next level of pain medications. In the state of Florida it is hard now to get the drugs that caused such problems which can be managed but they want to force everyone to fentanyl even as the republicans scream about how deadly it is. The clips below are pure republican hate, making it so poor people on snap cannot buy any affordable foods not even can soup. No meats no matter the kind, no canned vegetables and so much more. And the continued attacks by republicans and DeathSantis on the idea of inclusion and anything LGBTQ+. I again today wont be able to catch up but there is always tomorrow I guess. Hugs
