The start of the article doesn’t mention it, but this school is in Ohio. I followed a link in the article and this school also stopped celebrating diversity day and the students protested. Seems the right is again desperately trying to push a primarily white cis straight Christian society. And while they claim that others are not civil enough, these same people use threats, violence, and they mock and insult others. Notice how the anti-diversity anti-LGBTQIA maga republicans act when others are testifying. No respect whatsoever. Fundamentalist Christian racist bigot maga are the most self entitled people ever. Hugs.
Zack Carreon
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WVXU
Parents and students attend the Forest Hills school board meeting on Sept. 20, 2023.
The debate over whether discussions about race, inclusion, and LGBTQ+ issues belong in Forest Hills Schools was reignited after Superintendent Larry Hook made the decision to paint over a student-created mural at the start of the school year.
The mural depicted the hands of people of different races signaling love and solidarity surrounded by symbols of equality and acceptance of various sexual orientations.
Advocate FHSD
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Provided
The mural inside Nagel Middle School before it was covered and painted over.
Students at Nagel Middle School created the mural years ago, but when students returned to the building this year, some were surprised to see it covered by a banner promoting Forest Hills’s new “Culture Blueprint.” That banner was torn down. Shortly after, the mural was completely painted over, sparking outrage from some students and parents.
On the Forest Hills Schools’ website, the Culture Blueprint is described as a reminder to students to do their best and be mindful of others. But some say the superintendent’s actions send a different message.
Dozens showed up to Wednesday’s school board meeting holding signs of the mural. Parents and students spoke during public comment in opposition to the superintendent’s decision.
Forest Hills parent Jeff Nye addressed Hook directly, calling his response to the initial backlash childish.
“A 7th or 8th grade kid — 12- or 13-years-old — damaged that banner and that’s unacceptable and should be punished,” Nye said. “But before that happened, you had an opportunity to reflect and take action, value the feedback you received, to lead by example, to lead with humility, and say ‘I made a mistake, I shouldn’t have put it there,’ but you didn’t. You doubled down. You didn’t act like leader. You acted like a kid. You took your ball and you went home and I’m incredibly disappointed.”
High school student Norah Zellen also had strong words for Hook, saying that permanently covering the mural will have a more negative impact on students than district leaders thought.
“The mural exhibited a safe and inclusive learning environment, yet it was painted over. This action shows thoughtlessness, a lack of authenticity, and calls into question if the school board and superintendent want some students erased,” Zellen told Hook.
Hook was noticeably silent on the issue during the meeting. Each time the superintendent spoke about school matters, audience members held up signs of the mural.
During the meeting, board member Leslie Rasmussen called out the superintendent for his unwillingness to address the elephant in the room.
“Larry, you made a lot of wonderful comments about the awesome work our students are doing. I don’t want that to be overshadowed tonight or any time, but I want to take a moment to make sure you see all these students in the audience. They deserve acknowledgment,” Rasmussen said.
Hook responded, “I see them,” but made no further comments on the matter until questioned by reporters after the meeting.
Hook’s response
The superintendent defended the mural’s removal, saying despite the overwhelming opposition, most people in the Forest Hills community wanted to see it gone.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people who were very upset that it was there,” he said. “So, it’s kind of created this battle that shouldn’t even be in schools. We need to focus on our education. We need to focus on what’s important. That doesn’t mean we marginalize anybody.”
A small collection of adults also spoke during public comment defending Hook’s decision. One attendee, who took offense to parents and students supporting the mural, was removed by law enforcement after getting into a physical interaction with another audience member.
Read the full article. According to posts on social media today, the woman who snatched an audience member’s phone is the mother of Christianist school board member Katie Stewart, whose own children reportedly attend private Catholic school. At last night’s meeting Stewart wore a Gadsden flag t-shirt. The TikTok video below has gone viral.
At 11, hear from the woman who was attacked while filming a Forest Hills school board meeting. Parents and students were speaking out against the removal of a diversity mural. @Local12pic.twitter.com/cNKa0MrnKm
This is the mother of Katie Stewart, @FHSchools Board Member. She also laughed when a parent discussed her child’s suicide attempt and mocked students and other speakers. #classy#niceexamplehttps://t.co/HIaJa5xG1J
Students, parents and community members held a rally ahead of the Forest Hills School board meeting on Wednesday. Attendees say they’re upset about the decision by the Forest Hills School District to paint over a diversity mural. @FOX19pic.twitter.com/OH34kKGOiE
That woman’s DAUGHTER sits on the SCHOOL BOARD. Perhaps Katie STEWART should RETHINK her WARDROBE CHOICE in light of her MOM’S ANTICS. pic.twitter.com/HvYWYCabWG
She also laughed when a parent discussed her child’s suicide attempt and mocked students and other speakers
To me that’s even worse than the assault.
I wonder if it’s time to ressurect ACT UP! techniques? If this woman goes to church, perhaps go to the same church as disrupt the service: “WHAT DOES GOD THINK OF LAUGHING ABOUT SUICIDE ATTEMPTS?’
Shaming on Twitter is considered a badge of honor and they have no shame. But to so in churches or in grocery stores or at their hairdressers, that will perhaps do more?
I’m thinking of the beardy guy that is in DC and always behind (the latest) republican politician accused of wrongdoing.
Right? ACT UP wasn’t afraid to take on the churches. You do that when people are dying. We’ve already had a few killings (RIP, O’Shae Sibley). How many more will it take?
Very true. Back in the 80’s, we stormed Toronto’s St. Micheal’s Cathedral and dumped condoms on the altar because of the Church’s stance regarding their use, especially in preventing HIV/AIDS. We barricaded Conservative Pols Offices and, on more than one occasion, stood toe to toe with cops who wanted to fuck with us during marches…it didn’t end well for them. It was nothing for us to dump pink Jello by the bucket loads onto cop cars, Church steps, etc. We made a ruckus and did so until we were heard.
Long past time to teach society that lesson again. Direct Action Now.
We need to act up for sure and run for school board seats or get allies to run because imagine the lgbtq kids in that school seeing this how humiliating and hurtful. We need to stand up so they know to do the same when it’s their turn.
“Christianist school board member Katie Stewart, whose own children reportedly attend private Catholic school”
So it is none of her business what it happening at the school in question, but still finds herself in a position to dictate terms there. Just waiting for the cries of “I’m being silenced!”
Where i live its practically impossible to find the backstory on school board candidates unless you know somebody who knows somebody who knows them. School board seats are classified as non-partisan, so you cant even go by party affiliation. Their websites & mailers are useless – so generic as to convey no useful info.
Yet these same people claim that same sex marriage and gay families is destroying the value of marriage. These people demand to tell others how to live, claiming to have the moral high ground. That their godly living as Christian nationals gives them the right to insist you live according to their churches’ dictates and their public moral view of sexuality and sexual practices. Below I will post what I think is one of the most important quotes / ideas about the sexual morals of the right. Hugs
Related: these sorts of authoritarian right-wingers are fine with having affairs, but they’re horrified at the prospect of open, honest swinging or polyamory or other forms of ethical nonmonogamy.
Maybe because those destroy the Dominator Culture pretense that a woman “belongs” to her husband or boyfriend?
According to a new report from the Daily Mail, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski have been having “a years-long clandestine affair.” The Republican governor has been married to her spouse Byron Noem for more than 30 years. Lewandowski has been married to his wife Alison for more than 15 years.
Kristi Noem has made family values central to her identity. She has received awards in the past for championing family values and attended the Iowa Family Values summit in 2021. Noem has also frequently railed against same-sex marriage, stating, “I am a strong supporter of protecting traditional marriage and family.”
Neither denied the affair when asked by DailyMail.com. The Governor issued a statement attacking us for the timing of the article, while Lewandowski did not respond to a request for comment. The two met up on Friday last week when Lewandowski traveled with Trump to Rapid City, South Dakota, for a campaign rally. But the pair – who were made aware of a pending story about their relationship – were careful to have no public interaction in contrast to previous occasions, as DailyMail.com’s exclusive photos show.
Noem – who served four terms as her state’s only member of the US House of Representatives – won the governorship in 2018 promising to uphold the wholesome family values that she said South Dakotans have ‘long embraced’. Defending ‘traditional marriage’, which she defined as ‘a special, God-given union between one man and one woman’, was particularly important to her.
So yet another lying, fornicating, adulterous family values type, loudly proclaiming their morality, with the special asterisk that it only applies to other people.
Lauren Boebert, another one of those. But the footage Joe posted earlier today — showing her vaping in that theater — complete with her giving someone the fuck-finger on the way out — sort of creates an “issue” for her vis-à-vis her “family values” scam.
The good news for her, though: Boebert’s low-IQ MAGAt base won’t pick up on the irony.
Related: these sorts of authoritarian right-wingers are fine with having affairs, but they’re horrified at the prospect of open, honest swinging or polyamory or other forms of ethical nonmonogamy.
Maybe because those destroy the Dominator Culture pretense that a woman “belongs” to her husband or boyfriend?
And yet the same crowd that keeps going after us saying we destroy family values will simply shrug at this because she hates and is willing to hurt all the people they do.
So I woke at 2 am to pee. With my new heart medications, I pee at night almost every hour. I also went to bed at 8 pm. I tend to go to bed early due to both my medications and insulin / food at supper making me very sleepy. So last night I went to bed at 8 pm.
Ron and I do not get tired normally at the same time. I go to bed early and he normally doesn’t come to bed until 10 pm or later. But we have a system. I put my pills in little paper cups. When I go to bed I set up and take my evening pills for that day, then set up my pills for morning and set it aside on the headboard, I then set up the 10 pm pain pills and set in a spicfic spot. I set the night ones in one place and the morning ones go next to the morning other pills I take. Then I set up my nighttime long acting Lantus insulin pen. I take 25 units at night around 10 pm. So I set the dial, put the needle on, but leave the cover and get the alcohol pad packet ready. Yes we use them for our blood sugar sticks and our shots because the teaching over the years spent in the hospital ICU systems still resonate in us. Then I go to bed.
Ron then comes down about 10 pm to wake me or remind me if I have not been sleeping to take the pills and shot. Often by then he will be ready to come to bed, but sometimes not. It is something that works well for us, as I get up much earlier in the morning than Ron does.
Back to today. I woke up at 2 am to pee, but couldn’t go back to sleep. So I figured it was a great time to get up and deal with all the open tabs I have on both computers. Also between 4:30 to 5:30 am I try to feed the two “outside cats”. I am normally up by 5 am and they are used to that. The outside cats are one feral distrustful female and one former inside cat that often spends days in our home to go back out at night. We wanted him to be out during the day and in all night, but after a month or two of fighting with him, he won. He comes in during the day and sleeps or what ever, and is out all night. So I fed them and made of him as he wandered around inside.
Later that morning when Ron got up.
Ron and I took the skirting off parts of the back and the side at the back of the house to inspect the old internet coaxial cable that was run for us in 2007. The current cable is a two part cable because when we first signed up with the internet company we got the entire package, TV, phone, and internet. We soon dropped phone for cells, then dropped cable for internet entertainment. So all we have is internet. And we are happy with that, if not the price. As I said before we use the max out of our internet. The company recently forced us to go through a week of on and off internet to double our speeds, which I am sure they will soon jack the price for. When I talk to others around the country about their internet speeds and costs a lot of people get far greater speeds for less cost, but what can we do? We really are dependent on our internet for everything from our TV, computers, to our security system.
The first thing we did after breakfast was go out and remove panels of the skirting on the back of the house and the side near the back. The intent was to see where and how I had split it off when it was first put in on the beginning of 2007. Because we had signed up for Phone, cable, and internet they ran a large two-sided cable from their box at the back of the yard which they then split a distance under the home to send one half to and hooked into the home, then I split the internet part off to several rooms in the house. Over the years we got rid of landline phone service and then cable. So the old cable stayed only with the second part cut off at the boxes at the end of the home.
Since I hope this is the last office change and both Ron and I want to get it as perfect as we can we have decided to replace the existing large two-sided cable with a new modern upgraded coaxial cable just for the internet to the spot we plan to put the modem and router.
Which saw Ron and me outside at 10 am in the Florida sun / heat taking the skirting off spots in the back and side of the house to determine what we needed to do to run new coaxial cable. Ron insisted on taking the side panels at the south side of the home off while we were in the direct sun because he was sure the answers we needed were further up the house. I knew how the cables were run because I was deeply involved with them when they were being done back in 2007, but I also know enough after 33 years of living together to just let Ron do what he is sure is right until he is proven wrong. Then if I know what is good for my future affections for a while I never let on that I was “damn well right in the first place”
So to make the longest story shorter after taking off the back panels I had seen the place their orange cable came in and our double cable was hooked to and ran under the home, split off to a now cut line, and ran the rest of the way under the home. So the solution was clear and simple. So simple it leads to an argument until Ron and I got on the same page and he understood what I was saying. So we measured the length of the back of the house to the corner and then up to where we thought roughly that the wall from the new office to the current office room. Leaving room for “stuff” we came up with 45 feet. So Ron then decided to add to that length of the rest of the home. He came up with 70 feet.
At this point I felt the need to remind Ron that the official length of our home was 56.5 feet long. He was not happy and insisted we needed a new 70 foot cable in case we ever wanted to move the modem from my office to another part of the house like the planned for new living room. I knew when trying to fight a point was not worth doing so, and agreed to look the cable length up at either Home Depot or Lowes.
That is when things got a bit tense. First let me say I have made many cables, both coaxial and Ethernet. I did it for years. I have all the tools and supplies. But I just don’t want to do it now. I want this to be the last time we do it, open the skirting which is a bitch to open and harder to close and then run this cable. I trust the manufactured cables more than my ability these days. Ron was angry I did not want to do it because at the stores we could only get 50 feet or 100 feet in the lengths we needed. Ron wanted to buy 70 feet which both stores will sell the cables by the foot with out ends and have me put the ends on. I told him to get the 50 foot for about 30 dollars or the 100 foot for 40 dollars. I am not sure which he will get. He finally gave in. I just don’t want to do it anymore, even though I am sure I can.
Then after being outside and kneeling in the grass, my allergies were in full bloom. My hands that were in the grass to look under the house and help me get back on my feet were turning red and itching. I stayed out with Ron while he closed up the skirting, which is a true bitch, then I came in and took a shower while he mowed the lawn with the new 6.5 amp 18 volt batteries we bought for the mower. Now let’s move on to the rest of the day.
One of the great things of my new Scotties Playtime Pink Palace is that I can swivel the video monitor and put on headphones and do the dishes while watching the video screen from the kitchen sink / counters! Those video monitor arms are awesome. So I did the dishes. Now I want people to understand, we have a very fancy expensive dishwasher that has not worked correctly since Ian. We paid a repair company $110 to come in, run it for 10 minutes, hear it run, see it had a bit of water and leave saying nothing wrong with it. So after it wouldn’t fill or run, Ron replaced a bunch of parts, including the pump. Then he gave up and we just continued doing dishes by hand in the sink using the dishwasher racks to drain the dishes. The problem is to replace the dishwasher will cost about $700 dollars and I need new glasses as mine have a chip out of them and my eyes have gotten worse. The glasses I get have always been around $700 dollars at the least expensive place. The one time Ron and I tried a different place, they wanted 1,400 dollars for the same glasses. Screw that.
But while there was not really a large amount of dishes, only about 24 hours worth for two people, it took me 2 and a half hours. Yes sorry but I struggle to stand, move, work with my arms and shoulders. So those dishes took me that long. During it I needed to take pain medications. While I was doing dishes, Ron took a well deserved break. He offered to dry the dishes but I really felt he deserved more of a break. The man is 68, has his own health issues, and was out in the Florida sun / heat mowing our lawn. I wanted him to sit in his recliner after he took his shower, watch his TV, and relax. And tonight he is going to make supper of burgers and salads.
A few hours later: Ron made two burgers each and two small salads. Small salads for us means a regular size bowl and a large salad which is what I normally have is a very large pasta bowl full of salad. So I made two burgers the way I like and took them to my new office along with my salad. But I soon realized I wouldn’t be able to eat both burgers and the salad. As I was finishing my first burger, Ron opened the door and asked if I needed anything and I offered him my second burger. He smiled. He knew that was coming. I wish I did. He told me he had not made his second burger because he figured when he saw me take both of mine I wouldn’t be able to finish them. He asked and I explained what was on them. He ate my second burger and I finished my salad. He then told me he loved it, the way I make a burger on a bun is great, but I only put salts, lettuce, pickle slices, and a tad bit of both mustard and A1 steak sauce. But it worked out, I did not over eat and he got a great burger along with putting in the fridge the leftover burger which he will eat later. He loves cold hamburgers, which I find abhorrent. It is sad in a way, in the old days we would both eat two or three burgers and a whole bag of store bought french fries. These days when Ron asks I don’t have him make fries. No way I can eat that much. If I am going to have fries I can only have at most one burger. Or instead of the burgers I will just have fries which is horrible for my blood sugar.
So everything I normally do at the end of the day is done. The cats have been fed, Odie has been fed, and will get his shot closer to 8 pm. I am going to bed with my muscles aching and my body pain starting to rise. Ron has already popped in to ask if I want a back rub or something before I go to sleep. Gods he is wonderful. But I told him we will cuddle when he comes to bed many hours from now.
So that was / is the highlights of my day. I am sure I forgot some stuff. If you ask me questions I might remember what I forgot. Otherwise I love you all, and wish those that like hugs many warm ones and those that don’t want hugs I extend best wishes. Good night. Scottie
The people pushing these bans to remove any LGBTQIA representation from schools and libraries are a very small vocal minority using the laws that DeathSantis along with his fellow fundamentalist Christian ideological bigots implemented just for this purpose. This is what the republicans wanted. I get so tired of repeating my self, but this small minority wants to rule over the majority, return society to 1950 basically wiping any LGBTQIA from society or public view. Please remember these books are not intended nor available to younger kids, these are for teenagers, 13 and up. In one case it says for 17 and up. I have news for everyone, 13 years are ready to read these books and may desperately need to read them. Plus most kids that old have free access to internet or a friend that has it, and studies show that by 13 kids have watched and viewed porn along with nude human pictures. Here is an example of two people, yes just two people pushing their idea of moral values on everyone else, regardless of the wishes of the other people. This is fundamental Christian Taliban in action. Hugs
School district officials responded to more than 1,200 book objections.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — According to a list released by Florida’s Department of Education, school districts across the state issued a combined total of 386 book bans after receiving a total of 1,218 objections in 2022.
A small movement
According to a recent analysis by the Tampa Bay Times, more than half of the objections were raised by the same two people: Bruce Friedman, the founder of the Florida chapter of the activist group No Left Turn in Education, and Vicki Baggett.
He reportedly got titles from an internet database and photocopied thousands of objections with vague complaints like “Protect Children!” and “Damaged Souls!”.
Baggett submitted hundreds of complaints of “indoctrination” and apparently copied from book reviews on BookLooks.org, a book challenging group founded by a member of Moms for Liberty, the Times found.
And of the 386 book bans issued last year, 300 of them covered only three school districts: Clay County where Friedman lives (177 books banned), Martin County (98) and Manatee County (25). There are 67 school districts in Florida altogether. Fifty-one of those districts (including Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, and Citrus counties) did not remove a single book from school shelves in 2022.
5 controversial titles
The titles that were removed from schools often varied by school district despite the fact that efforts to get specific titles banned made national headlines. Such was the case with “And Tango Makes Three,” “Let’s Talk About It” and “This Book is Gay” (which was also the only title Hillsborough County schools banned last year).
Even so, the controversy around some titles reached far enough to get them removed from multiple counties:
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – The popular series of adult fantasy novels about a young woman who is taken to a faerie kingdom at war was a New York Times Bestseller. The books are intended for adults 17 or older as they contain sex scenes and abusive relationships. However, it is unclear whether school libraries even carried these books in the first place.
Lucky by Alice Sebold – The memoir written by the author of the book “The Lovely Bones” detailed her rape and brutal assault and how surviving it shaped the rest of her life. The memoir generated attention in Florida after Friedman objected to the book’s graphic descriptions of sexual assault at a school board meeting in November. The board cut his mic before he could read a passage from it.
L8r, G8r by Lauren Myracle – The third book in Myracle’s famous “Internet Girls” series, which told coming-of-age stories for young girls written entirely in internet-speak and instant messages, was removed from multiple schools for its use of profanity and its depictions of adult sexuality as part of its plot.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews – A novel about a socially awkward high school senior who, along with his friend and fellow amateur filmmaker, befriends a classmate who is dying of leukemia. Though the novel was well-received, schools have banned it due to complaints about sexually explicit content.
The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur – Canadian poet Kaur’s second book of poetry was the follow-up to “Milk and Honey,” which became one of the most widely banned books in the U.S. due to its explorations of difficult subjects like sexual assault, trauma, abuse and family issues. Her second collection, which featured more poems touching on abuse, healing from trauma, infanticide and other touchy subjects, was pulled from schools due largely to the controversy “Milk and Honey” generated.
In the upside-down, through-the-looking-glass world that is DeSantis’s Florida, what should be condemned as an abomination is touted as an accomplishment.
And to think when I was a teen growing up in Houston I read ‘The Chants of Maldoror’ which I checked out at the public library. People didn’t make a fuss about books back then. Once in a while my mom would read a Truman Capote book and make a face. I think most parents were just pleased that their kids read anything.
They banned Bernard Malamud’s “The Fixer”. That book is a Pulitzer Prize winning classic…and I doubt any single one of these philistine chucklefucks even know what it’s about. (It’s about antisemitism in Tsarist Russia, by the way.)
It’s disgusting that 2 people can hold so much power over the parents of children that just want to go to school to learn REGULAR educational cirriculum, and not be dictated to by Christofasicst Theocratic wanna be’s that are determined to take this country back 150 years!
If anyone has become legendary due to the hatred of moral busybodies, it’s definitely her. She’s not only one of the pioneers of realistic YA fiction, she’s also one of the most widely banned.
It’s all about sex education, gays, trans, and other LGBTQ+ types being people and finding love and acceptance throughout the pages. Stuff Christofacists hate, yet they do anyway as they target boys and girls for sex both off and online.
So Florida is hostage to two cranks. I’m a bit surprised that De Spotic didn’t assign this power to himself or his immediate cronies, and not some upstarts.
Republican Senator John Kennedy spoke at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on book bans and he also read some similar passages aloud from the books “All Boys Aren’t Blue” and “Genderqueer”. Kennedy then asks Illinois Secretary Of State Alexi Giannoulias whether he thinks librarians should be the only ones who have oversight of whether kids have access to these types of books.
I thought I had posted this, but I can’t find it and I hurt so badly both emotionally and physically, I am just going to do it again. This guy is a complete scammer. His whole graft before he was hired to be a shield for DeathSantis was to hock ivermectin as a cure for covid via over the internet consultation, where he charged hundreds of dollars before giving the prescription. He was part of the “Front Line Doctors” group run by the woman that claimed that diseases were caused by demon seed, meaning demon sperm, being put in people. This guy was hired by DeathSantis to back up his anti-mask anti-vaccine screed but then DeathSantis insisted a major state run university also hire him making his yearly salary almost $600,000 a year. So it is no wonder he is willing to parrot and claim any political thing DeathSantis wants. And just to be clear, Florida had more deaths from Covid by far than states that did push masking and vaccines, but DeathSantis did not care how many people died, he wanted the state to have tourist revenue.
To be clear, this jerk is one that Tildeb used to claim that gender affirming care for youth is harmful. And others believe and follow Tildeb as if he is a sincere truth telling person. In fact, he is a lying anti-trans bigot that misinforms and spreads lies about trans people and gender affirming medical care. I have no tolerance for such people because they cause harm to both kids and adults that identify as a different gender / sex than assigned at birth. Such people deny advances in medical science and want the world to return to a past when this issue was not discussed or addressed medically. Hugs
While speaking at a Thursday news conference for Gov. Ron DeSantis in Jacksonville, Florida, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, that state’s surgeon general, advised people to steer clear of the updated booster vaccine for COVID-19. “There’s a new vaccine that’s coming around the corner, a new mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, and there’s essentially no evidence for it,” Ladapo said during the news conference, according to local news outlets.
“There’s been no clinical trial done in human beings showing that it benefits people” he said. “There’s been no clinical trial showing that it is a safe product for people — and not only that, but then there are a lot of red flags.” Ladapo warned that the updated vaccines “actually cause cardiac injury in many people.” He l urged Floridians to make their own decisions based on their particular “resonance of truth,” rather than on “very educated people telling you what you should think.”
I hope there’s an enormous class-action lawsuit against him and DeSantis sometime in the future, brought by the relatives of people who should have gotten the booster but didn’t, because this asshole said “Don’t listen to subject matter experts.”
He urged Floridians to make their own decisions based on their particular “resonance of truth,” rather than on “very educated people telling you what you should think.”
Or you could listen to the ravings of a complete lunatic liar
Advising the public to adopt harmful behaviour based on zero scientific evidence. In other words, a charlatan. Should be arrested and jailed for public endangerment.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, Prattville residents affiliated with Clean Up Alabama, which began as Clean Up Prattville, pleaded with the council that their solutions were a “common sense” approach to inappropriate materials for minors.
But the local goals are just one part of a three-prong plan that Clean Up Alabama has to push the issue across the state, according to meeting minutes included in an email to subscribers.
The minutes detailed the group’s local goals, as well as its goals with the Alabama Public Library Service, primarily to dissociate from the American Library Association. Gov. Kay Ivey has sent a letter to APLS Director Dr. Nancy Pack expressing concerns that closely follow Clean-Up Alabama’s push over LGBTQ materials in library spaces intended for minors.
But the meeting also included three state legislative goals, which go much further than simply severing any ties with the ALA or asking librarians to move books to an adult section.
Here’s what the group plans to do:
1. “Amend the Anti-Obscenity Law that exempts public libraries from criminal punishment when it comes to the distribution of material harmful to minors.”
Under Section 13A-12-200.5 of the Code of Alabama, it is a misdemeanor “for any person to knowingly or recklessly distribute to a minor, possess with intent to distribute to a minor, or offer or agree to distribute to a minor any material which is harmful to minors.” The section does not classify which level of misdemeanor that would be, but the charge would carry a fine of up to $10,000 and up to one year in county jail.
Currently, “material harmful to minors” is defined under the code to mean:
“a. The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest of minors; and
“b. Material that depicts or describes sexual conduct [this will come into play later], breast nudity or genital nudity, in a way which is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable for minors; and
“c. A reasonable person would find that the material, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors.”
However, Section 13A-12-200.10 specifically exempts “libraries and their employees or agents” from the criminal provisions of the act.
On Aug. 16, Clean Up Alabama posted on X (formerly Twitter) that this rule could allow public libraries to give sex toys to children without criminal punishment.
“Did you know that Alabama library employees can legally display sex toys, and possibly give them to kids without prosecution?” The post says.
At this time, APR has not heard any reports of any public libraries displaying sex toys for adults or children.
2. “Possibly add the libraries onto current law passed pertaining to woke ideologies in schools; and increase from 5th grade to 12th grade like Florida was able to do”
This appears to be in reference to Alabama’s version of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which Alabama passed in the 2022 session in a bill sponsored by House Majority Leader Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle. The bill originally only dealt with school bathrooms, requiring students to use the bathroom that aligned with their birth sex.
In a last-minute amendment by Sen Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, the bill suddenly became much more, barring instructors from leading “classroom discussion or classroom instruction regarding sexual orientation or gender identity in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
In the last session, Rep. Mack Butler, R-Gadsden, filed a bill to expand that to the eighth grade.
While Clean-Up Alabama suggests extending that to public libraries, it is not clear what that language would be and whether it would apply to the content of books or instructional programs held at the library,
3. “Considering HB401 that never made it out of committee and assure the language in it matches the harmful materials we have found in the libraries and that it includes public libraries.”
HB401 drew a lot of attention last session as it would have prohibited drag performances in public spaces where minors may be present—and some argued the language was so vague it could have applied to any transgender person in a public space.
The bill led to a massive pushback from the LGBTQ community with a march of hundreds on the state capitol.
Stadthagen has vowed to bring the bill back in the next session, and in the same conversation, praised Clean Up Prattville’s fight against LGBTQ books in the library.
Without an understanding of how that law was written, one might be confused exactly what Clean Up Alabama’s plan is to co-opt libraries into the law.
The way HB401 was written, it added drag performances into the definition of “sexual conduct,” which itself is a term included in the definition of “harmful to minors.” (Re-read that section earlier in this article to see how it plays into the code).
When Clean up Alabama says they want to ensure the language “matches the harmful materials we have found in the libraries,” it seems apparent that they mean adding LGBTQ+ content to the definition of “sexual conduct,” thereby changing the meaning of the definition of “harmful to minors” to include LGBTQ+ content.
If Clean Up Alabama were to succeed in these goals, the combination could result in librarians facing up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $10,000 just for having a book like “The Pronoun Book” on the shelf.
Under the current law, the first prong of the three-prong definition of material harmful to minors would rule out books like The Pronoun Book from ever being considered “harmful to minors,” as the word “prurient” is defined as “marked by or arousing an immoderate or unwholesome interest or desire.” But HB401 as it was written last year would break apart those three prongs; instead of requiring content to meet all three elements to qualify as “harmful to minors,” the law would only require the content to meet any one of the three prongs.
Might the plan gain support?
At least four state representatives have been supportive of Clean Up Alabama publicly in some manner: Rep. Susan Dubose, R-Hoover, has begun beating the drum for the group’s goal to keep the ALA from influencing Alabama libraries in any way. Fellow first-term state representatives Rick Rehm, R-Dothan, and Bill Lamb, R-Tuscaloosa, joined Dubose in support of the group as it listed its grievances at last month’s meeting of the APLS.
Stadthagen, as aforementioned, has given his stamp of approval to the efforts of the group.
Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, worked in the last session with DJ Parten, a member of Clean Up Alabama, who wrote the failed legislation that would have allowed abortive women to be charged with homicide.
And Ivey’s letter to Pack references the Prattville books challenged by the group, although her letter shares concern about APLS policies and nothing comparable to this state legislative plan.
Finding information about homosexuality from a public library saved my life. I was eight years old and the only help a librarian gave me was to teach me how to use the main card catalog. I told her I wanted to look up dinosaurs. Librarians are so gullible when you mention dinosaurs…
This dinosaur learned (when he was going to SF State in the 60’s) that the 4th floor library men’s room was generally like a gay men’s meet and greet most evenings. But since it was in a library everyone kept it quiet.
Correct, you’d think there would be some sort of pushback from the opposition party aka the Dems on these bills coming forward. Where are they? Even AL dems are silent.
We have no clear message on this? On jailing librarians? No opposite group to the Moms for Liberty group? How about Moms for Libraries? NOTHING from our party?????
These fascists will continue to move forward when there is no opposition to their authoritarian rule.
They desperately need us to disappear. Without their power of the closet they have come to realize they don’t control the narrative any longer. I remember when I was young knowing that two men could be thrown in jail for doing stuff. (I didn’t know what stuff was, but why should a child know these things) I also knew that there was a place where some boys were sent when they couldn’t stop acting like a sissy. I knew where it was and I knew that ECT was involved. They have lost an enormous amount of power and they see their own children rejecting their hate and their religion. So they are having a temper tantrum because that’s all they know.
That’s the end result they want. But it’s a slippery slope, and on the way, they will want to jail anyone who advocates for homosexuality, which will then be interpreted as anyone who merely mentions it, and that will include any media mention of LBGTs. Eventually, they will want a complete prohibition on the certain words, such as gay, lesbian, and will prohibit anyone from stating that they are so. They want it back like the 1950s, when it was not just a taboo, but a criminal sanction.
I’ll answer it anyway: It’s a white supremacist theocratically-aligned autocracy, imposed by a small minority of citizens with power far in excess of what their numbers normally would allow in a democratic republic.
Advocate FHSD/Provided
