It is great to see sane people in blue states standing up for equality for people in the US. Republican led states ignore medical science, instead they prefer to trust tradition and religion as the basis of their laws. If the rest of the country did this we would still have slavery and be using prayer for medical treatments. Instead of banning progress in understanding they should welcome new advancements. But every day shows they are further out of touch, their religious views wrong, and their desire to return to a past where they were comfortable, in charge, and understood the world / society they lived in. LGBTQIA people exist including also kids. Yes young kids know and have sexual feelings and gender identity. Cis straight people want to deny that yet they can never point to the time they choose either. Hugs
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the measures a day after issuing a controversial veto that was criticized by LGBTQ advocates.
Gavin Newsom during the San Francisco Pride parade in 2017.AFP via Getty Images file
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several bills Saturday aimed at bolstering the state’s protections for LGBTQ people, a day after issuing a controversial veto that was criticized by advocates.
The new laws include legislation that focuses on support for LGBTQ youth. One law sets timelines for required cultural competency training for public school teachers and staff, while another creates an advisory task force to determine the needs of LGBTQ students and help advance supportive initiatives. A third requires families to show that they can and are willing to meet the needs of a child in foster care regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“California is proud to have some of the most robust laws in the nation when it comes to protecting and supporting our LGBTQ+ community, and we’re committed to the ongoing work to create safer, more inclusive spaces for all Californians,” Newsom said in a statement. “These measures will help protect vulnerable youth, promote acceptance, and create more supportive environments in our schools and communities.”
The governor also signed legislation that requires schools serving first through 12th grade to have at least one gender-neutral bathroom available for students by 2026.
The law was spurred by a Southern California school district that instituted a policy requiring schools to tell parents when their children change their pronouns or use a bathroom of a gender other than the one listed on their official paperwork. A judge halted the policy after California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Chino Valley Unified School District. The lawsuit is ongoing.
The governor’s bill-signings came after Newsom vetoed a bill on Friday that would have required judges to consider whether a parent affirms their child’s gender identity when making custody and visitation decisions.
Assemblymember Lori Wilson, a Democrat who introduced the bill and has an adult son who came out as transgender when he was a teenager, was among the LGBTQ advocates who criticized the governor’s decision.
“I’ve been disheartened over the last few years as I watched the rising hate and heard the vitriol toward the trans community. My intent with this bill was to give them a voice, particularly in the family court system where a non-affirming parent could have a detrimental impact on the mental health and well-being of a child,” Wilson said in a statement.
Newsom said existing laws already require courts to consider health, safety and welfare when determining the best interests of a child in custody cases, including the parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity.
The veto comes amid intense political battles across the country over transgender rights, including efforts to impose bans on gender-affirming care, bar trans athletes from girls and women’s sports, and require schools to notify parents if their children ask to use different pronouns or changes their gender identity.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signs three new bills into law to strengthen the state’s protections for LGBTQ people. Newsom: “California is proud to have some of the most robust laws in the nation when it comes to protecting and supporting our LGBTQ community, and we’re… pic.twitter.com/TLuJM7tMdB
We can’t wait for our Florida house to sell so we can move California. What a wonderful change it will be. I expect we will actually need some time to de-stress and de-traumatize from trying to live here.
I left Florida and moved to Massachusetts. The first time walking around near Harvard and MIT and hearing someone performing Shakespeare on the street and having two people in a cafe almost come to blows over a mathematical theorem instead of over drugs, the first time passing an open field and seeing someone with an easel painting the landscape instead of circling on a quad tearing it up…
It’s a whole different world when you escape to someplace more blue.
Last year I left SW FL for SW GA. Stable blue congressional district and 2 Dem Senators. I grew up in the South so no adaptation problems. I am glad I got out of the toxic swamp FL has become.
Assuming we have a country in another 5 years, that is when he will make a run. Pete will also make a run as well and he will have the federal seasoning he lacked that last time. We have some young and very good people coming up over the next few years. Katie Porter is another one they are scared shitless of. Eric Swalwell, Ted Lieu, and AOC are all very capable and message well. There are of course a slew of others from across the country but all of the above are young and well regarded in general and absolutely hated by the right (that is a good thing).
An Ohio high school football coach resigned Monday following his team’s use of racist and antisemitic language during a game last Friday, the school announced https://t.co/9eSA1VyJhA
Boy, it sure would be embarrassing if someone quoted the Florida curriculum standard, which explicitly states that “Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” ( https://www.fldoe.org/core/… )
Or, at least it would be to anyone with a conscience.
My heart weeps for all the beautiful trans folks out there, especially the younger ones, just trying to live their lives with some dignity and respect and maybe a little joy, and they’re constantly barraged by crap like this from crap like this.
In 12 countries around the world, people can be put to death for having a same-sex relationship, while in 66 states private, consensual same-sex sexual activity is criminalised, according to the Human Dignity Trust.
“Transgenderism, especially in kids, is a mental health disorder.” — Vivek Ramaswamy. This is false. Being transgender is not a mental health disorder. Many transgender people experience gender dysphoria, or psychological distress as a result of the incongruence between their sex and their gender identity. Gender dysphoria is a diagnosis in the psychiatric Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and can be given to children, adolescents or adults.
I feel for the transgender children in America who have to listen to Vivek Ramaswamy and the Republican presidential candidates telling them they have a "mental disorder" and don't know the first thing about their lives. Shameful demagoguery.
18 House “Republicans” voted today against an amendment that would have defunded drag shows and pride month events at the Defense Department. Time to name and shame:
Duncan appeared here in January 2023 when the House approved his bill to ban vaccine mandates at Medicare and Medicaid-certified health facilities. In 2015, Duncan co-sponsored a bill that sought to place a ban on same-sex marriage in the US Constitution. In 2018, Duncan co-sponsored a bill allowing adoption agencies to ban same-sex parents.
In filing for divorce, wife of Jeff Duncan (R-SC)– another GOP "strong advocate for traditional family values"– said he's been screwing anything that moved including shady DC lobbyist Liz Williams. He's one of the ones trying to shut down the U.S. government for Trump pic.twitter.com/QCioH2i1TH
Honored to receive the Friend of the Family Award this week from the Faith and Freedom Coalition for my conservative voting record in the 116th Congress and commitment to defend the family, protect religious freedom, and stand with Israel. @FaithandFreedompic.twitter.com/uV8he0xTKv
When Jeff Duncan left his "Faith and Freedom BBQ" at the end of August, after calling Melody Duncan his loving and supportive wife, he then went "directly to the home of his paramour." https://t.co/LuZIDcipYF
Hanson last appeared here when the same outlet exposed her arrest record for facilitating prostitution. She made her JMG debut when she was exposed for using the photos of minority women in campaign materials, claiming that they support her. The women said they’d never heard of her. Hanson’s campaign manager spoke at last year’s public hearing on the local Pride event to declare that the festival had provided children with “dildos and butt plugs.”
EXCLUSIVE: Gabrielle Hanson fought Franklin Pride, but celebrated her scantily clad husband at Chicago Pride https://t.co/toLuP98piF
This person, speaking out against Pride at a Franklin BOMA meeting, has the same name and background as the person identified as Gabrielle Hanson’s campaign manager. pic.twitter.com/T1xtFNFaEd
NEW from @formvscontent: “Records show @CityOfFranklin Alderman and mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson. was charged with money laundering, organized crime, in addition to her admission of conviction(s) of promotion of prostitution.”
Now do you see the point? This attack on woke is just the same old attack on LGBTQIA people. This is the same right wing attack on people who are different. It is the same right wing attack on gays, lesbians, and trans people that was happening in the1960s and 1970s. It is about removing us, people like me, the entire LGBTQIA from society. Basically a genocide. There are LGBTQIA kids in schools and that go to libraries. These kids need to see people like them, need the information in those books. Plus kids own books that have gay characters are not permitted even for scielent reading by themselves. Removing the books won’t stop kids being born LGBTQIA, it will just increase the targeting and harassment, the bullying along with increasing the isolation / shame these kids will feel about themselves for being different. It is cruel. Especially as science has proven beyond a doubt people are born with their sexual orientations and gender identity already set. DeathSantis said it was a hoax, that no books were being banned only pornographic ones, this order to remove the books specifically says remove them even if there is no sexual content.
The guidance made clear that all books with LGBTQ characters are to be removed even if the book contained no sexually explicit content. The librarians asked if they could retain books in school and classroom libraries with LGBTQ characters “as long as they do not have explicit sex scenes or sexual descriptions and are not approaching ‘how to’ manuals for how to be an LGBTQ+ person.” Vianello responded, “No. Books with LBGTQ+ characters are not to be included in classroom libraries or school library media centers.”
DeathSantis claimed that his anti-woke doesn’t equal don’t say gay. But that is the way the law is written and the goal of the fundamentalist Christian nationalists people that he is a member of and leads. Hugs
Librarians in public schools in Charlotte County, Florida, were instructed by the school district superintendent to remove all books with LGBTQ characters or themes from school and classroom libraries.
Charlotte County school librarians sought guidance from the school district about how to apply an expansion of the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, better known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, to all grades. “Are we removing books from any school or media center, Prek-12 if a character has, for example, two mothers or because there is a gay best friend or a main character is gay?” the librarians asked. Charlotte County Superintendent Mark Vianello answered, “Yes.”
The guidance by Vianello and the school board’s attorney, Michael McKinley, was obtained by the Florida Freedom to Read Project (FFTRP) through a public records request and shared with Popular Information. FFTRP requested “electronic records of district and school decisions regarding classroom and library materials.” In response, FFTRP received a document memorializing a July 24 conversation between Vianello and district librarians, known in Florida as media specialists.
The guidance made clear that all books with LGBTQ characters are to be removed even if the book contained no sexually explicit content. The librarians asked if they could retain books in school and classroom libraries with LGBTQ characters “as long as they do not have explicit sex scenes or sexual descriptions and are not approaching ‘how to’ manuals for how to be an LGBTQ+ person.” Vianello responded, “No. Books with LBGTQ+ characters are not to be included in classroom libraries or school library media centers.”
Vianello also says teachers must ensure that books with LGBTQ characters and themes do not enter the classroom, even if they are self-selected by students for silent reading. According to Vianello, books with “[t]hese characters and themes cannot exist.”
The librarians were seeking guidance on how to interpret a revised version of The Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession in Florida. The revised rules, issued by the Florida Department of Education earlier this year, expanded the restrictions imposed by the”Don’t Say Gay” law. According to revised Rule 6A-10.081, educators in Florida “[s]hall not intentionally provide classroom instruction to students in prekindergarten through grade 8 on sexual orientation or gender identity.” (A similar provision was included in a law Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed in May.) The revised rule also extends that prohibition through grade 12, except where explicitly required by state standards or as part of “a reproductive health course or health lesson for which a student’s parent has the option to have his or her student not attend.”
Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has insisted that allegations that his policies, including the “Don’t Say Gay” law, are being used to ban a wide range of books is a “hoax.” DeSantis claimed that the only books being removed from Florida libraries are “pornographic and inappropriate materials that have been snuck into our classrooms and libraries to sexualize our students violate our state education standards.” But in Charlotte County, DeSantis’ policies are being used to justify purging all books with LGBTQ characters, even if there is no sexual content.
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for Charlotte County Schools told Popular Information that books with LGBTQ characters were removed from libraries because “there are elementary schools that utilize their school library media center as classrooms… [for] elective courses that our students are officially scheduled into and attend on a regular basis.” Therefore, the library “is considered a classroom setting.” As a result, “our school board attorney advises that we do not make books with these themes available in media centers that serve as classrooms since this would be considered ‘classroom instruction’ and such instruction and/or availability of these themes may not occur in PreK- grade 8.” The spokesperson acknowledged that “high school media centers are not designated as classrooms,” but books with LGBTQ characters were excluded anyway because “if a teacher were to bring a class of students to the media center and provide instruction, books with these themes cannot be included in that instructional time unless supported by the academic standards of that course of study.”
The problem with banning all books with LGBTQ characters
There are serious legal issues with banning all books with LGBTQ characters.
In June, the authors of the children’s book And Tango Makes Three, and several students sued the Lake County School Board, the Florida Department of Education, and other state officials for removing the book from K-3 library shelves. And Tango Makes Three is the true story of two male Penguins, Roy and Silo, who lived in the Central Park Zoo and raised an adopted chick. It has no sexual content. The lawsuit contends that the removal of And Tango Makes Three violates student rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and by “discriminating based on content and viewpoint, it infringes the authors’ right to freedom of expression.”
In response, the Lake County School Board filed an affidavit on July 13, 2023, from its superintendent, Diane Kornegay. She stated that, on June 21, 2023, she received guidance from the Florida Department of Education that the “age restriction on sexual orientation and gender identity does not apply to library books.” The guidance included a legal memorandum by the Florida Attorney General filed in a separate case challenging the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which contends that the law “does not even arguably restrict library books.”
As a result, And Tango Makes Three was returned to the shelves in Lake County.
The Florida Department of Education has been repeatedly asked to clarify the application of “Don’t Say Gay” and other laws and regulations restricting LGBTQ instruction to library books. But it has refused to do so, despite the urging of FFTRP and others.
“Every child deserves to have their lives reflected in the books available in their public school classroom or library,” Stephana Ferrell, co-founder of the FFTRP told Popular Information. “The Florida Department of Education was informed of Charlotte County’s overreaction to the law and state rule over two weeks ago, and has not acted to correct it. Public school families in Florida deserve better. We cannot tolerate this discriminatory exclusion.”
The result of the Department of Education’s inaction has been chaos. And Tango Makes Three remains banned in Escambia County and elsewhere. While Charlotte County is the only school district known to have a formal ban on all books with LGBTQ characters, other Florida school districts have the same policy in practice.
In the Broward County School District, the sixth-largest school district in the country, nearly half of the books that have been removed or restricted feature LGBTQ themes. One of the books banned from all school libraries is the children’s book A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, a fictional story about former Vice President Mike Pence’s family bunny. In the story, Marlon Bundo falls in love with another bunny named Wesley, and the two decide to get married. The book does not contain any sexual or explicit content whatsoever. The Broward County School District ordered that all school libraries remove Bundo, because it contained “gender identity content.”
The Broward County School District told Popular Information that it was aware of the state’s position in the Lake County lawsuit. But, as of last month, Bundo remained unavailable in Broward County schools.
A survey of Florida school districts by Popular Information revealed that at least 16 school districts in Florida have banned books with LGBTQ characters.
Please see the intro to my last two post. I am going to simply copy and paste it here as it is the same thing.
The Christian Taliban moral police strike again. When are people in the US going to get tired of the Christian nationalist trying to take over the country and force everyone to live under the doctrines of their churches. Think about it, this is not religious freedom, this is religious dictatorship. Religious freedom is everyone gets to practice and live their life according to their religion as long as it doesn’t harm others. By the Christians insisting everyone honor their idea of the holy day, they deny the religious freedom of others. What about religious sects and religions that have Saturday as the holy day? What about atheist that don’t have a holy day, and their ability to enjoy each day without the religious entanglements is also part of religious freedom. I know that some fundamental religious leaders like to claim there is no right to not be religious, but that is stupid. To be free to practice one’s personal beliefs, one must be free to have no set religious restrictions. People this is a fringe fundamentalist group of very vocal, very driven people willing to rule over every aspect of other peoples lives. They are the worst busybody nosey neighbors ever in existence. Their goal in life is to make you follow their ways, their ideas of right and wrong no matter what you believe, no matter what you think, in fact you are not important as a person for them. You need to comply so their god is happy, that is it. They don’t care if you’re happy or if things are good for you. They only care if their god is happy and they think they know the secret to making their god happy. Fight back. Hugs
Julie Leavens-Hupp insists she wasn’t excluding anyone
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If anyone near the Sacramento, California area would like to advise the Rocklin Unified School District on matters involving safety, curriculum, or social services, the school board is currently looking for volunteers.
Ideal candidates should be able to attend a few meetings each year, bring forth ideas from their communities, and love Jesus Christ.
That last one was cited last week by Julie Leavens-Hupp, the president of the RUSD School Board, who specifically called for“Christ centered” applicantson her Facebook campaign page:
Rocklin Friends,
As your school board we have worked very hard to insist that important decisions (such as new curriculum) involve our parents. Now we need you. The advisory committee sign ups went out today. We need as many Christ centered, family focused parents as we can get on those committees. PLEASE take a look and see what you can commit to for the year. Thank you for your love and support! Together, we will keep our children safe and thriving!
That’s a hell of a way to tell Jews, Muslims, and atheists that their services are not wanted… It’s all the more disturbing when you realize one of the committees will advise the board on a new science curriculum for grades K-5. The last thing that committee needs are people motivated by their religious beliefs instead of a passion for science education. (Last year, according to news station KOVR, Hupp and a majority of the board voted against a proposed science curriculum recommended by teachers.)
If “Christ centered” is supposed to be shorthand for something else, then why not be specific about what that means? Are we talking about the Christians who care about marginalized students and inclusive classroom policies, or the Christians who use their faith to exclude and demean others? If she thinks “Christ centered” means something positive, then she’s living in a conservative bubble.
Hupp’s comments struck a nerve with many families in the district, who said they were proudly “family focused” but not in a way Hupp would appreciate. Elizabeth Dean said her wife was trans and asked Hupp to explain why “you don’t need our involvement in your advisory board to keep our children safe and thriving.“
The response was nothing more than faith-based deflection. “The inclusion of one does not mean the exclusion of others,” Hupp said to her. You see, just because she wants Christian parents on the advisory boards doesn’t mean she doesn’t want non-Christian parents there too. (That’s why it totally wouldn’t be racist, by her logic, had she specifically asked white parents to sign up.)
When another parent asked if the board would accept an application from an atheist, Hupp—stripped of her characteristic suburban-mom-emoji- overload sentences—simply said “yes.”
Other parents correctly pointed out that if people wanted their kids to have a Christ-centered education, they could send their kids to a private Christian school. But as president of a public school board, Hupp had no business posting that dog-whistle.
On Saturday, after several commenters demanded a recall election and contacted local news outlets, Hupp posted a follow-up. She didn’t apologize or take anything back. Instead, she implied everyone was misinterpreting her comment.
In answer to a question I am receiving, Yes, I asked for Christ loving individuals to join committees. I posted on many different sites. I also asked for family centered individuals and principle centered, loving people. All faiths and all child loving people are encouraged to sign up. The inclusion of one does not mean the exclusion of others. I also asked others. It is an open door. If you live in Rocklin and want what is best for children and have the time to commit, come join.
That… doesn’t make any more sense. She asked Christians, and only Christians, to apply for the public school advisory boards. She did not do similar outreach to non-Christians. It’s that simple.
Saying that people of “all faiths” are encouraged to apply—something she absolutely did not say the first time around—still excludes atheists. And let’s be honest: The damage was already done with her initial statement telling non-Christians they wouldn’t be welcome in these committees.
All she had to do was keep her damn religion out of it. She couldn’t do it. Even the best case scenario here—that Hupp simply used “Christ centered” to mean good and decent—doesn’t make much sense in practice because the two ideas are not synonymous. Just ask people who aren’t Christians but have to constantly deal with the right-wing arrogance of people like Hupp.
One commenter’s response to Hupp’s “clarification” was perfectly on point, noting that a “great leader” would’ve recognized her error rather than repeat it: “Instead, you double down, to me indicating one of the following—you don’t care, you choose to have your head far deep in the sand or you’re just totally inept.”
Incidentally, Hupp waselected to the board in 2020along with two conservative allies, giving them a majority on the board. During her campaign, Hupp bragged about being endorsed by “school choice advocates,” which should have been concerning to those who care about the future of public schools. The conservatives on boardincludea pastor atDestiny Church, a right-wingmegachurchin the area, along with another church-supported member.
Hupp hasn’t directly responded to the calls for her to resign. A spokesperson for the district, however,issued a laughable statementabout how Hupp “has always been proud of the diversity of our community and hopes to see it represented in all of our communities.” That supposed belief is contradicted by her own words.
The next school board meeting is scheduled for September 6. Anyone in the area troubled by Hupp’s comments should consider making their voices heard on that day.
Please see the intro to my last post. I am going to simply copy and paste it here as it is the same thing. Also there are videos in the article that I am unable to copy, so to see them please go to the link above. Hugs
The Christian Taliban moral police strike again. When are people in the US going to get tired of the Christian nationalist trying to take over the country and force everyone to live under the doctrines of their churches. Think about it, this is not religious freedom, this is religious dictatorship. Religious freedom is everyone gets to practice and live their life according to their religion as long as it doesn’t harm others. By the Christians insisting everyone honor their idea of the holy day, they deny the religious freedom of others. What about religious sects and religions that have Saturday as the holy day? What about atheist that don’t have a holy day, and their ability to enjoy each day without the religious entanglements is also part of religious freedom. I know that some fundamental religious leaders like to claim there is no right to not be religious, but that is stupid. To be free to practice one’s personal beliefs, one must be free to have no set religious restrictions. People this is a fringe fundamentalist group of very vocal, very driven people willing to rule over every aspect of other peoples lives. They are the worst busybody nosey neighbors ever in existence. Their goal in life is to make you follow their ways, their ideas of right and wrong no matter what you believe, no matter what you think, in fact you are not important as a person for them. You need to comply so their god is happy, that is it. They don’t care if you’re happy or if things are good for you. They only care if their god is happy and they think they know the secret to making their god happy. Fight back. Hugs
The conservative majority on the Community Library Network board voted to close libraries on Sundays, despite threats of litigation
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The Community Library Network in Post Falls, Idaho, on the western part of the panhandle, oversees seven buildings and a bookmobile. Its Board of Trustees, like any board, has to keep an eye on the budget.
On July 20, those Trustees held a discussion about whether it would be prudent to reduce or eliminate Sunday hours. On one hand, closing the library on Sunday would reduce one part-time position per location, saving a total of nearly $28,000. On the other hand, a lot of people use the library on Sunday. Trustees were told how often people accessed the internet, how many times the study rooms were booked, etc. They ended that discussion without taking action but requesting more information.
All of that is a perfectly routine conversation for the board of a library.
What’s unusual is that the Board’s Chair, Rachelle Ottosen, argued that the library should remain closed on Sunday because it’s the Sabbath.
Well, I know many others at these tables don’t subscribe to this, but the Lord blesses people [who] keep the Sabbath day holy. I think having people work on Sunday is actually to our detriment.
One board member politely chimed in to say (I’m paraphrasing) that was a batshit crazy idea. “I’m pretty sure not everybody in this community holds [to] that, so I think we need to look at the whole community concerning hours.”
Ottosen was thankfully on her own. But still, it was a ridiculous suggestion that never should have been offered from a Trustee.
Then, just five days later, Ottosen did it again. This time she came prepared with a Bible verse:
As far as closing on Sundays, most other government entities are closed on Sundays. This is not an emergency service. No one’s gonna [freak] out if they don’t get a book on Sunday.
Anyway, Exodus 20:8-10 says “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.”
So it sounds like we shouldn’t be causing other people to work, as well as not working ourselves.
Once again, another Trustee chimed in to shoot down that explanation: “I’m sorry, this is a government agency, and we need to be available for everyone.” Another Trustee later brought up the fact that some religions consider Sabbath day to be Saturday; Ottosen had no response to that.
She did, however, do her best David Barton impression, citing the Founding Fathers to pretend she wasn’t crossing some church/state separation barrier. She closed her comments by saying, “It’s in our best interests to not dishonor God.”
Last month, Americans United for Separation of Church and State stepped in to warn the Board that it was heading down a dangerous path by listening to Ottosen’s suggestion:
The board received a letter dated Aug. 9 from the nonprofit Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which asserts that closing libraries based on Ottosen’s religious beliefs violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“Ms. Ottosen is entitled to her religious beliefs, but she is not entitled to use the power of the government to enshrine those beliefs into law and to thereby force them on her constituents,” the letter said in part. “The board has a legal obligation to refuse to act on Ms. Ottosen’s religious grounds.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has now gotten involved too.
In a letter to Ottosen, attorney Chris Line wrote that she needs to stop using her elected position to “promote your personal religious beliefs.”
While Board members are certainly free to express their religious beliefs in their private capacity outside of their role on the Board, it is unconstitutional for public officials to push their personal religious beliefs during public meetings and to adopt policies based on those beliefs with no secular justification. We request that members of the Board refrain from discussing their religious beliefs during meetings in order to uphold the rights of conscience embodied in our First Amendment. Please inform us in writing at your earliest convenience with an assurance that this won’t happen again in the future.
It’s such a sensible request the two groups are making here. This isn’t about whether or not the library system should close on Sundays. That’s up to the Trustees to decide. But whatever the decision is, it needs to be secular in nature. Someone’s religious beliefs shouldn’t dictate the outcome.
Everyone else on the board seems to understand that. Just not Ottosen.
Incidentally, three of the five board members—Ottosen, Tom Hanley, and Tim Plass—voted to close the libraries on Sundays, but after the board’s attorney mentioned that this could open the door to litigation, the same board then voted 4-1 to table the Sunday closures… even though they had already voted to close them.
The same conservative trifecta took over the board earlier this summer after running on a campaign promoting censorship and keeping books they deemed explicit out of the hands of kids.
Hanley and Plass campaigned on keeping explicit books out of children and teen sections…
Ottosen has been vocal against LGBTQ programs and books for children. She also testified to the Idaho Legislature in support of recent obscenity bills targeting libraries and librarians.
Last month, the three of them also suggested disaffiliating from the American Library Association, calling it “ultra liberal” and criticizing it for opposing censorship. “The ALA has a clear animosity and resentment toward the family and traditional religious values,” Hanley said during an August meeting.
All of that’s to say the move to shut down the libraries on Sundays because some Christians take Sabbath day seriously isn’t just one crazy board member’s wacky suggestion. It’s part of a larger plan to inject Christian Nationalism into a public library system no matter how much that harms people in the community.
The Christian Taliban moral police strike again. When are people in the US going to get tired of the Christian nationalist trying to take over the country and force everyone to live under the doctrines of their churches. Think about it, this is not religious freedom, this is religious dictatorship. Religious freedom is everyone gets to practice and live their life according to their religion as long as it doesn’t harm others. By the Christians insisting everyone honor their idea of the holy day, they deny the religious freedom of others. What about religious sects and religions that have Saturday as the holy day? What about atheist that don’t have a holy day, and their ability to enjoy each day without the religious entanglements is also part of religious freedom. I know that some fundamental religious leaders like to claim there is no right to not be religious, but that is stupid. To be free to practice one’s personal beliefs, one must be free to have no set religious restrictions. People this is a fringe fundamentalist group of very vocal, very driven people willing to rule over every aspect of other peoples lives. They are the worst busybody nosey neighbors ever in existence. Their goal in life is to make you follow their ways, their ideas of right and wrong no matter what you believe, no matter what you think, in fact you are not important as a person for them. You need to comply so their god is happy, that is it. They don’t care if you’re happy or if things are good for you. They only care if their god is happy and they think they know the secret to making their god happy. Fight back. Hugs
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association doesn’t want anyone on the beach when church is in session
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New Jersey officials are attempting to stop a Christian group from blocking access to a public beach on Sunday mornings.
It comes after the Methodist group managing the beach in Ocean Grove has openly proclaimed its religious intentions for the property—to the point that they installed a cross-shaped pier on it earlier this year:
The cross-shaped pier in Ocean Grove, NJ (screenshot via YouTube)
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA) doesn’t hide its religious affiliations. The group says the area was “founded as a Christian seaside resort” and has a mission befitting that description:
The mission of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, rooted in its Methodist Heritage, is to provide opportunities for spiritual birth, growth, and renewal through worship, educational, cultural, and recreational programs for persons of all ages in a Christian seaside setting.
Their goal is to help all generations “know and grow in Jesus.”
How did they get control of this space? NJ.com says it’s the result of a charter offered by the community:
Ocean Grove, referred to as God’s Square Mile by some of its residents, has about 3,000 residents. Though it is only a small section of Neptune Township, it has a unique charter that allows it to set some of its own rules under the Camp Meeting Association.
The Ocean Grove Meeting Association was sued in 2007 when it barred same-sex couples from using its boardwalk pavilion for civil union ceremonies. A judge later ruled that ban violated the state’s anti-discrimination law.
(In response to that judge’s decision, the OGCMA decided no one could have any weddings on the boardwalk. Because if conservative Christians can’t get what they want, everyone must be punished.)
Those special rules, however, are what gave them the ability to construct the $2 million Christian pier that opened in April. The original one was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy over a decade ago, so they jumped at the opportunity to inject some Christian Nationalism into the pier’s replacement.
But the latest controversy involves access to the beach. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day—a total of 15 weeks—no one was allowed to go on the beach before noon on Sundays. In fact, the entrances were barricaded with chains and padlocks.
That, the state says, is a problem.
In an August 10 letter to the group from the Bureau of Coastal and Land Use Compliance and Enforcement, Regional Supervisor Robert H. Clark said the barriers prevented people from accessing the beach during daylight hours, violating state law.
“The outcome of the step closure enhances religious and secular quality of life experiences in Ocean Grove which society recognizes as valuable. During this 0.5% of the year, the view of the ocean from the OGCMA’s boardwalk and pier is of sublime natural beauty without the visual elements of beach umbrellas, tents, and masses of people,” Badger wrote in a response to state Department of Environmental Protection provided Friday to NJ Advance Media.
See? It’s just a coincidence that the natural beauty needs to be preserved during the busiest swimming days of the year… and nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that Sunday mornings are typically when churches hold services.
Shane Martins, founder of the local watchdog group Neptune United, said the barriers also prevented people with disabilities from accessing the water, which is another legal problem:
Township police have been on the scene but have declined to either remove those on the beach, or take away the pad lock barriers, which Martins said is contrary to federal law protecting access for people with disabilities.
“They are in direct violation of state and federal law and it is time they be held accountable,” Martins said.
So far, OGCMA hasn’t been issued any fines or punishment. In the meantime, they’re shoving Jesus in visitors’ faces in any way they can:
Christian symbols can be found all around Ocean Grove. On the beach, a Christian flag flies beside the U.S. flag. Beach badges sold by the Camp Meeting Association include a cross, beach umbrellas available for rent are decorated with cross icons and there’s a cross mounted on the dunes at the beach.
The message is clear: Jews and atheists and Muslims are not welcome in this part of the state. They can visit, sure, but the people running the show want them to know this is a Christian area, church/state separation be damned.
The cross-shaped pier in Ocean Grove, NJ (screenshot via YouTube)
As of this writing, no lawsuits have been filed against the OGCMA, though the ACLU of New Jersey notes that the crosses on the beach badges “raises serious legal concerns.”
More broadly speaking, though, the message of the group is clearly one of exclusion. No matter how often they say they welcome everyone, their actions place Christians above all others, even when it comes to public accommodations.Even when Neptune Township officials have asked the OGCMA to make adjustments in a secular direction for the sake of being more welcoming,those requests have been ignored or rejected.
How does this group have this much power? Arguably because they fund everything themselves, which creates a much more complicated argument for those trying to put a stop to it. When reporter Daysi Calavia-Robertson wrote about the arrangement this past May, she explained how the OGCMA pays for its dominance to the point where its inclusive rhetoric doesn’t have to match its actions:
That’s no doubt because of all the Camp Meeting does for the town that would normally be paid for through taxes. It fundraised and paid for the new $2 million pier. It provides year-round recreational programs and events. It’s also in charge of collecting the beach badge revenue — money it’s required to spend on maintaining the beach — and a nominal annual fee homeowners must pay to lease the land.
…
… no one – not a single person I spoke with – is suggesting [the OGCMA] shouldn’t be who they are and embrace their history and religion. All that’s being asked of them, all that people are pleading for, desperately, is that they also give other people the breadth to be who they are. But it seems to me that what the Camp Meeting says is all just lip service. I’d much prefer to see them show tolerance instead of just talking about it.
As a number of articles point out, litigation has been the most successful way to create change in this community. Even if the lines are blurred, nothing is going to change until church/state separation groups figure out how to take the OGCMA to court and force them to do the right thing. Their Christian faith hasn’t steered them in that direction yet and there’s no reason to think their moral compass will ever point in the right direction without a judge’s help.
Remember these were 8th grade students. Children in 8thgrade in the United States are 13 or 14 years old. They enter 8thgrade at 13 years of age and leave at 14 years of age under normal circumstances. These students should by then known parts of the human body, both male and female. Yet one mother claimed the teacher was making a little girl talk about feeling each other’s breasts. Also by then most people clearly know their sexual attractions and feelings. Yes there are gay kids in those schools and in those classrooms. Remember kids have computer, TV, Movies, they have books with LGBTQIA people in them … well in some states still, they know of same sex couples and families. Some people think young people simply are blank slates with no desires or sexual feelings until either they’re married at 12 or they suddenly get them when they turn 18. These are the same people that think little girls should be forced to carry to term a pregnancy, giving birth, but are too fragile to know that some girls like other girls? How stupid has this country gotten? The last paragraph of the article says: “The book has long been used to teach students about the Holocaust. Its sexual passages reflect similar experiences that teenagers undergo throughout puberty.” Hugs
In the passage, Frank describes her genitals and wanting to see a female friend’s breasts.
A Texas school district has fired an 8th-grade English teacher for having students read a passage from The Diary of Anne Frank in which the titular writer describes her genitals and lesbian attraction.
The Hamshire-Fannett Independent School District (HFISD) of Jefferson County, Texas — a near coastal region about 80 miles east of Houston — fired the unnamed teacher after she assigned students a reading from Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation. The adaptation is an illustrated, comic book version of the diary that Frank, a German-born Jewish teen, wrote in the late 1940s while hiding from Nazis. Frank was 13 to 16 years old when writing the diary.
Grace Linn compared today’s book bans with Naziism and said her late husband didn’t fight in WWII for this.
In one section of the graphic adaptation, Frank asks a female friend if she’d feel comfortable exposing their breasts to each other. In the three-panel scene, Frank’s friend refuses and they both remain clothed. In another section, Frank walks amongst nude female statues and admits, “I must admit, every time I see a female nude, I go into ecstasy. If only I had a girlfriend!”
In yet another section, Frank writes about her own genitals, describing their changing physical appearance as she experiences puberty. This section was omitted from the book’s 1952 English edition but eventually restored in its 1980s republication.
HFISD notified parents on Tuesday via email, “It was brought to the administration’s attention tonight that 8th-grade students were reading content that was not appropriate. The reading of that content will cease immediately. Your student’s teacher will communicate her apologies to you and your students soon, as she has expressed those apologies to us.”
By Wednesday, the district fired the teacher. While district officials said the book had never been approved, “it was on a reading list sent to parents at the start of the school year,” KFDM reported, and the middle school’s principal reportedly approved the syllabus that mentioned the book.
Nevertheless, one parent told the aforementioned news station, “It’s bad enough, [the teacher is] having them read this for an assignment, but then she also is making them read it aloud and making a little girl talk about feeling each other’s breasts and when she sees a female she goes into ecstasy — that’s not ok.”
The fired teacher has reportedly hired an attorney, but this isn’t the first time that the book’s lesbian content has angered parents.
A Florida principal removed the book from the Vero Beach High School library for being “not age appropriate” after a local chapter of the anti-LGBTQ+ group Moms for Liberty complained the book was “not a true adaptation of the Holocaust” and contained “graphic” and “sexually explicit” illustrations.
The book has long been used to teach students about the Holocaust. Its sexual passages reflect similar experiences that teenagers undergo throughout puberty.
