Last week, Ron DeSantis signed legislation into law requiring transgender people to use public restrooms that align with their assigned sex at birth.
The six trans men shown below were all assigned female at birth. I’m wondering if DeSantis REALLY thinks it makes sense for them… pic.twitter.com/jzG2cuU5dM
Gorgeous. Anyways. Unisex restroom could do it! We’re all first and foremost humans. The World needs to stop behaving like Russia. #NoToHateAndDivision 🫶😊
I don't care who is using the restroom when I am in it as long as they are respectful and leave me alone when I'm doing my business. Most trans women are going to look like women, maybe mannish, but a lot of women look like men! I once went into a work restroom to find someone… pic.twitter.com/sEldHxB7Bt
— Wolf River Ghost Society (@WolfRiverGhosts) May 21, 2023
A short note. I saw my allergist today. He is the one that called me personally to strongly urge me to go back on my heart rate medication. I was seeing him because I made the mistake of leaving the special soaps he prescribed too long on my face / scalp, and it gave me another bad chemical burn. My face was the worst with first open sores, then red peeling skin as it healed like a bad sun burn. My scalp had sores and was crazy itchy as it heals.
He has prescribed new medications for my breathing and is sending me to a dermatologist as it has become that bad. But the most important part of the exam was when he listened to my chest and asked me questions about my heart / breathing. See the issue was I was on a Beta Blocker to keep my heart rate low, because I was running in the 120s beats per minutes, and when doing things or stressed I would go up into the 150s. But to have the allergy shots I need, I have to stop taking the Beta Blocker medication that slows my heart. So I made my primary doctor remove the medication.
But this time when the medication was removed, my heart rate went much higher and much more out of control than ever before. Plus I started to have serious shortness of breath, to the point where I struggled to breathe just sitting at my desk, while any exertion set off a panic to get air in. So at this doctor’s personal phone call to me, I went back on the medication after a month or more.
Today as part of my exam, he listened to my chest and spent more time doing so than is normal. He went back and forth from my front to my back and only asked me to breathe deep once. Then he asked me how had my breathing been since I went back on the heart rate medication. I told him how it improved but still was worse than it had been before. I described how I still had times of shortness of breath, which means times I feel I cannot get a breath of air in. I told him it happened really bad when I laid on my right side, and if I got excited or was doing stuff. He then asked me a question. Do I ever feel like my chest feels funny when that breathing problem happens? Yes I told him, I feel like there is something inside my chest lurching around. He paused and then told me he wanted me to tell the heart doctor I see on the 30th this, and explained that when he listened my heart was not in complete rhythm. Just sitting there in his office, my heart was not in normal sinus rhythm. It was skipping. He is worried that during that time period I was off that medication with my heart rates in the 140s, I suffered damage to my heart.
Well we will know at the end of the month. I was not surprised by what he said because Ron, my spouse, worked in the open heart ICU for 18 years. When this was happening, he was beside himself trying to get me to go back on the medication. He also has been looking several times daily at my Apple Watch EKG readings and he has been very upset with them, showing me the pauses and different parts that should be differently shown. I was not goods with strips in the ICUs, and so I can not see what he does. He is good with them but like I said he did Open Heart ICU 18 years. I will keep you updated, but that does explain my being so tired, so easily winded, wanting to go to bed so much, and why it is so hard to think some days. Just one more thing to have to deal with. Hugs
When I tell people about this they think I am crazy. This is how far modern religious Puritan morality has pushed into the public. We went from times when boys being nude was OK, fun, and pretty normal to now just the idea of young people seeing a nude statue like David of Michelangelo got a Florida principle fired. How ridiculous has this become. Seeing a nude human, even one in a painting or work of art, will destroy a child? Will cause the downfall of a nation? There are states trying to outlaw watching porn for adults because the religious people have to regulate all behavior, even adults private consensual behavior. It is time to stop this march of the moral vice police / the US Christian Taliban. I know I have enjoyed the times in my life I was able to swim nude, in public and private. I think growing up if more boys had been forced to be nude for more than a quick run under the locker shower, they may have been less self-conscious about themselves and their development. I know it surprised me when I went to church boarding school that the male dorm showers were just a large room with many shower heads on the wall but most of the kids except a few were OK with it. In fact me and my friends often planned our mornings to shower together. And it was not a sexual thing, it was the normal start of the day when we first got together. Hugs
I don’t have the background nor the education to evaluate these claims. They make sense to me as I read the argument. I would be interested in those that come to my playtime that do engage more in the Christian religion or have studied the bible. Hugs
Let’s explore what the Bible says about transgender people, its general perspective on gender and identity, and common misinterpretations.
Many people wonder, “What does the Bible say about transgender people?” — from conservative Christians who want to point to “Biblical truths” about gender identity, biological sex, and men and women to LGBTQ+ and ally Christians who want to support diverse identities. But even though trans people have existed throughout history, the Bible doesn’t directly mention trans people because the term “transgender” wasn’t coined until the 1960s.
Despite this, the Bible does examine some issues having to do with gender identity, biological sex, and also men and women. Queer and progressive theologians spoke with LGBTQ Nation about some commonly misinterpreted Bible verses, verses that seem to affirm trans people, and different ways of understanding Christianity’s message to transgender people.
Trans people have been kings and queens, fought in wars, and led the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, thriving despite widespread social oppression.
Understanding gender in the Bible
British theologian Rev. Jonathan Tallon says that some people point to Bible verses as proof that God created only two distinct genders and, because “God doesn’t make mistakes,” changing gender is “against God and God’s plan.”
But these empty slogans ignore the existence of transgender people as well as intersex individuals, those born “with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male.”
Two such verses illustrate the narrow way that some Christians misinterpret the Bible and how history and modern perspectives can provide new insights into the ancient text.
Genesis 1:27 – So God is a man?… and he only created two genders?
“So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
Some people point to this verse, the first mention of gender in the Bible, as “proof” that God only created two genders — man and woman — and nothing in between. But this is a misinterpretation that ignores that most things in the world exist on a spectrum, says Dr. Justin Sabia-Tanis, Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics and Social Transformation at the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
Dr. Sabia-Tanis tells LGBTQ Nation, “In the original Hebrew, the verbs used for God are both feminine and masculine; God is shown here as embracing more than one gender, so we know more complex things are happening with gender here.”
He also points out that, before creating humans, God created the day and night as well as water and land.
“Day transitions to the night at dusk; night becomes day at dawn — it’s not an on/off switch but a continual process,” Sabia-Tanis writes. “And then, in a similar way, the sky and the waters, and then the waters and the land, are separated. We know, however, there are many places in which both water and land mingle — wetlands, estuaries, beaches. And places where sky and water are one — clouds, the cycle of evaporation. The sky and the water, the water and the land has never been a binary system, but a cyclical, dynamic one.”
Deuteronomy 22:5 – Is God super-judgy about personal fashion choices?
“A woman shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whoever does such things is abhorrent to the Lord your God.”
This verse is the only one that directly references gender-based notions of clothing.
While the Bible honors many women of faith who act bravely, there are also many verses that dictate what men and women should do: how women should behave, how husbands and wives should treat each other, and how children should honor their mothers or fathers.
The Bible’s Old Testament contains 613 commandments known as Old Testament Law, ancient Biblical law, or Mosaic Law. These laws were created around 1393 to 1273 BC and were issued to regulate almost every aspect of Jewish life at a time when the Jewish people were still a group of ex-slaves struggling to survive in the desert. In fact, Biblical scholars have theorized that this specific law about clothing may have been established as a way to differentiate Jews from other religious cultures or as a way to ensure that the Jews’ gender-segregated society stayed truly segregated.
“This would prevent things like men and women engaging in various forms of forbidden sexual contact, women from entering the temple, men evading military service, women signing up for military service, and other behaviors perceived as contrary to the boundaries between the distinct parts of God’s created order,” three queer theologians told the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
Mosaic Law also contains prohibitions against wearing garments of linen and wool together; burning incense; eating pork, rabbit, and shellfish; charging interest on loans; and working on Saturdays. In fact, the Old Testament refers to each of these things as “abominations” and states that the latter two items should be punished by death. Other parts of the Old Testament say it’s okay to kill women who have pre-marital sex, to smear animal feces on the faces of lazy priests, and that it’s okay to own and beat slaves.
Of course, most contemporary Christians don’t follow these ancient Biblical laws because they don’t make any sense in modern-day life. As such, people who point to Deuteronomy 22:5 to demonize trans people and other “gender-nonconformists” should question why they’re willing to uphold this particular Biblical law while ignoring all the rest — it’s likely because they want a religious-based reason to punish people they disapprove of.
However, another verse in the Bible, Hebrews 8:13, explicitly states that people no longer need to follow ancient Biblical laws now that Jesus Christ established a new covenant between man and God. The verse states, “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one (Mosaic Law) obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.”
Perspectives on Being Transgender in Christianity
Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount by Carl Bloch (1877)
While the Bible literally says nothing about transgender people, biological sex, or gender dysphoria, there are still a handful of verses that show how the earliest Christians embraced marginalized people as well as eunuchs, people whose bodily changes subjected them to widespread oppression.
Galatians 3:28 – All are equal in the love of Christ
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
This verse appears in the apostle Paul’s letters to early Christian churches. In his letter, he angrily begins, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” He then asks church leaders who taught them to judge other Christians by their physical bodies and how well they follow laws rather than by their spirit or faith.
Paul says that ancient Biblical law was only put in place to help guide and protect people until Jesus arrived. But after Jesus arrived, one’s faith mattered more than one’s adherence to old laws.
Queer theologians told the HRC that when Paul says “there is neither male nor female,” that doesn’t mean that individual differences shouldn’t matter. Indeed, Paul’s other letters reveal that he considered personal differences important within the church. But Paul’s letter says that if we are all children of God, then that should be the basis for building a community together rather than discriminating against others based on nationality, race, social standing, class, or gender.
This sentiment is echoed in 2 Corinthians 4:7, a verse that compares the light of God inside of humans to “treasure in jars of clay.” Reflecting on this verse, queer-affirming Rev. Tallon asked LGBTQ Nation, “Which is more important: the clay jar or the treasure?”
“Yes, we need to take our physical bodies seriously – we follow an incarnate Christ. Our bodies are real. But so is what is going on inside us. Our minds are real too.” Rev. Tallon continues. “Your gender identity is how you think of (and feel about) yourself … Is making a commitment to Christ real, or just a feeling? Is having an identity in Christ real, or just psychology? To reduce biology to being the only reality is sub-Christian.”
Matthew 25:40 – We honor God by loving trans people
“And the King answering shall say to them, Verily, I say to you, Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me.”
This verse comes from a parable Jesus tells about God returning to the Earth as a messianic king who separates righteous people from the wicked. The king knows the righteous because they are the ones who fed, sheltered, clothed, and healed the poor, sick, and imprisoned. When the wicked people protest that the poor, sick, and imprisoned have nothing to do with their king, God essentially says, “But that which you did to the lowest of people, you also did to me.”
Put another way, Jesus says that a person’s relationship with the most marginalized people in society reflects their relationship with God — people honor God by honoring oppressed people. When people ignore or abuse trans folks, they ignore and abuse God as well as God’s commandment to love the most oppressed people in society.
“Here Jesus brings a notion of the least: those marginalized and scapegoated [and] the persons or groups targeted for exclusion and violence,” priest and theologian author Robert E. Goss tells LGBTQ Nation. “What I love about Jesus is that he consistently teaches us that compassion is justice. When we stand in solidarity with those who are marginalized we stand for [Jesus Christ].”
Psalms 139:13-16 – God’s gift of life blesses trans people and their bodies
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
These verses appear in the middle of a hymn that praises God for being ever-present and all-knowing of everyone’s innermost thoughts and beings. Some people point to this verse as proof that God purposefully created each person’s soul and body before birth, and thus changing one’s body goes against God’s creation.
But queer-affirming theologians see no textual basis in the Bible to think that God’s creation of bodies and souls should exclude any person’s gender identity or gender expression. Indeed, cisgender people regularly undergo medical and non-medical “gender-affirming care” — including styling their hair, wearing certain fashions, taking medications, having surgeries, and otherwise altering their appearance — in ways that affirm their God-given bodies while fitting the self-image they hold in their hearts and minds.
“[Many trans people who undergo physical transformations are] acting on the conviction that being ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ means that peace and wholeness is actually what God wants for us and for the world, whatever that journey looks like to each person,” several theologians wrote.
The Eunuchs: proto-transgender people in the Bible
The Baptism of Queen Candace’s Eunuch (c. 1625–30, attributed to Hendrick van Balen and Jan Brueghel the Younger)
The Bible doesn’t explicitly mention trans people, but it does contain several references to “eunuchs.” Eunuchs weren’t exactly transgender — they were people who were either intersex or who were assigned male at birth and had their external genitals removed before puberty. A Biblical law from Deuteronomy 23:1 forbids eunuchs from participating in Israelite society. As such, eunuchs in ancient Isreal experienced discrimination and oppression similar to what some trans people face today.
“Eunuchs have been proto-transgender individuals in the ancient world and even in the modern world as Hijras, religious eunuchs in Hinduism,” priest and theologian author Robert E. Goss tells LGBTQ Nation. “The eunuch was not religiously acceptable in the ancient world as transgender folks are not acceptable to many conservative Christians today.”
Dr. Sabia-Tanis tells LGBTQ Nation, “I think the value of looking at the eunuchs is not that we (trans people) share persecution with them, but that we embody similar variations in human society and physiology. I’m not sure if this helps address religiously-based transphobia, simply because I’m not sure how much it helps change those who have already firmly made up their minds to exclude and reject trans people. But, these points do, I think, provide information and comfort to those who are open to hearing it.”
Matthew 19:12 – Loving trans people is a divinely radical act
“For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
Jesus says these words when speaking to Judeans asking whether divorce should be legal. Numerous verses command married people to treat their spouses with love and respect, and Jesus tells the Judeans that it’s actually better for people not to marry in the first place rather than to get divorced later on.
Understanding that some Judeans may reject his radical opposition to divorce, Jesus then mentions that there are many types of eunuchs and that people should accept them as well, even though some may find that too radical.
Isaiah 56:5 – Trans people (and their names) are included in God’s many blessings
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”
In this section, the prophet Isaiah conveys the voice of God, urging the people of Israel to keep their covenant with God by observing the Sabbath, a religious day when one isn’t supposed to work. “Blessed is the one who does this,” God is quoted as saying in book of Isaiah.
God then states that this commandment includes foreigners and eunuchs, even those who think that they fall outside of God’s blessing. Put another way, God says that no one is excluded from God’s blessings, even outcasts who were traditionally excluded from the socio-cultural life of ancient Isreal.
Dr. Sabia-Tanis tells LGBTQ Nation, “In fact, [God’s] promises are directed precisely towards those who have been treated unjustly and excluded from society. God never reserves privileges for those who follow societal norms or behaves ‘properly’ in human terms — God’s call is to be just and faithful according to God’s commandments, which include how we treat the poor and outcast.”
Sabia-Tanis also points out that God’s reward of an everlasting name makes Isaiah 56:5 a particularly beautiful verse for nonbinary and trans people who may change their names. “It affirms the promise of an authentic name that is everlasting and blessed by God,” he said.
Acts 8:26-36 – God wants Christians to welcome trans people with open arms
While traveling, Phillip, an evangelist who cares for poor Christians in Jerusalem, meets an Ethiopian on a chariot who is also a eunuch. The Ethiopian, who is reading a scroll of Isaiah, asks Philip to explain a Bible verse to him, and Philip does. When the two later encounter a body of water, the eunuch asks, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” Finding that there is nothing that should prevent, exclude, or deny the eunuch, Philip baptizes him, and the Ethiopian leaves rejoicing.
Dr. Sabia-Tanis told LGBTQ Nation that this Biblical story about a eunuch isn’t about discrimination or dehumanization. Instead, the Ethiopian “is treated as a person, who has riches (which we know because of his position in the queen’s court, his chariot, and his scroll), and is included.”
“While there are earlier baptisms in the book of Acts, this is the first really detailed account in which we get to know a bit about a person who desires to join the emerging Christian faith,” Dr. Sabia-Tanis adds. “The author chose this [story in partcular], I believe, to illustrate the inclusion of all kinds of people into the Jesus movement. It would have been easy to tell the story of an upstanding male pillar of the Jewish community being baptized — no controversies about Gentiles or women or eunuchs — but instead, the story was told about an outsider. That’s important.”
“This is a Biblical model about how to respond to nonbinary and transgender people — and one that the church should follow,” Dr. Sabia-Tanis continues. “There is no litmus test or exclusions because of who the person is, what their ethnicity or gender, or nationality is, or any other category. Just inclusion.”
Goss tells LGBTQ Nation, “The post-Easter Jesus movement reflected Jesus’ radical inclusive practices of inviting outsiders and marginalized into his table fellowship. If God in the Isaiah scripture, Jesus in the eunuch statement in Matthew, and Luke in Acts on the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch [all welcome eunuchs] into the body of Christ, then we can stand [with trans people] in solidarity.”
A complex topic for Christianity
The topic of transgender individuals and their place in Christianity is intricate and layered. While the Bible may not explicitly refer to transgender individuals, it does offer insight into the larger concepts of gender and identity.
It’s worth noting that the way different denominations and individuals approach this issue varies widely – some condemning, while others accepting and showing love.
Ultimately, it’s important to approach all interactions with individuals, regardless of their gender identity or how they choose to express themselves, with love and empathy as a guide.
Stay informed on the latest issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community by subscribing to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter.
This is an important article and I hope everyone takes a minute to read it. Then think about what happened. A teacher had permission slips to show Disney catalog of movies to her students, and every parent said yes they were OK with their children seeing the Disney movies. Then this movie Strange World was show and one parent freaked out and filed a complaint against the teacher. Think of it, again one maga right winger maybe highly religious parent gets to derail the public education of all students to push their rabid right wing agenda.
So what was in the movie that could be that offensive, you ask? I did ask that, so Ron and I bought the movie for 20 dollars off Amazon Prime. Almost from the start, I saw what these MAGA right-winger republican types would hate. The parents were a loving couple who loved to smooch and kiss as they made breakfast, all very clean and not sexual / porn, just mom and dad quick cute kisses. So what is offensive about that to the maga? Well if you have seen the trailer you know that the mom is black and the dad is white. Which leads to the next maga issue.
The son, Ethan Clade, is a mixed race drawn with darker skin tone openly gay boy who is accepted by his family and his friends. In the opening get to meet the characters part of the movie, Ethan’s friends show up with some kind of game cards. With them is a boy Ethan has a crush on and the movie plays out letting us know in a funny sweet way of Ethan being shy around the boy. But the movie also makes it clear that the boy Ethan has a crush on likes Ethan as well along with all the friends being OK / happy with the boys being gay and liking each other. That is when the dad interrupts them and does the dad meeting his son’s boyfriend stating to Ethan how he likes the boy, saying something like he can see why Ethan likes him. I thought the movie was cute at this part, as most teenagers are embarrassed of their parents around their friends and to meet the one they have a crush on.
Which leads us to the the last part I think the maga people get angry at. Remember I have only gotten about a 1/4 of the way into the movie but in the movie the mother, who is black remember, is the outgoing adventurous one who manages to swoop in and save the flying ship. Imagine the maga people going crazy that a black woman acts to save everyone while the white people cling to the ship trying to hang on. Oh and also the women in the movie so far are more the adventurers and seeming more capable than the main white man character so far. Another thing I guess makes maga right-winger upset, the movie destroys their gender role stereotypes.
In all I like the movie so far. It is inclusive in a way that real life is. It is drawn and colored in bright vivid colors. The dialog and action is fun to watch. I have not watched a lot of movies in the last few years and I have not watched any animated ones. But I am really enjoying this one. But I can see why the republican right winger maga want to destroy Disney and take over what kinds of shows / movies they produce. This movie is a very far place from the stereotypical gender role models and public social standards of the 1950s that the maga are desperate to return the country to. Hugs
Purported investigation after screening of Disney animated movie comes amid governor Ron DeSantis’s attacks on educators
DeSantis has claimed, without evidence, that there is ‘indoctrination in our schools’. Photograph: Daniel A Varela/AP
Florida education officials allegedly told a school teacher that she was under a misconduct investigation after, her friend claimed, she showed students the Disney animated film Strange World.
The purported investigation following this alleged showing of Strange World comes amid rightwing Republican governor Ron DeSantis’s attacks on educators that include book censorship and limitations on discussions of race and sex as he jockeys for his party’s presidential nomination with “anti-woke” talking points.
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‘The point is intimidation’: Florida teachers besieged by draconian laws
“My friend showed Disney’s Strange World in a Florida classroom and one student reported it to their parents. Now she’s under investigation by the state,” Carl Zee tweeted on 11 May. “Florida is not safe for teachers, DO NOT MOVE HERE.”
The film involves a group of explorers who try saving a “mysterious land from losing its vital energy source”, per Variety. It also has a prominent gay character – a rarity in children’s animation.
Zee included a photo of a letter from the Florida department of education, stating that “following receipt of a receipt of a complaint, this office has determined an investigation is warranted into allegations that you engaged in inappropriate conduct”.
“If you have evidentiary witnesses or documents pertinent to the case, send them to this office no later than two weeks from receipt of this letter,” the alleged missive continues. CBR.com first reported on Zee’s Tweet.
The alleged letter does not state specific allegations against this teacher. The Florida department of education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In response to a Twitter user who said that teachers who break the law find themselves under investigation, Zee wrote: “She has signed permission from every parent in the classroom to show Disney & Dreamworks movies in class, even offering lines to specify specific movies parents didn’t want shown. Not one exception was written down, so no she didn’t break the law. Try again, doofus.”
News of the alleged investigation is in keeping with Florida teachers’ concerns that they are being stymied and intimidated by new legislation championed by DeSantis. He has claimed, without evidence, that there is “indoctrination in our schools” and allowed his press secretary to claim that teachers are “grooming” pupils.
A new Florida law has effectively resulted in book bans, with classrooms and libraries removing books over concerns they contain “inappropriate” content.
One high school English teacher in Palm Bay, Florida, told the Guardian that a librarian took away a third of the books in his classroom – among them a collection of Emily Dickinson’s poems, which was not on her list of green-lighted books.
DeSantis has also assailed Disney as a company after the entertainment titan pushed back against his “don’t say gay” legislation. He hit back at Disney by signing a bill that took away Disney’s status as a self-governing special district near Orlando.
Disney fought back against DeSantis, filing a federal lawsuit contending that he retaliated against the company for expressing its first amendment right to free speech. In the suit, Disney is asking to stop the governor’s attempted takeover of the special district.
My friend showed Disney’s Strange World in a Florida classroom and one student reported it to their parents. Now she’s under investigation by the state.
Tell the teacher to show the kids Song Of The South and all will be forgiven. It’s hard to find since Disney threw it in the vault and ate the key, but the DeSantis crowd will love him/her for it.
I’ll bet that teachers and medical professionals will also be leaving, as well as high school graduates who want a real college education. It’s a crime what republicans are doing.
Yep, my daughter’s teacher friend from Florida already packed it in and moved away to a blue state where she gets paid a LOT more and has more freedom to teach. She is urging her fellow teachers stuck in that hell hole to get the fuck out now.
They’ve already got a plan in place to hire less-than-honorably-discharged ex-military and rogue cops to teach the kids. They will be armed at all times so the kids will be totally safe.
So, there literally is a war against one of the most popular companies in the world right there in Florida. Evangelicals can literally destroy anything.
Investigating a teacher for showing a Disney film? Migrant workers are leaving your state in droves, which will affect construction projects, the gathering of crops, the hotel and hospitality sector of tourism, and God knows what else, and you’re still trying to stomp on Disney by going after a teacher for showing a film? Lord love a duck, just how stupid are you, Ron?
Don’t forget that the SEAWEED MONSTER has come to destroy their beaches and recreational tourism, but let’s focus on a fricken kids animated movie that might have a gay cartoon character in it.
One parent complained. ONE. So nobody gets to watch it. That sure sounds like cancel culture to me. I’ll bet the parent who complained didn’t even have any children in the school.
I live in Michigan, so I am allowed to make this statement: The Lions have demonstrated an ability to consistently disappoint their fans to a level only surpassed, maybe, by the Cleveland Browns. And yet, my uncle was not only a great fan of the Lions team but wouldn’t miss a game on tv. That, my friends, is the mark of a true fan: it isn’t the fact that the product is the best in quality, best in performance, best in taste, it’s the fact that a fan is a fan for no better reason than he has chosen to be a fan. Thereby lives a love of heartbreak, ridicule, and a test of loyalty sufficient to scar any soul forever. I of course come from much better stock: I am a fan of the Chicago Bears. Da Bears! If you’ve not solved this puzzle by now, this is not about the Lions. Don’t get me wrong, they will forever disappoint – Sorry Uncle Bob – but this post regards how a beer company has received backlash for sending beer to someone who is an internet influencer. Now, there are few things in this world that I purposely choose not to pay attention to, and among those are the Lions and things that republicans and rednecks have chosen to cancel in their anti-cancel-culture rants. Yes, that’s confusing. It makes more sense if you drink a lot of low-quality beer and believe what Tucker Calson tells you.
Loyalty trumps Competence, as the saying goes. And, while there are those who believe Bud Light cheated on them, I expect to find all of those who have made a lifetime commitment with their Bud Light beer that has weathered two marriages, four kids, eight teeth and 29-stories that start with “dude, hold my beer…” will be drinking again like nothing happened. In time they will forget why they were mad at a beer – because let’s face it, who gets mad at beer? And, those of us watching from the sidelines, even as reluctantly as I, will remember that this was never about the beer, never about the internet influencer, but was ultimately about the homo- and the trans-phobic prejudice and hate that was so easily stirred to cause the easily led to put down their favorite beer.
I, for one, am going to continue to buy Bud Light. Mainly because it’s very drinkable – as the joke goes it’s much like sex in a canoe. What I would like to hear them ask these detractors is why they are so against someone being who they are? Who are they to not only disparage the character of that person, but to speak as if a beer company deserves to be shot for treating a person as a living and worthwhile person? Each of us in America is born with the freedom to voice our opinion. It bothers me that so many have chosen to use this freedom to be so manipulated as to only be able to speak hate and so weak as to give up a beer they appear to love for the affront of giving another citizen simple respect. What are they truly angry or afraid of?
I love Randy’s writing. He has a way of getting his heartfelt ideas across with words that few can manage. I am glad he has offered to add his voice here. When Randy was talking with me on this post, he mentioned it might help people understand how stupid this unwarranted hate response was if people could see the video that these bigots are responding to. Also remember that these cans of beer with Dylan Mulvaney’s picture on them were not mass-produced, were never for sale to the public. These few cans were just a promotional gimmick and were not intended for putting in stores. This was not a national commercial but only on social media. If the bigots and haters had ignored it, then very few would even have known of the entire thing. But the haters managed to gin this up using a fake outrage over something not happening and getting people who drink a mediocre mass-produced beer to question their own manhood. That was what this was about, men fearing a beer that had let a trans woman promote it made them less than a man if they drank it, made them less masculine, maybe others would question the size of their penis by the beer they drank because a few cans had a trans woman on them. That is what this is really about, look at how the men reacted in destroying the cans of beer, with displays of macho destruction while yelling about how manly they are. In fact most hate of trans people is about fear of measuring up to some mythical stereotypical standards for what is masculine or feminine. Below is the social media promotion by Dylan Mulvaney. Hugs
*** it was hard to find just the video with no commentary added. The comments are the YouTube page constantly cisgender Dylan as he and calling her a gay man. Dylan Mulvaney identifies as a trans woman, and she is proud to be a woman. Hugs
Notice what the parents and teachers say. They claim the Christian majority if forcing a Christian view on their kids that they don’t agree with and is not needed, also that in order to promote their Christian conservative views the religious majority on the board is willing to destroy the school district. Hugs
Things have gotten so bad that even Republicans in the district are complaining:
“I think they look at us as this petri dish where they can really push all their agenda and theories,” said Joe Dohrn, a Woodland Park father who described himself as a staunch Republican and “very capitalistic.” “They clearly are willing to sacrifice the public school and to put students presently in the public school through years of disarray to drive home their ideological beliefs. It’s a travesty.”
…
“They’re trying to push a certain agenda down to these kids,” Amy Schommer, a mother in Woodland Park, said of the school board’s adoption of American Birthright. “I’m a conservative but I’m not against my kids learning something they disagree with. They’re trying to fix problems that don’t exist here.”
… Witt, as president of the school board in neighboring Jefferson County, supported a plan in 2014 to ensure the district’s curricula would promote patriotism and not encourage “social strife.” Witt said students who protested the board policies at the time were “pawns” of the teachers union. After he and two other conservative members of the board were recalled, Witt became executive director of an organization that oversees charter, online and other schools and helped launch Merit Academy.
Merit Academy was the charter school approved by the district.
Woodland Park School District is seeing an exodus of staffers after Christian Nationalists put their agenda over students’ needs
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In 2021, Christian Nationalist preacher Andrew Wommack told the members of his political group Truth & Liberty Coalition that, with all the conservatives in their part of Colorado, “we ought to take over Woodland Park.”
“We have enough people here in this school we could elect anybody we want,” he said. “We could take over this place.”
Wommack had moved to Woodland Park to launch Charis Bible College, and now he wanted his people to take over the local government. Or at least the local school board. It’s the kind of rhetoric that conservative Christians have been using for decades to urge their followers to run for local office as a way to influence policy. Wommack himself insisted last year that he got “78 or 80” of his preferred candidates elected in local races (out of an estimated 178 his ministry was backing).
Perhaps that’s an exaggeration. But in this particular case, they actually pulled it off.
Reporter Tyler Kingkade of NBC News just published a shocking article detailing what happened after those conservative Christians took over a local school board that, in theory, should have been far removed from culture war battles.
But when you put ideologues in positions of responsibility, you can’t expect them to do the right thing. That’s exactly how it’s played out.
Woodland Park School Board meeting (screenshot via YouTube)
For example, the local school board, now controlled by Christian Nationalists, adopted a conservative social studies curriculum called “American Birthright” that’s focused on American exceptionalism and whitewashes our nation’s ugly history. It says the federal government shouldn’t have any authority over public schools, that teachers should avoid teaching about current events and media literacy, and that telling kids to vote amounts to activism. (Notes Kingkade: “[American Birthright] includes Bill Clinton’s impeachment but not Donald Trump’s.”)
The program was already deemed unfit for students and rejected as extreme by the state’s school board. They said adopting this program would have “damaging and lasting effects on the civic knowledge of students and their capacity to engage in civic reasoning and deliberation.”
The new school board embraced it anyway.
School board president David Rusterholtz added Christian prayers to board meetings:
“This division is much more than political — this is a clash of worldviews,” Rusterholtz said at a board meeting in January. He concluded his remarks with a prayer for the district: “May the Lord bless us and keep us, may His face shine upon us and be gracious to us.”
Beyond that, according to Colorado Public Radio, he has also “used his official board email address to proselytize, inviting fellow board members to join his church and receive Jesus as their savior.”
Then they imposed a gag order and fired teachers who criticized the moves publicly.
Then the newly hired superintendent decided not to apply for grants worth up to $1.2 million that previously covered the salaries of 15 counselors and social workers because he wanted to focus on academics, not emotions… even though the latter has a direct impact on the former.
And now a large chunk of the staffers and administrators are leaving the district:
As the school year winds down, many of the Woodland Park School District’s employees are heading for the exit, despite recently receiving an 8% raise. At least four of the district’s top administrators have quit because of the board’s policy changes, according to interviews and emails obtained through records requests. Nearly 40% of the high school’s professional staff have said they will not return next school year, according to an administrator in the district.
It’s no wonder they want out. There’s no accountability anymore and the conservatives on the school board are more interested in enacting their personal agendas than doing what experts believe is best for students. When one board member resigned in the wake of the conservative victories, he could have been replaced by someone with a strong background in education and a track record of supporting students. Instead, his replacement was someone who had donated to the campaign of another right-wing board member.
When the superintendent resigned, he was replaced by Ken Witt.
Who is Ken Witt, you ask?
… Witt, as president of the school board in neighboring Jefferson County, supported a plan in 2014 to ensure the district’s curricula would promote patriotism and not encourage “social strife.”Witt said students who protested the board policies at the time were “pawns” of the teachers union. After he and two other conservative members of the board were recalled, Witt became executive director of an organization that oversees charter, online and other schools and helped launch Merit Academy.
Merit Academy was the charter school approved by the district.
His appointment was actually more egregious than that because the board members essentially chose him in secret. Their only interview of Witt happened behind closed doors even though state law requires all district-related discussions between three or more board members to be public.
Kingkade managed to obtain surveillance footage of their meeting. The full conversation (which is inaudible) lasts for about 8 minutes. Witt was hired two days later.
The district staffer who urged the board to release that footage months ago was fired. That person’s boss quit as a form of protest.
Things have gotten so bad that even Republicans in the district are complaining:
“I think they look at us as this petri dish where they can really push all their agenda and theories,” said Joe Dohrn, a Woodland Park father who described himself as a staunch Republican and “very capitalistic.” “They clearly are willing to sacrifice the public school and to put students presently in the public school through years of disarray to drive home their ideological beliefs. It’s a travesty.”
…
“They’re trying to push a certain agenda down to these kids,” Amy Schommer, a mother in Woodland Park, said of the school board’s adoption of American Birthright. “I’m a conservative but I’m not against my kids learning something they disagree with. They’re trying to fix problems that don’t exist here.”
But none of this will make a difference unless enough of these people vote for board members who care more about students than conservative propaganda. The next elections are in November and three of the board’s five seats will be up for grabs, allowing a non-crazy majority to help undo some of this damage.
The question is whether enough people in the community will care enough to vote in that election. School board races have notoriously low turnouts, but if right-wing Christians aiming to destroy the public schools doesn’t inspire enough people to get off their asses to vote for better candidates, nothing will.
This is incredible reporting from Kingkade and a devastating look at what happens when right-wing rhetoric becomes reality. The people who have a vendetta against public schools should never be placed in charge of them.
“They’re not interested in improving the school district,” said one teacher who is leaving. “They’re interested in killing it.”
When people don’t pay attention to local elections, however, that becomes very possible—especially when conservative pastors rally their congregations into thinking these elections are existential crises.
The end result is that the best teachers and administrators may leave the district while the worsening schools lower property values and drive away the sorts of people who might consider moving there.
Everyone loses when Christian extremists hell-bent on turning public schools into extensions of their churches get this kind of power.
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• Naked Swimming In… Part 3- 
That, my friends, is the mark of a true fan: it isn’t the fact that the product is the best in quality, best in performance, best in taste, it’s the fact that a fan is a fan for no better reason than he has chosen to be a fan. Thereby lives a love of heartbreak, ridicule, and a test of loyalty sufficient to scar any soul forever. I of course come from much better stock: I am a fan of the Chicago Bears. Da Bears! If you’ve not solved this puzzle by now, this is not about the Lions. Don’t get me wrong, they will forever disappoint – Sorry Uncle Bob – but this post regards how a beer company has received backlash for sending beer to someone who is an internet influencer. Now, there are few things in this world that I purposely choose not to pay attention to, and among those are the Lions and things that republicans and rednecks have chosen to cancel in their anti-cancel-culture rants. Yes, that’s confusing. It makes more sense if you drink a lot of low-quality beer and believe what Tucker Calson tells you.
lifetime commitment with their Bud Light beer that has weathered two marriages, four kids, eight teeth and 29-stories that start with “dude, hold my beer…” will be drinking again like nothing happened. In time they will forget why they were mad at a beer – because let’s face it, who gets mad at beer? And, those of us watching from the sidelines, even as reluctantly as I, will remember that this was never about the beer, never about the internet influencer, but was ultimately about the homo- and the trans-phobic prejudice and hate that was so easily stirred to cause the easily led to put down their favorite beer.
Who are they to not only disparage the character of that person, but to speak as if a beer company deserves to be shot for treating a person as a living and worthwhile person? Each of us in America is born with the freedom to voice our opinion. It bothers me that so many have chosen to use this freedom to be so manipulated as to only be able to speak hate and so weak as to give up a beer they appear to love for the affront of giving another citizen simple respect. What are they truly angry or afraid of?
Scottie's Playtime 