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:
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.
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.
Notice that the girl who made the claim that a trans girl used the bathroom admits she’s not sure of the identity of the person she saw. So just how did she know the person was trans? She went on looks, the girl did not look girly enough for her. I wonder where she got that criteria that who is female should go on how feminine they look? Who drummed that mistaken misogynistic idea into her head. All girls must look beautiful for men? But stop and ask why it is important that a trans girl not be in a bathroom with sinks and stalls? She is going to do what every other girl does, go into a stall, do what they are there to do, and after she makes sure she is dressed goes to the sink where she washes her hands, maybe checks her looks / does a makeup check. Unless girls in the bathroom are walking around / hanging out nude, then no genitals are seen or should be seen. To have this much hate over an issue that makes no sense is anger and hate for no reason other to attack a minority group. It is the same as whites trying to prevent blacks for using the same bathrooms as whites. It is the very same issue. The father of the girl demanded that trans girls use the single person bathrooms, but he was reminded after he claimed his daughter was traumatized and too upset to use the bathrooms at school despite the fact the father admitted they did not know if the person was trans or another cis girl. He was then reminded his daughter could also be using those bathrooms. Also it is important to know that the school district has been allowing all students to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with for years, for a very long time with no complaint. So why was one faked and drummed up now on social media. For the simple reason of targeting a small minority of students. For the fleeting joy of hating and ganging up on LGBTQIA kids. That a congress troll is trying to cause rage and hostility towards a few students in the community is horrifying. They simply don’t want trans people, gay people, anyone not straight and cis in public. Hugs
Marjorie Taylor Greene celebrates school freaking out over possible trans girl in bathroom
A girl possibly saw a trans girl in the bathroom, leading to a walkout. Greene was elated that students were protesting against equal rights.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) commended students for organizing a walkout following weeks of panic in the district after a cisgender girl saw another person who was possibly transgender in the bathroom. The cis girl has since said that she’s not sure of the identity of the person she saw.
“This is the way!!!” Greene tweeted with a video of several hundred students walking out of Perkiomen Valley High School in eastern Pennsylvania.
The issue started several weeks ago when Tim Jagger, the father of a student at the school, posted on Facebook that his daughter saw a boy in the girls’ restroom, leading to outrage on social media.
The Perkiomen Valley school board discussed its bathroom policy at its meeting last week on Monday, September 11, following the attention the incident got. The board considered a policy to ban transgender students from using the restroom that corresponds to their gender.
At the meeting, Jagger admitted that “we aren’t sure” if the person his daughter saw was a trans girl, a cis girl, or a boy, but that didn’t matter because his daughter, he claimed, is “too upset and emotionally disturbed” to use the restroom at all. He told the board that “there is zero reason for someone with male genitalia to be in the girls’ facilities” and that transgender students should be forced to use single-person bathrooms.
This echoed the response he got from principal Cynthia Moss that his daughter can use “a number of single-stall restrooms throughout the building” if she doesn’t want to share a restroom with girls who are different from her.
The anti-trans policy was not passed by the school board in a vote at the September 11 meeting, despite getting support from the president of the board.
Superintendent Barbara Russell told The Philadelphia Inquirer that there have been no incidents in the school related to transgender students using the restroom. Students don’t change for gym class and no trans student is playing on a sports team in the school, so there haven’t been any issues with locker rooms either. She told WPVI that the policy aligns with state and federal protections for transgender students and said there’s no need to change it.
“It did not have to come to this social media, ‘Let’s further divide the community and hurt more kids,’ as opposed to support,” Russell said of Jagger posting to Facebook.
That division over allowing transgender students access to an equal education was amplified when student John Ott organized a walkout last Friday.
“Kids were upset. Girls… we wanted to protect them,” he told Fox News. “They were upset. They didn’t want men in their bathroom.”
Fox found some confusion among students, including one, Brandon Emery, who said that he didn’t know how the school district was going to enact the policy of allowing trans students to use the bathroom, even though that is already the current policy and has been for some time.
Fox & Friends, the far-right network’s morning news show, did a segment on the school district and Emery’s mother, Melanie Marren, told the show that the school didn’t take “into consideration how they affect the students and how uncomfortable it is to just be a teenager in general,” as if transgender students at the school aren’t students or aren’t going through awkward teen years themselves.
One trans former student at the school spoke at the September 11 school board meeting. Tarren McDonnell, who is now 21, said that she got harassed when she used the boys’ restroom, so she would use the single-person nurse’s bathroom. She said that it was far from her classes, adding about five to ten minutes to each restroom trip. It also set her up for harassment; she said that she was followed by a boy once who taunted her as she went to the nurse’s bathroom.
She said that she eventually just started using the girls’ room and “nobody ever gave me issues.”
“I’m praying that something does get done that protects us,” she said at the meeting, adding that she was “saddened to see the hatred and the ignorance” of trans people on display at the meeting.
Beau of the Fifth Column often says the younger generations won’t tolerate the hate and bigotry of the ones pushing anti-LGBTQIA / racist ideas. Yes the right wants to remove all mention and safety for kids that are different and return to an assumed superiority of white people. But they are missing the point. It was like that in the past. In the 1950s our society was just like they are trying hard to return to. Yet we progressed. Social acceptance of people being different from each other and the right to live openly as themselves happened. The right thinks it is because they did not push back hard enough to stop it. The right thinks they should have used violence from the start.
But that is not true, there was always hard push back and violence by those in authority and by churches. Ask any gay kid growing up during those times. I grew up understanding I was gay in the time of Anita Bryant, who was the early version of the hate group started by Chaya Raichik’s Libs of TikTok. Think of the abuse the police dished out even into the late 1990s. I remember when Ron had the bar, we had to have an unbreakable material used for the windows because they were being broken as soon as they were repaired. We had to have a bunch of the bigger better fighters assisting people leaving to make sure no one was assaulted and beaten up by groups of haters. I well tell you, the most awesome thing I have ever seen was a lesbian kicking the ass of 3 redneck assholes who attacked a small gay guy leaving the bar. She taught them a lesson they did not soon forget. We fought back then and I honestly thought we were beyond that hate and society was a safe space for the LGBTQIA. Where LGBTQIA kids could be happy in schools knowing they were safe and accepted. But the haters are bringing it all back. We must not let them indoctrinate future generations into hate and bigotry. We must not let them drive kids back into the closet in fear and shame of who they are. We must not let them remove the LGBTQIA from society and public view. We are here and should be equal, we have our rights and they should be enforced for us. Hugs
Angry parents were left sputtering as students rallied in support of the trans teen.
At Oak Park High School in Kansas City over the weekend, students elected a trans homecoming queen. Tristan Young bested four other nominees to take the crown.
And Libs of TikTok’s Chaya Raichik managed to find the only two parents who are mad about it.
“I’m appalled by NKC Schools’ continued support of the LGBT agenda,” whines one parent for Raichik in an email, referring to the North Kansas City School District.
“They not only indoctrinate children, but they are placing certain student populations over others.”
In another stilted statement from a second aggrieved parent, she writes: “As a woman, it breaks my heart to see these girls get passed over and a man stealing what is rightfully theirs.”
Then she adds, also as a woman, “I’m broken-hearted because I know the students voted for him.”
Raichik was clearly desperate to gin up the usual outrage over the student-led vote and failed miserably.
The queer-addled activist, who’s lately tried to refashion herself as an “independent journalist,” posted the “story” with a headline declaring, “Male crowned homecoming queen, beating out four other girls,” which clarified for trans supporters everywhere that Young is just one of the girls.
“Not the point but Chaya is writing at a sub-middle school level, lol” posted one amused commenter.
NKC Schools shared their congratulations for Young in a tweet with photos from the event.
In one, last year’s winner passes the sash to the new homecoming queen. In another, Young’s parents stand by beaming; her dad sports a Kansas City Chiefs Pride hat.
Young’s election in the revered high school ritual was met with a sense of betrayal by online hacks dismayed that a reliably red state like Missouri could harbor open-minded kids.
“Who’s to blame here?” whined transphobic 5th place finisher Riley Gaines, who tied with trans swimmer Lia Thomas in a collegiate meet last year.
Gaines tried sarcasm to make her poorly conceived point in on X: “So stunning & brave🤴🏻✨ Another reminder to all girls that men make the best women. I wonder if a female will win homecoming king or if it’s understood that both of these spots are reserved for males.”
So stunning & brave🤴🏻✨
Another reminder to all girls that men make the best women. I wonder if a female will win homecoming king or if it's understood that both of these spots are reserved for males. Who's to blame here? pic.twitter.com/ZXHU6Wyiiy
The start of the article doesn’t mention it, but this school is in Ohio. I followed a link in the article and this school also stopped celebrating diversity day and the students protested. Seems the right is again desperately trying to push a primarily white cis straight Christian society. And while they claim that others are not civil enough, these same people use threats, violence, and they mock and insult others. Notice how the anti-diversity anti-LGBTQIA maga republicans act when others are testifying. No respect whatsoever. Fundamentalist Christian racist bigot maga are the most self entitled people ever. Hugs.
Zack Carreon
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WVXU
Parents and students attend the Forest Hills school board meeting on Sept. 20, 2023.
The debate over whether discussions about race, inclusion, and LGBTQ+ issues belong in Forest Hills Schools was reignited after Superintendent Larry Hook made the decision to paint over a student-created mural at the start of the school year.
The mural depicted the hands of people of different races signaling love and solidarity surrounded by symbols of equality and acceptance of various sexual orientations.
Advocate FHSD
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Provided
The mural inside Nagel Middle School before it was covered and painted over.
Students at Nagel Middle School created the mural years ago, but when students returned to the building this year, some were surprised to see it covered by a banner promoting Forest Hills’s new “Culture Blueprint.” That banner was torn down. Shortly after, the mural was completely painted over, sparking outrage from some students and parents.
On the Forest Hills Schools’ website, the Culture Blueprint is described as a reminder to students to do their best and be mindful of others. But some say the superintendent’s actions send a different message.
Dozens showed up to Wednesday’s school board meeting holding signs of the mural. Parents and students spoke during public comment in opposition to the superintendent’s decision.
Forest Hills parent Jeff Nye addressed Hook directly, calling his response to the initial backlash childish.
“A 7th or 8th grade kid — 12- or 13-years-old — damaged that banner and that’s unacceptable and should be punished,” Nye said. “But before that happened, you had an opportunity to reflect and take action, value the feedback you received, to lead by example, to lead with humility, and say ‘I made a mistake, I shouldn’t have put it there,’ but you didn’t. You doubled down. You didn’t act like leader. You acted like a kid. You took your ball and you went home and I’m incredibly disappointed.”
High school student Norah Zellen also had strong words for Hook, saying that permanently covering the mural will have a more negative impact on students than district leaders thought.
“The mural exhibited a safe and inclusive learning environment, yet it was painted over. This action shows thoughtlessness, a lack of authenticity, and calls into question if the school board and superintendent want some students erased,” Zellen told Hook.
Hook was noticeably silent on the issue during the meeting. Each time the superintendent spoke about school matters, audience members held up signs of the mural.
During the meeting, board member Leslie Rasmussen called out the superintendent for his unwillingness to address the elephant in the room.
“Larry, you made a lot of wonderful comments about the awesome work our students are doing. I don’t want that to be overshadowed tonight or any time, but I want to take a moment to make sure you see all these students in the audience. They deserve acknowledgment,” Rasmussen said.
Hook responded, “I see them,” but made no further comments on the matter until questioned by reporters after the meeting.
Hook’s response
The superintendent defended the mural’s removal, saying despite the overwhelming opposition, most people in the Forest Hills community wanted to see it gone.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people who were very upset that it was there,” he said. “So, it’s kind of created this battle that shouldn’t even be in schools. We need to focus on our education. We need to focus on what’s important. That doesn’t mean we marginalize anybody.”
A small collection of adults also spoke during public comment defending Hook’s decision. One attendee, who took offense to parents and students supporting the mural, was removed by law enforcement after getting into a physical interaction with another audience member.
Read the full article. According to posts on social media today, the woman who snatched an audience member’s phone is the mother of Christianist school board member Katie Stewart, whose own children reportedly attend private Catholic school. At last night’s meeting Stewart wore a Gadsden flag t-shirt. The TikTok video below has gone viral.
At 11, hear from the woman who was attacked while filming a Forest Hills school board meeting. Parents and students were speaking out against the removal of a diversity mural. @Local12pic.twitter.com/cNKa0MrnKm
This is the mother of Katie Stewart, @FHSchools Board Member. She also laughed when a parent discussed her child’s suicide attempt and mocked students and other speakers. #classy#niceexamplehttps://t.co/HIaJa5xG1J
Students, parents and community members held a rally ahead of the Forest Hills School board meeting on Wednesday. Attendees say they’re upset about the decision by the Forest Hills School District to paint over a diversity mural. @FOX19pic.twitter.com/OH34kKGOiE
That woman’s DAUGHTER sits on the SCHOOL BOARD. Perhaps Katie STEWART should RETHINK her WARDROBE CHOICE in light of her MOM’S ANTICS. pic.twitter.com/HvYWYCabWG
She also laughed when a parent discussed her child’s suicide attempt and mocked students and other speakers
To me that’s even worse than the assault.
I wonder if it’s time to ressurect ACT UP! techniques? If this woman goes to church, perhaps go to the same church as disrupt the service: “WHAT DOES GOD THINK OF LAUGHING ABOUT SUICIDE ATTEMPTS?’
Shaming on Twitter is considered a badge of honor and they have no shame. But to so in churches or in grocery stores or at their hairdressers, that will perhaps do more?
I’m thinking of the beardy guy that is in DC and always behind (the latest) republican politician accused of wrongdoing.
Right? ACT UP wasn’t afraid to take on the churches. You do that when people are dying. We’ve already had a few killings (RIP, O’Shae Sibley). How many more will it take?
Very true. Back in the 80’s, we stormed Toronto’s St. Micheal’s Cathedral and dumped condoms on the altar because of the Church’s stance regarding their use, especially in preventing HIV/AIDS. We barricaded Conservative Pols Offices and, on more than one occasion, stood toe to toe with cops who wanted to fuck with us during marches…it didn’t end well for them. It was nothing for us to dump pink Jello by the bucket loads onto cop cars, Church steps, etc. We made a ruckus and did so until we were heard.
Long past time to teach society that lesson again. Direct Action Now.
We need to act up for sure and run for school board seats or get allies to run because imagine the lgbtq kids in that school seeing this how humiliating and hurtful. We need to stand up so they know to do the same when it’s their turn.
“Christianist school board member Katie Stewart, whose own children reportedly attend private Catholic school”
So it is none of her business what it happening at the school in question, but still finds herself in a position to dictate terms there. Just waiting for the cries of “I’m being silenced!”
Where i live its practically impossible to find the backstory on school board candidates unless you know somebody who knows somebody who knows them. School board seats are classified as non-partisan, so you cant even go by party affiliation. Their websites & mailers are useless – so generic as to convey no useful info.
DeathSantis is a Christian nationalist who believes the myth spread by Christian liars that the US is founded as a Christian nation by and for Christians. His version of religious freedom is total control by the Christians so that they can force their views on everyone else. His idea is to have the public pay for Christian schools and force Christian doctrines / moral standards on public school students. He doesn’t seem to understand that there are non-Christians religious people along with people of no religious views. He also buys deeply in to the myth that Christians are discriminated against and unfairly treated in the US. This man and his kind must never be allowed to have authority and control over the government. Hugs
Republican candidate vows to restore ‘full religious freedom’ in the US if elected president
Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at the Pray Vote Stand Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel on September 15, 2023, in Washington, D.C. The summit featured remarks from multiple 2024 Republican Presidential candidates making their case to the conservative audience members. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at the Pray Vote Stand Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel on September 15, 2023, in Washington, D.C. The summit featured remarks from multiple 2024 Republican Presidential candidates making their case to the conservative audience members. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis highlighted the vital role faith in God plays in leadership as he explained how he will advance the cause of religious liberty if he becomes the 47th president of the United States.
DeSantis, a candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 2024, addressed the crowd at the Family Research Council’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit Friday, where he discussed his faith in God and outlined how he would protect religious liberty if elected president.
“I don’t know how you could be a leader without having faith in God,” he said. “When you stand up for what’s right in this day and age, that is not going to be cost-free. You are going to face blowback, you’re going to face attacks, you’re going to face smears. And it’s the faith in God that gives you the strength to stand firm against the lies, against the deceit, against the opposition.”
DeSantis credited his faith in God with giving him “the foundation to know that all the insults, all the nonsense they throw at you ultimately doesn’t matter because you are aiming higher.”
After expressing concerns about the current state of affairs in the U.S., DeSantis lamented that “we do have a spiritual decline in this country.”
The candidate cited the practice of “forcibly closing churches and denying people their right to worship as they see fit” during the coronavirus lockdowns as one example of the spiritual decline engulfing the U.S. “The liquor stores were open, the strip clubs were open, but yet they shut the door on the people of faith,” he recalled.
“I believe that reviving the spirit of America is essential to helping reverse America’s decline. And this revival is going to begin in our religious institutions, our places of work, each of our households, all the institutions that make up the bedrock of society,” he declared.
DeSantis warned of “threats to religious liberty the likes we have not seen throughout most of American history” and highlighted the need for “people to be able to live their faith in all aspects of their life” as “faith has been treated as secondary to secular concerns in culture.”
“Attempts have been made to wipe our Judeo-Christian religious symbols from our national heritage and national culture. The Left, you know, they talk about saying you can’t be involved in religious practice if you’re in government because it would represent [an] ‘establishment of religion,’” he added.
The presidential candidate refuted this argument, saying, “First of all, that’s not true. But second of all, they’re the ones that want to establish a religion. They just don’t want to establish traditional religions. They want political leftism to be the established religion of this country.”
DeSantis insisted that the effort to establish political leftism as the established religion of the country has led those who want to practice their faith in public to find themselves “only being able to do that up until the point it conflicts with [the leftist] agenda.” He pointed to the treatment of coach Joe Kennedy, a Washington state high school football coach who lost his job because of opposition to his effort to pray on the field after the game, as an example of how violations of religious liberty have become commonplace.
The governor noted that Kennedy’s victory at the U.S. Supreme Court was “hailed as a victory for religious liberty” while suggesting that “the fact that it even had to go to the U.S. Supreme Court shows us that religious liberty is not flourishing the way it should in our country.”
He then outlined how he would work to advance the cause of religious liberty if elected president.
“As your president, I’m going to get to work on restoring full religious freedom in this country,” he vowed. He pointed to nominating and placing “constitutionalist judges on the courts of appeal and on the U.S. Supreme Court” as an important step in achieving that goal, assuring the audience that “my nominees will reflect the jurisprudence of justices like Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito Jr.,” whom he referred to as “the two greatest justices on the court.”
DeSantis also announced his intention to “end once and for all religious discrimination” by abolishing “all government regulations that force groups to choose between government funding and their faith.” He maintained that “instead, we’re going to actively incorporate the faith community in our administration.”
“We will make sure that the faith community has a seat at the table as we work to do the business of the country,” he added. “We will also do what we’ve done in Florida. We have universal school choice in the state of Florida, and we need it nationwide. On day one, we’ll issue an executive order that ensures funding available to private non-religious schools must also be available to private, faith-based schools.”
He continued: “We will stop the federal government from targeting men and women on the basis of their faith. Religious schools should not be pressured to violate the tenets of their faith. There will never be a question about whether a faith-based charity that serves the poor deserves First Amendment protections. We will seek the repeal of the Johnson Amendment, which suppresses the speech of our religious leaders.”
DeSantis detailed how his administration would “ensure that the Judeo-Christian tradition and values that our nation was founded on are respected and are preserved.” Specifically, he expressed a desire to “create divisions of conscience and religious freedom in the Departments of Education, Labor, and [Health and Human Services] to protect religious liberty against all agencies of government.”
“Even when God-fearing citizens have won in court, they have been forced to go through the time-consuming and invasive processes,” he lamented. “My Department of Justice will investigate and prosecute attacks on faith-based [crisis pregnancy] centers and pro-life activists, which the Biden administration is ignoring and they’re letting this go on.”
DeSantis repeatedly discussed his record as Florida governor in his remarks and concluded his speech by describing his state as “the place where woke goes to die.” He told the audience, “As president, we are going to leave the woke mind virus in the dustbin of history, where it belongs, once and for all.”
If you can’t separate church and state you can’t govern and ultimately you wont survive as a country, Christianity is not the only existing religion in America Bootsie.
Actually, I’d much prefer a leader who understands that no invisible man in the sky is coming to save us, and we need to fix the laundry list of problems we have ourselves.
I’d love to see presidents and prime ministers who are openly atheist, and quite a few being openly LGBTQ+, and quite a few being ethically nonmonogamous. And, of course, all of them being progressive and genuinely committed to making their nations and the world better for ALL the people.
I don’t really care if they believe in god. I don’t but I do care about how they govern others that don’t believe as they do. That keep their beliefs private and separate from their policies.
I am sick to death of the Bible thumpers who keep acting as though non-believers have no right to leadership in America and who treat secularism and humanism as dirty words. They are full of bullshit. We are Americans. We are decent people. We do not need to be led by superstitious fools.
We have a memorial in Salem here to show that this religious terrorism has always been part of the fabric of America. In that case, it cost a number of women their lives.
The first smallpox insufflation clinic in Boston in the 18th century was firebombed by a mob shouting that it was the devil’s work.
And American culture in general is violently prudish compared to Europe, with the Puritan roots never escaped from as the reason why.
So I cannot agree that America is better. It never escaped its horrific roots to this day.
“At the time Ron DeSantis became Governor of Florida, the Florida Retirement System (FRS1) was already in serious financial trouble, with “unfunded pension liabilities” exceeding $30 billion. Under his administration, that shortfall has risen to $36 billion, and losses continue to mount. DeSantis’ politically motivated decision to promote an Anti-ESG2 investment strategy for FRS investments is increasing that funding shortfall. This is placing the retirement savings and pensions of career state employees at risk, unless Florida taxpayers are forced to pay for the shortfall, to keep the FRS from failing.
“The massive FRS shortfall is only the tip of the HB3 iceberg. Governor DeSantis’ anti-ESG political campaign has negatively affected a number of Florida financial systems. Counties and municipalities are paying higher interest on bonds; Florida is walking away from billions in potential investments and tens of thousands of good-paying jobs in renewable energy; Florida is finding itself at a competitive disadvantage in attracting new investments and businesses. And, just like the captain of the Titanic, Governor DeSantis didn’t see it coming.
He’s pretty stupid, our taxes are paid to the county here for schools and fire, police and emergency and sanitation services. There is no mechanism in place since there is no state income tax to take it from Florida residents
Notice the title specifies “Indoctrinate Other People’s Children”. These people don’t care about other parents rights to raise their children as they wish, they don’t care about other families religious views. They are saying their long time actions in public schools out loud, to force their god, their religion, on everyone else. Yet they are always claiming they are the victims, that they are being discriminated against. The video is at the links, Hugs
Evangelical pollster George Barna spoke at FRC’s “Pray Vote Stand” conference on Oct. 7, 2021 (Image from event livestream)
While right-wing groups are mobilizing angry mobs to yell at school board members that parents have the right to control what their children are taught, evangelical pollster George Barna told religious-right activists at the Family Research Council’s “Pray Vote Stand” summit Thursday that it is their duty to try to indoctrinate other people’s children into a “biblical worldview.”
Barna, one of the first senior fellows at FRC’s recently established Center for Biblical Worldview, specializes in studying what he calls “SAGE Cons”—Spiritually Active Governance Engaged Conservative Christians. What is most striking about FRC and Barna’s “worldview” project is how few people—and how few conservative evangelicals—measure up to their right-wing “biblical worldview” standard.
When the Center for Biblical Worldview launched in May, FRC President Tony Perkins said that a biblical worldview “is only achieved when a person believes that the Bible is true, authoritative, and then taught how it is applicable to every area of life, which enables them to live out those beliefs.”
Barna told “Pray Vote Stand” attendees that only 6 percent of American adults measure up to that standard of a biblical worldview—and only one out of five people who attend an evangelical church.
“Biblically, it’s parents’ responsibility to shape their children’s worldview—both directly and indirectly,” Barna declared. But, he said, only 7 percent of parents with children under the age of 18 have a biblical worldview. That’s a problem that people with a biblical worldview must fix, he said:
That doesn’t portend well for the future because you can’t give what you don’t have. And so, the rest of us who do get it have to come alongside these children in some way. We’ve got to look for opportunities—sports teams, other kinds of activities that are taking place to help them shape things. You can’t wait for your church to get the job done.
…
This is a battle for the mind, the heart, and the soul of America, and so it’s up to you. It’s up to me—those of us who know God, love God, love Christ, read his word, study his word, embrace, embody his word—and to take that into the world in every way, shape, and form that we can.
Ultimately, we will win or lose this battle long term by what we do with children today. And so when you leave this conference, I’m asking you to think about making a list identifying the children whose lives you can impact. It is our biblical responsibility to raise up children to know, love, and serve God the all their heart, mind, strength, and soul, and I pray that you will do that with all the energy and wisdom that you can muster.
Barna’s PowerPoint slide hammered home his message that parents without a biblical worldview have “neither the vision nor the equipping” to “raise spiritual champions.” That means, it said, “True Christians must seize the moment … Go, make disciples!”
In 2017, Barna spoke at the Values Voter Summit—FRC’s annual gathering that has been rebranded as Pray Vote Stand—and told participants that the 2016 election was a “Christians vs. non-Christians” election and that Trump became president because “God did a miracle for us.”
“Pray Vote Stand” is the new name for the FRC’s annual “Values Voter Summit.” Many prominent extremists and GOP elected officials are scheduled speakers over the next three days.
Because none of the other kids parents are showing up to demand anything different. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. The fascist are making all these demands and moves basically unopposed. The parents of the kids in the schools affected have to take a stand
First, let’s call this what it is…grooming Second, if they don’t groom children into biblical world views, they won’t have them…and that scares the shit out of biblical peons.
Evangelical pollster George Barna spoke at FRC’s “Pray Vote Stand” conference on Oct. 7, 2021 (Image from event livestream)
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