I hate canned hunts. Every hunter I know hates them. A helpless animal who is use to humans drawn in to be suddenly killed by a person who has not skill to track or hunt an animal. Every time I hear of these hunts I think of the scene in Jurassic Park where the goat is tied out to bait the T-Rex. These “hunters” are shooting the tied goat, and then claiming they are some great alpha male. Really? To me they are simply the sniveling losers that couldn’t really cut it. Hugs
Utah hunting guide Wade Lemon faces five years in state prison for the death of a Carbon County bear killed during a guided hunt on May 18, 2018. But Lemon, a well-known guide didn’t pull the trigger — Donald Trump Jr. did, according to the Utah Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
Trump Jr. is not named in a recent filing against Lemon, but the DNR confirmed his identity as the person named in the felony complaint as Lemon’s “client” on the hunt. Prosecutors have indicated there was no evidence showing Trump Jr. would have known about the alleged baiting that went on during the hunt.
Trump Jr. was in Utah to help launch Hunter Nation, a hunting advocacy group. That group would later launch its own super PAC, Hunter Nation Action, which spent $96,997 in ads against Democrats in the 2020 election, according to the campaign spending transparency site Open Secrets.
Utah hunting guide Wade Lemon is facing up to 5 years in prison for using pastries to illegally bait a bear killed on a hunt by Donald Trump, Jr. https://t.co/tIIhTOG8an
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) May 21, 2022
Wade Lemon Hunting has been investigated eight times for allegedly breaking the law to ensure a successful hunt, though he was not charged with a felony until Tuesday, according to DNR.https://t.co/i2ZtI0H0lV
Wade Lemon Hunting has been investigated eight times for allegedly breaking the law to ensure a successful hunt, though he was not charged with a felony until Tuesday, according to DNR.https://t.co/i2ZtI0H0lV
At least 357 sitting Republican legislators in closely contested battleground states have used the power of their office to discredit or try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to a review of legislative votes, records and official statements by The New York Times.
The tally accounts for 44 percent of the Republican legislators in the nine states where the presidential race was most narrowly decided. In each of those states, the election was conducted without any evidence of widespread fraud, leaving election officials from both parties in agreement on the victory of Joseph R. Biden Jr.
The Times’s analysis exposes how deeply rooted lies and misinformation about former President Donald J. Trump’s defeat have become in state legislatures, which play an integral role in U.S. democracy.
In NYT interview, Ex-President Trump, who won 7 million fewer votes than Joe Biden, spread blame for his 2020 loss to several targets, including VP Mike Pence, Mitch McConnell & state lawmakers.
44% of GOP legislators in 9 closest states used official power to try discrediting or overturning 2020 election. And I pathetically scrounging for hope look at this chart & think, “Well, only REALLY problematic in PA, not too bad in GA, NC, fine in NV, FL. https://t.co/UWqJ3V2I9q
Does she mean if they are not maga enough. Plus in her mind Sheriff’s are able to decide what laws are constitutional and have a choice over which they will enforce and which they can ignore. Totally false. Hugs
“We’re not making backroom deals with sheriffs. They’re the highest constitutional office in their county and they’re gonna do the will of the people.
“I don’t mind handcuffing them either. I mean it. I’ve had it from sheriff corruption all over this state. We’ve got some awesome sheriffs and praise the lord for ’em.
“Pray for them. Even if you have a corrupt one, pray for them. And pray that they’re replaced really quickly if they’re corrupt. But I don’t care. I don’t mind handcuffing any single person who breaks the law and goes against our government.
“The Constitution says when you commit treason, it’s death by firing squad. I didn’t write it! It’s in there! It’s serious!
“When you swear to God that you’ll uphold a document that says you’ll do the will of the people and you will honor every single thing in that Constitution, do you that.” – Kandiss Taylor, candidate for Georgia governor.
Rather obviously, the Constitution says nothing at all about executions by firing squads.
Taylor last appeared on JMG earlier this week when she declared that the Founding Fathers “destroyed” Native Americans so that people can “worship Jesus freely.”
Taylor first appeared on JMG when she dramatically ripped up photos of Gov. Brian Kemp and former Sen. David Perdue, declaring “I believe in Jesus, guns, and babies.” Taylor is a graduate of Pat Robertson’s Regent University.
GA Gov candidate Kandiss Taylor says she will execute Sheriffs by firing squad if they don’t “do the will of the people. I don’t mind handcuffing them either .. The Constitution says when you commit treason, it’s death by firing squad. I didn’t write it – it’s in there.” pic.twitter.com/zZxWxEOctD
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) May 22, 2022
Fourteen GOP legislators warned Lyft that they’d seek to ban companies that pay for abortions from doing business in Texas. The extent of support for the idea is unclear.
State Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, and 13 other Texas House Republicans have laid out their legislative priorities in a letter to the Lyft CEO. Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune
With Texas poised to automatically ban abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, some Republicans are already setting their sights on the next target to fight the procedure: businesses that say they’ll help employees get abortions outside the state.
Fourteen Republican members of the state House of Representatives have pledged to introduce bills in the coming legislative session that would bar corporations from doing business in Texas if they pay for abortions in states where the procedure is legal.
This would explicitly prevent firms from offering employees access to abortion-related care through health insurance benefits. It would also expose executives to criminal prosecution under pre-Roe anti-abortion laws the Legislature never repealed, the legislators say.
Their proposal highlights how the end of abortion would lead to a new phase in — not the end of — the fight in Texas over the procedure. The lawmakers pushing for the business rules have signaled that they plan to act aggressively in the next legislative session. But it remains to be seen if they’ll be able to get a majority on their side.
The members, led by Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, laid out their plans in a letter to Lyft CEO Logan Green that became public on Wednesday.
Green drew the lawmakers’ attention on April 29, when he said on Twitter that the ride-share company would help pregnant residents of Oklahoma and Texas seek abortion care in other states. Green also pledged to cover the legal costs of any Lyft driver sued under Senate Bill 8, the Texas law that empowers private citizens to file lawsuits against anyone who assists in the procurement of an abortion.
“The state of Texas will take swift and decisive action if you do not immediately rescind your recently announced policy to pay for the travel expenses of women who abort their unborn children,” the letter states.
The letter also lays out other legislative priorities, including allowing Texas shareholders of publicly traded companies to sue executives for paying for abortion care, as well as empowering district attorneys to prosecute abortion-related crimes outside of their home counties.
Six of the 14 signers, including Cain, are members of the far-right Texas Freedom Caucus. How much political support these proposals have in the Republican caucus is unclear. House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, declined to comment. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott did not respond.
Since the legislative session is more than seven months away, Cain said in an email that “a quickly drafted and sent letter can hardly be said to reflect the pulse of my Republican colleagues.” He was confident, however, that his ideas would find some support in the Senate.
“Knowing that chamber and its leadership, I’m willing to bet legislation targeting this issue will be promptly filed in January,” Cain said.
But doing so would likely mean targeting companies that the state has wooed as potential job creators. Tesla, for instance, announced this month that it would pay for employees’ travel costs when they leave the state to get an abortion. Abbott celebrated the electric car company’s move to Austin last year and this year urged its CEO, Elon Musk, to move Twitter’s headquarters to Texas, too, if he completes his purchase of the social media firm.
Republican politicians have to tread much more carefully on abortion politics if Roe v. Wade falls, said Florida State University professor Mary Ziegler, who wrote a book on abortion law in the United States. Whereas in the past, lawmakers could pass any number of abortion restrictions that were bound to be struck down by courts, that backstop would no longer exist.
Ziegler said while a broad conservative coalition wants to ban abortions in Texas, there is disagreement over how aggressively to enforce related criminal laws or to attempt to prevent pregnant residents from leaving the state for the procedure. Republican politicians, therefore, have an incentive to remain quiet on the issue until they can determine which course of action is the most politically prudent.
“It’s not easy to be a Republican anymore,” Ziegler said. “Before, everyone was like, ‘Yes, let’s get rid of Roe v. Wade.’ Now, if you can do whatever you want, what is it that you want to do?”
Lyft did not respond to a request for comment. Several other large companies, including Amazon, Uber and Starbucks, have also said they would help employees or customers seek abortion care outside of Texas. None responded to requests for comment.
Concerns from the business community helped derail a push by Republican lawmakers to enact the so-called bathroom bill in the 2017 session, which would have required people to use the facilities that corresponded with their sex assigned at or near birth. Moderate Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, rebuffed requests from Patrick to make the bill a priority.
State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, said that although Straus has since retired, she hoped a coalition of Democrats and centrist Republicans would form to block abortion-related laws that place new restrictions on businesses.
“There were opportunities for business-minded Republicans and business-minded Democrats to come together and prevent these kinds of extreme policies,” Howard said of Straus’ tenure. “I’m hopeful that will happen again. … We’re at a pivotal point here of doing severe damage that’s going to be hard to undo.”
The Texas Association of Businesses, Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives and Greater Houston Partnership either declined to comment or did not respond to questions about the abortion-restriction proposals in the Republicans’ letter.
It's worth noting that Briscoe Cain sneaked into last year's Texas Democratic convention with a handgun and tried to hand out yard signs inviting shooters to attack Democrats' houses.
This man is not well and should not be a state representative, OR own guns. https://t.co/zcJc0EEMuT
And another crazy spreading hate about people who think or are different from him. And he has a flock. He feels that somehow once the gays are gone all pedophilia is gone also, wow he has some rude awaking coming when he finds out most child molestation are from straight men with little girls. Hugs
“The bible says they are to be put to death. That’s what’s being taught. So it’s your fault, Mr. ‘I’m gonna go down to the voting box and vote for every Republican because they’re Christians.’
“So it your fault. Let me ask you, pal. Let me ask you, Mr. Mocker. Mr. ‘I got a big ole Donald Trump flag out in my yard because I’m all about truth and Elon Musk and I’m gonna buy me a Tesla.’
“Let me tell you something, pal, it’s your fault that all these pedophiles are around. It’s not God’s fault, he told nations how to deal with that. He told the nation that he ruled, ‘Put ’em to death. Put all queers to death.’
“And you know what, when they die, that stops the pedophilia. It’s a very simple process, but of course our reptilian government, they don’t subscribe to that.
“Now here’s the thing, I’m not saying that every reptilian is a sodomite, but all sodomites are reptilians. You’re gonna see that as I go through this.” – Idaho Pastor Joe Jones, in a clip posted to YouTube.
203 House Republicans voted against the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, which would direct federal law enforcement agencies to establish domestic terrorism offices and jointly report on domestic threats—including those posed by white supremacists.
When no adults would revive the community Pride parade in Belfast, a group of motivated Belfast Area High School students stepped up to make sure that the event — which has been on a pandemic hiatus — happens this year. In Belfast, the city’s first-ever Pride parade and festival took place in 2016, and became an annual tradition. But no adult organizers had come forward this year to keep the tradition going.
The 20 club members secured a permit from the city of Belfast, found sponsors, raised money for banners, flags and other expenses and grappled with the procuring of liability insurance. Ultimately, the high school agreed to cover the event under the school’s policy, a move that surprised and pleased the teens, according to Annie Gray, the club’s co-advisor.
Read the full article. Wonderful piece. The clip below is from their first parade in 2016. Belfast has a population of 7000.
But great numbers of them are actually growing up to be mirror images of christianist, racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, homophobic parents. (As ever, much fruit never falls far from the tree.)
Still, the Bangor kids give us all some hope for a better future in some places, and that’s definitely cause for rejoicing!
Yes, you wouldn’t know it sometimes to read the news, but Americans are getting less and less interested in religion and being religious. And. at the same time, out and visible LGBT people are more and more common.
Sadly, a certain number do. However, studies have shown that number of younger people growing up in Christian households including evangelical households are not down with the obsession about gay people expressed by church leaders.
Many (not all) religious families are indeed anti-LGBT and racist and pass that on to their children, but religion (despite the loudness of it on the right) has become less and less vital in American lives, with more and more people saying they’re not affiliated with any religion. That’s a good sign.
This is the other half of the current LGBT story that isn’t being told much these days. (The media, including LGBT media, gravitates toward the horror stories and it is important to know one’s enemies.) Young people are growing up with wide exposure to positive LGBT portrayals. Many of them have the support of their peers and their families. They’re not conflicted about sexuality and gender and they’re not about to let Republican extremists control their lives.
Hungary’s nationalist leader, Viktor Orbán, will be the star speaker at an extraordinary session of America’s CPAC to be held in Hungary this week, in an effort to cement bonds between the radical right on both sides of the Atlantic under the banner of the “great replacement” ideology. In a speech on Monday, Orbán made explicit reference to the ideology, which claims there is a liberal plot to dilute the white populations of the US and European countries.
“I see the great European population exchange as a suicidal attempt to replace the lack of European, Christian children with adults from other civilizations – migrants,” Orbán declared in a speech to mark the start of his fourth term in office. Echoing another popular theme on the American right, he argued that another form of cultural suicide was “gender madness”, a reference to the spread of LGBTQ+ rights in the west.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban gave the keynote address at CPAC Hungary on Thursday after a short video message from Tucker Carlson and an open speech from American Conservative Union head Matt Schlapp. “Progressive liberals, neo-Marxists dazed by the woke dream, people financed by George Soros and promoters of open societies … want to annihilate the Western way of life that you and us love so much,” Orban said.
“We must coordinate the movement of our troops as we face a big test, 2024 will be a decisive year,” he added, and “reconquer the institutions in Washington D.C. and Brussels.” Orban also praised Carlson, who broadcast his Fox News show from Hungary for a week in 2021, as the only American media figure willing to challenge “the rule of the liberal media.” Other prominent U.S. media figures to speak at the conference include Candace Owens and Jack Posobiec.
The theme of CPAC Hungary, as seen on the stage’s backdrop, is “God, Homeland, Family.”
On the eve of the CPAC meeting in Budapest, Viktor Orban reaffirms his commitment to the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory that inspired the Buffalo mass murdererhttps://t.co/ktAAV1p4kZ
The only “gender madness” is the insistence that all humans are naturally heterosexual, in two neatly defined genders, and that any deviation from that norm is wrong. Gender sanity is recognizing that humanity is complicated and that most of us are somewhere on a spectrum.
How much can Republicans white wash history to show only what they want it to be? How much can they change so that the maga parents are not made uncomfortable? Please note what the state Republicans have labeled social justice. Why are Republicans against having student learn how to handle their emotions? is it because they want angry young people who become angry adults? Hugs
Florida education officials, in guidance, told publishers that all proposed social studies content must abide by the state’s rules outlawing critical race theory and similar teachings.
The Florida Department of Education wants to avoid references to “social justice” in its textbooks and gave publishers a few examples to help guide them.| Getty Images
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s Department of Education is explicitly aiming to keep critical race theory and “social justice” out of social studies textbooks that the state will ultimately adopt for its new teaching standards.
The agency, in recent undated guidance, asked textbook publishers to avoid those topics on top of “culturally responsive teaching, social and emotional learning, and any other unsolicited theories” as the DeSantis administration and Republicans continue to scrutinize what students are learning in public schools, especially on the issues of race and gender identity. Florida already has received national attention after rejecting scores of math books for broaching topics state leaders deemed “impermissible.”
“Instructional materials should not attempt to indoctrinate or persuade students to a viewpoint inconsistent with Florida standards,” FLDOE officials wrote in its undated specifications to publishers. Bids formally opened March 12 and textbook publishers have until June 10 to submit their social studies proposals to the state education department.
Florida education officials, in the guidance, told publishers that all proposed social studies content must abide by the state’s rules outlawing critical race theory, known also as CRT, and similar teachings.
The state, through a rule passed by the Board of Education in 2021, defines critical race theory as an ideology that “racism is not merely the product of prejudice, but that racism is embedded in American society and its legal systems in order to uphold the supremacy of white persons.” Critical race theory, along with “The 1619 Project” from The New York Times, are theories that “distort historical events,” according to Florida leaders.
Critical race theory, an analytical framework developed by legal scholars, is generally known as a way to examine how race and racism have become ingrained in American law and institutions since slavery and Jim Crow.
Social studies lessons are also required to follow the “Stop WOKE Act” passed by Republican lawmakers in Florida earlier at the request of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who made a major push to prohibit schools and companies from leveling guilt or blame at students and employees based on race or sex, taking aim at lessons over issues like “white privilege.” To that end, the guidance to publishers notes that possible critical race theory components could include making someone “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin.”
Additionally, the Florida Department of Education wants to avoid references to “social justice” in its textbooks and gave publishers a few examples to help guide them.
Social justice lessons, according to Florida officials, would be “seeking to eliminate undeserved disadvantages for selected groups; undeserved disadvantages are from mere chance of birth and are factors beyond anyone’s control, thereby landing different groups in different conditions; and equality of treatment under the law is not a sufficient condition to achieve justice.”
The state is also targeting social emotional learning, which has recently emerged as another topic under criticism from DeSantis. Social emotional learning aims to teach students how to manage their emotions and develop strong relationships with their peers. This is counted as an “unsolicited” strategy to FLDOE, which told publishers to refrain from teachings on “identity and identity identification concepts; managing emotion; developing relationships and social awareness.”
Florida’s slate of math textbook rejections, along with recent laws passed in the state like the Parental Rights in Education bill, on Thursday were key topics during a congressional hearing on “curriculum sabotage and classroom censorship” led by the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
One Florida Republican on the subcommittee, Rep. Byron Donalds, asked the panel of witnesses, ranging from parents to school leaders and free speech advocates, if they believed the math lessons flagged by the state education department were appropriate. Donalds, a former member of the Florida House, used examples of questions asking students to measure racial prejudice by age and political affiliation.
A representative from free speech organization PEN America agreed with Donalds, acknowledging that there was a “risk that this was going to stoke division, detract from the lesson.”
“If we’re going to talk about history, let’s talk about history,” Donalds said. “But if we’re going to bring subjective material into the classroom, that is the problem that has some parents upset in the United States.”
Democrats frequently criticized Florida’s policies along with others across the U.S. that they say prohibit discussions of race and LGBTQ issues and violate free speech principles, mirroring authoritarian governments. They used last week’s racist shooting at a Buffalo grocery store as a “horrifying” example of what could happen if “ignorance and hatred spread.”
“Gov. DeSantis is bringing a brand of authoritarianism to Florida that Putin, Maduro or Castro would applaud,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).
Here's Florida new secretary of state and his wife, a newly appointed member of the state board of education, flying the QAnon flag from their boat. pic.twitter.com/x6nEZ8Teyo
Next thing you know they will tell the kids who attempt to read and learn the truth for themselves they will be scared into thinking that it will be an assured way to be kidnapped by a homosexual and sold to an adrenochrome extraction laboratory.
Florida is becoming like that unruly child in a classroom you can always depend on to disrupt everything by calling undo negative attention to itself. It’s a childish act that’s getting really old really fast.
Kids graduating from FloriDUH high schools will have a hard time being accepted to out-of-state colleges/universities due to the low-standards of education pushed by DeathSantis and the GQP.
The publishers of textbooks need to step up and fight back. Stop caving in to these assholes. Kids in Texas and Florida and other confederate states need to learn the truth, not right wing “Lost Cause” propaganda. Can’t handle the truth? Get some mental health care.
Continuing this culture war at no further financial expense to the state, and I’m assuming that DeSantis will only approve books by the one publisher that publishes the only approved math books…the same publisher owned by VA Republican Gov Youngkin.
In other words, Florida has totally removed itself from actual history, and any attempt to reconnect will be met with total contempt. Perfect place to raise your kids if you want them to be absolute idiots.
So teachers in Florida need to instruct students in such a way that it is not clear where they stand on issues like was it right or wrong for Southern states to own humans as property.
Yes Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is a religious “anti-LGBTQ hate group,” This redacted email exchange shows that at least one of not more religious bigots on the board wanted to not include the state mandated non discrimination language in the school handbook so reached out to a religious legal hate group to write them a different one they could approve instead. I don’t think it is legal but it shows how far the religious right is willing to go to be able to discriminate against LGBTQ+ and eventually any non-Christians. Hugs
Emails obtained by 8News show that a Hanover County School Board member reached out to a top legal strategist for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) a week before he tried to set a meeting between the board and the organization.
A month later, the school board approved a plan to have ADF, which some have classified as an “anti-LGBTQ hate group,” review the district’s policy regarding the treatment of LGBTQ students.
On March 16, 8News filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking all of the county’s school board members’ emails concerning ADF since Nov. 21, 2021.
Although key details in the conversations were largely redacted – blacked out – by the school district, the emails shed some light on how the board and Alliance Defending Freedom came together.
The emails do not account for possible phone calls, text messages or other communications between the board and organization.
What is ADF and its link to Hanover’s school board?
Alliance Defending Freedom is a conservative Christian legal advocacy and training organization based in Arizona seeking to secure “generational wins that change the law and culture,” according to its website.
These goals include “ensuring the law respects God’s created order for marriage, the family, and human sexuality.”
In March, Hanover’s School Board voted 4-3 to allow ADF to review the board’s equal educational opportunities policy, which concerns the rights of LGBTQ students and more. Board Chairwoman Ola J. Hawkins, Vice Chair Bob Hundley and school board member Sterling Daniel voted against the proposal.
The decision came after the board voted last November not to adopt policies, as Virginia school divisions were required to under legislation passed by the state legislature, allowing students to use bathrooms and school facilities aligning with their gender identity. A month later, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia filed a lawsuit on behalf of five transgender students against the school board.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) added ADF to its “anti-LGBTQ hate group” list in 2016, saying the organization has spread “known falsehoods” that demonize LGBTQ people. Among several examples, SPLC points to a national campaign backed by ADF to pass laws that would prevent transgender students from taking part in sports on the teams that align with their gender identity, specifically in Arizona and Idaho.
Ryan Bangert, senior counsel and vice president of legal strategy at ADF, strongly disputed SPLC’s designation and said ADF is one of the U.S.’s most respected and successful U.S. Supreme Court advocates that has worked “to preserve the fundamental freedoms of speech and religion for all Americans.”
He also called the Southern Poverty Law Center “partisan” and “scandal-ridden,” claiming it has presented “false claims and gross mischaracterizations,” citing reports critical of its “hate map” and a federal judge’s opinion in 2019 that argued the list doesn’t “depend upon objective data or evidence.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center declined to comment on Bangert’s statement.
Emails reveal a timeline
Records show that Hanover School Board member John Axselle first emailed Bangert at Alliance Defending Freedom on Feb. 7, 2022. Most of the email, including its subject line, was blacked out by the district when we received the email through a FOIA request.
Hanover schools spokesperson Chris Whitley said the email and an attachment Axselle sent were redacted because they included “attorney-client material,” showing that Axselle had formally reached out to ADF a month before the board’s narrow vote to start considering the organization’s legal advice.
“Thank you in advance for your assistance with this matter,” Axselle writes to Bangert in one of two sentences not blacked out.
The email exchange between Axselle and Bangert — seven emails in total from Feb. 7-8 — is the only one between a school board member and an ADF employee in the records shared with 8News.
Board member Axselle’s Feb. 7 email to Ryan Bangert, senior counsel and vice president of legal strategy at ADF. (Email provided to 8News by Hanover schools after Freedom of Information Act request)
In one email, Bangert tells Axselle, the board’s Beaverdam District representative, that he received his message and “will review promptly and revert.” Later that night, Bangert sends another email asking Axselle if they could speak the next day.
Emails show that Bangert set up a call between himself, Axselle and his colleague Jon Scruggs, senior counsel and director of the Center for Conscience Initiatives with ADF, for the afternoon of Feb. 8.
Bangert’s email to Axselle on Feb. 8 setting up a phone call for 4 p.m. ET that day. (Email provided to 8News by Hanover schools after Freedom of Information Act request)
It’s unknown whether the phone call occurred as ADF and the school board declined to discuss the emails and declined 8News’ interview requests. But Axselle sent an email to Chairwoman Hawkins and Vice Chair Hundley less than a week later with the subject line, “Meeting with ADF.”
“ADF contacted me and they can meet with us Friday, February 18, 2022, at 5:00 PM, if that is good for us. This is going to be a Zoom meeting,” Axselle wrote in the Feb. 14 email. “Please let me know if this is good for the Board and I will confirm with them if you like.”
“I’ll work with Ola to notify the board of the plan to conduct a called closed session meeting Friday; our goal will be to confirm that as early as possible tomorrow morning so that the appropriate legal notice can be posted,” Hundley replied 37 minutes later.
According to the school board’s online agenda, a closed session meeting did not take place on Feb. 18 but one was held on Feb. 22 to interview “prospective candidates for employment” and for “consultation with legal counsel pertaining to probable and pending litigation,” including the ACLU lawsuit.
Board chair Hawkins’ email to school board attorney Lisa Seward on March 3. (Email provided to 8News by Hanover schools after Freedom of Information Act request)
Emails also show that Lisa Seward, the Hanover school board attorney, sent “research” to the school board and school Superintendent Michael Gill on March 2, six days before the board voted to allow ADF to advise it on its policy.
Seward’s entire email, apart from her salutation and “thank you,” was blacked out by the school division. The next day, Chairwoman Hawkins thanked Seward “for the research and update” and “detailed information.”
Hanover residents and parents ask for answers
Hanover County residents critical of the idea of bringing ADF on as legal advisors contacted school board members before and after the vote, the emails show.
Most were thanked for sharing their input but were provided little to no details or answers to their questions, including two residents who received similarly worded responses from Hanover County School Board member Robert May.
May emailed the South Anna District residents that the board voted “to engage Alliance Defending Freedom for legal review of Policy 7-1.2 at no cost to HCPS” and that he believes it “does reflect the ideals of the Constitution of the United States.”
Axselle’s email to board chair Hawkins and vice chair Hundley. (Email provided to 8News by Hanover schools after Freedom of Information Act request)
One resident emailed Chairwoman Hawkins twice before the March 8 vote, repeatedly asking her how the school board and ADF came together.
“I certainly hope this School Board, that is also planning to sign a Proclamation of Equity at the meeting tomorrow night, would not go out and ask for their assistance,” the resident wrote in the second of two emails to Hawkins on March 7. “So, I will ask again: How did the Alliance Defending Freedom come to be involved with the School Board? Did they approach HCPS, or did someone from HCPS contact them?”
Hawkins did not respond to the second email, records show, but did reach out to Vice Chair Hundley about the message and told him to let her know what he thought about the email.
“I believe we should get some advice from Mike and/or Lisa on this one,” Hundley wrote on the morning of March 8. “Since it’s a closed session topic, we may not have to divulge that, but we should ask first.”
Not long after that email, Hawkins and school board attorney Lisa Seward exchanged emails that were almost entirely redacted.
Most school board members did not respond to requests for an interview for this story, but those who did declined to speak and pointed 8News to Chairwoman Hawkins for a statement on behalf of the board.
Vice chair Hundley’s email to board chair Hawkins concerning an email from a parent she received. (Email provided to 8News by Hanover schools after Freedom of Information Act request)
“As you may know, we are actively involved in a lawsuit with the ACLU of Virginia. It is not the School Board’s practice to comment on pending litigation,” she wrote in an email. “Therefore, I do not have anything further to add to this other than what has been discussed and shared publicly.”
Hawkins and Bangert refused to answer questions about whether the board approached ADF or the other way around.
“The Hanover County School Board is committed to carrying out the critical task of providing excellence in education for their students while adhering to the law and advancing a culture that demonstrates dignity and respect for all students and staff who are part of the community,” Bangert said in a statement. “We look forward to serving the board by providing legal advice that accomplishes these goals.”
Christopher Berg, an Atlee High School parent of two, has been vocal about the board’s refusal to adopt the statewide policy last year. At a recent school board meeting, he spoke out against a possible change to the county’s student code of conduct that the district says clarifies its position on protests and walkouts.
After Berg claimed the change would be “unconstitutional” and called it “un-American,” Hanover schools discipline hearing review officer and Seward agreed that as it was proposed the potential change to the code would not violate students’ First Amendment rights. A William & Mary law professor specializing in freedom of speech told 8News that the change could be construed “as a blanket ban on protests and demonstrations,” as it was written, and a potential legal challenge was not out of the question.
In an interview, Berg told 8News that his youngest child, a nonbinary ninth-grader named Em, was suspended earlier this year for three days after taking part in an unapproved walkout protesting the board’s policies on transgender students in the county. Berg said Em has been harassed and bullied at school by students.
He said he believes the possible change to the code of conduct, which the board has yet to vote on, and ADF’s involvement in the school district only makes matters worse for transgender and nonbinary students.
“It really kind of feels like they’re just continuing to push more and more against the trans kids of Hanover County and kind of demoralizing those students,” Berg said. “That’s obviously the reason why the students got really upset and have started protesting. That was just yet another middle finger at the students.”
I thought it was hard growing up gay during the sixties and seventies. I feel sorry for today’s LGTB youth. “The love that dare not speak its name” is now being forced back into the closet with a vengeance and it will require the same herculean effort that it took after Stonewall to repair the damage that’s being done now. LGTB youth have their work cut out for them. I wish them luck. They’re going to need it.
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Scottie's Playtime 