I remember how it was -- JR
Tuesday, February 01, 2022
Fourth School Accused of Secretly Helping Children Turn Transgender
Sometimes Leftism gets really obnoxious
When Bonnie Manchester was told by school administrators to call a female student by “his new gender name” and not to tell the girl’s parents about it, that was the last straw for the Ludlow, Massachusetts, school teacher.
“I did what any teacher would and should do, I told the parents,” Manchester told The Epoch Times.
The child was just 11 at the time and as Manchester learned, the school was not only meeting secretly with the girl but also meeting secretly with her 12-year old brother regarding his alleged interest in regendering as a girl.
Manchester, who was a social studies teacher at the district’s Baird Middle School, was fired for telling the children’s parents about the school’s secretive activity. School principal Stacy Monette called Manchester’s “conduct unbecoming a teacher” referring to her “inappropriate communications with the parents of a student.”
“You shared sensitive confidential information about a student’s expressed gender identity against the wishes of the students,” Monette wrote in an April 16, 2021, letter terminating Manchester.
Monette was named Middle School Principal of the year for the state of Massachusetts by the Massachusetts School Administrators Association in 2020.
She and other school administrators did not respond to requests for comment.
It is one of what appears to be a fast-growing number of similar cases cropping up across the U.S.
On Monday, parents in Jacksonville, Fla., filed a federal lawsuit against their 12-year daughter’s school for having secret meetings with her to encourage her to identify as a boy after she began expressing gender confusion at school. The parents only found out after the child tried to commit suicide by attempting to hang herself in a school bathroom.
Last week, a Salinas, California, parent filed a notice of intent to file a lawsuit against the Buena Vista Middle School for allowing two teachers, who she alleged tried “to secretly brainwash her teenage daughter into identifying as bisexual, and later as transgender.”
And a week earlier in Texas, an anonymous teacher outed her school by releasing documents to a digital media outlet from the district’s training programs that shows teachers were being told to keep parents in the dark about any disclosures their children make at school about gender identity feelings. “DO NOT contact their parents and out them to their families” the training documents advises.
Mary McAlister, senior counsel for The Children and Parental Rights Campaign, said her organization also represents a New York family about to file suit on similar grounds.
“Schools are secretly grooming kids to be gay,” McAlister told The Epoch Times, and “they have outside influences teaching them how to do that. Lesson number one is to cut the parents out of the picture.”
According to the Florida lawsuit, which was filed by McAlister’s organization on behalf of the parents, the school withheld the information because they knew the parents were Catholic and would not agree with the children’s regendering.
The school’s guidance counselor admitted that she had been secretly meeting with the sixth grader on a weekly basis over a span of four months to discuss gender identity issues, the lawsuit alleges.
In the California case, parent Jessica Konen alleged that two teachers “coached” her daughter to change her identity at LGBTQ+ club meetings they held during their lunch hour.
In an exchange of emails, the child asked the teachers what name she should write on her school binders “in light of the fact she was not going by” a boy’s name.
“Write whatever your mother will approve and we’ll fix it when you get to school,” the teacher wrote back.
In another lawsuit filed in November in Florida, the school district admitted it was deliberately not telling parents if their children were having gender identity issues at school because a guidebook warned it could lead to homelessness for them.
The guide book called the LCS Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Gender Nonconforming and Questioning Support Guide, warned that as many as 40 percent of homeless youth are LGBTQ+, largely due to many of them being rejected by their families.
In the Ludlow school case, Manchester said she knew the two kids were being groomed by the school. She had them both in her special education class and knew the family. “I knew there was no way the kids thought this up on their own,” she told The Epoch Times.
Before she was fired, Manchester was also the subject of a sexual harassment complaint the school librarian filed against her for objecting to sexually explicit LGBTQ+ books she ordered and placed in the school library.
Manchester and 18 other teachers submitted a letter to the school administration and school board complaining about the books. The librarian, who identified as “non-binary,” has since resigned. School Superintendent Todd Gazda also resigned over what he called an “intolerance of LGBTQ” individuals.
At the time of the superintendent’s resignation, several parents submitted a letter demanding the school stop promoting transgender and homosexual ideas at and to use a student’s given name and “actual pronouns.”
The parents also demanded the school “stop retribution against teachers who expose these abuses to parents.”
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Vaccine Mandate ‘Feels Like Coercion,’ Says Boston Teacher Who Fears Being Fired
Arrogant fools
Special needs teacher Angela Jones could be fired from her job with the Boston school system. Why? Because she is unvaccinated.
Jones teaches elementary students in Boston Public Schools, where she has taught for nearly 20 years. She says she is one of more than 400 teachers there who have declined to take a COVID-19 vaccine.
Now, Jones and her unvaccinated colleagues face termination.
The vaccine mandate for Boston teachers “feels like coercion,” Jones, 52, told The Daily Signal during a phone interview Friday.
“We don’t want to put this [vaccine] in our bodies,” she said, adding that all she and her colleagues want to do is “live our lives and teach children, which is our livelihood.”
“If we are not allowed to choose what goes in our body,” Jones said, “ … that to me is the ultimate loss of freedom.”
Angela Jones isn’t her actual name, but a pseudonym used by The Daily Signal to protect the teacher’s identity.
Last month, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, a Democrat, announced Dec. 20 that all city employees would be required to receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Jan. 15. Following that order, Boston Public Schools announced that all its staff “will adhere to the announced vaccine policy for City of Boston employees.”
On Thursday, a Massachusetts Appeals Court judge temporarily suspended Boston’s vaccine mandate for city employees.
The stay comes after three unions—the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 718, the Boston Police Superior Officers Federation, and the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society—filed a lawsuit over the vaccine mandate.
The city has until Feb. 3 to file a response before the court’s final ruling. The Wu administration paused enforcement of the vaccine mandate while the legal process plays out.
“The stay decision means the vaccine verification policy is paused, and no educators will be placed on administrative leave or terminated at this time,” Becky Shuster, assistant superintendent of equity for Boston Public Schools, told The Daily Signal in an email Friday.
Wu said Thursday that 95% of city employees already have been vaccinated.
The concern for teachers such as Jones is that if the court rules in favor of the city and the vaccine mandate remains in place, they risk losing their jobs because they’re not vaccinated.
Jones applied for a religious exemption in early January, but it was denied.
Those denied religious exemptions are not allowed to appeal the decision, the Boston teacher said, but may add information to their request and resubmit the paperwork.
Jones herself did this, only to be denied a second time.
Jones sent The Daily Signal a copy of the email she received from Shuster denying this second request for a religious exemption.
“We have not approved any religious accommodations because the safety of students and staff is our highest priority,” Shuster told The Daily Signal.
Michael King, director of community alliances for Massachusetts Family Institute, says he finds that troubling.
“Denying the religious exemptions of these teachers is a tragedy not only for these teachers, but for the thousands of students in their care,” King told The Daily Signal.
Shuster did say that the Boston school system’s Office of Equity “has approved numerous accommodations should the policy ultimately be implemented.”
Of those asking for a medical exemption to the vaccine, Jones said, she is aware only of some who have received temporary exemptions—such as until the end of a pregnancy.
Teachers who refuse a COVID-19 shot are “from all races and creeds and walks of life,” Jones said.
The school system’s vaccine mandate “affects black and Latino teachers more than any other group,” she said. “They’re at a higher rate of not getting the vaccine.”
Asked about the mandate’s adverse effect on Latino and black teachers, Shuster said: “Boston Public Schools has been diligently working to engage its staff to explore their vaccination options and to provide timely information about the vaccine.”
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Australia: Citipointe Christian College defends demanding parents sign contract on student gender identity, homosexuality
Why is this controversial? There are plenty of other schools the sexually abnormal can go to. Let them choose a school that accepts them and leave Christians free to obey the repeated statements in the Bible about sexual deviance being an abomination to God. See Romans chapter 1. It's not as if anybody is compelled to go to that school.
And the limits the school imposes could well make it popular with many parents, Christian or not. Homosexuality is not a lifestyle many parents would want for their children.
Up until relatively recently, the American Psychological Asociation categorized homosexuallity as a mental illness -- until Leftist pressure got that expunged. The long term adverse consequences of homosexuality remain, however. There have always been homosexuals in my social circle and I have seen the sadness that eventually comes to them. Women, by contrast, have always been a source of happiness to me.
I sent my son to a Catholic school precisely because I thought he would get Christian teachings there. He did. Even under Pope Francis, church teachings on homosexuality have remained unwavering in opposition to it
Citipointe Christian College on Brisbane's southside sent families a contract last Friday and said parents must sign the contract or unenrol their child from the school.
More than 26,000 people have signed an online petition demanding the college recall the enrolment contract, with organisers arguing the school is "using their religious beliefs to openly discriminate against queer and trans students".
In an e-mail to parents on Friday, principal Pastor Brian Mulheran said the new clauses in the enrolment contract were included to "ensure that we retain our Christian ethos, which is the foundation of what has made the College what it is today".
The contract states "the college will only enrol the student on the basis of the gender that corresponds to their biological sex" to maintain consistent with the college's "Christian Ethos Requirements".
The contract goes on to state that the college "acknowledges the biological sex of a person as recognised at birth and requires practices consistent with that sex".
Another clause states the college has the right to "exclude a student from the college" should they not adhere to the "doctrinal precepts including those as to biological sex".
To keep their child enrolled at the school, parents must agree with a set of "religious beliefs" laid out in a "Declaration of Faith" attached to the contract.
Part of the declaration states that "any form of sexual immorality (including but not limited to; adultery, fornication, homosexual acts, bisexual acts, bestiality, incest, paedophilia, and pornography) is sinful and offensive to God and is destructive to human relationships and society".
'We weren't given any warning that this was happening'
A parent, who is also a teacher at Citipointe and did not want to be named, said she was "saddened that students who are struggling or going through their journey of finding out who they are were going to be encased in more vocabulary of them being 'other' and not accepted".
"As an educator whose priority it is to look after a child, and as a parent wanting to bring up a young [child] to be a functioning member of this society, I knew I was in trouble as to whether I could sign this document," she said.
She said she was "extremely angry" about the timing of the contract's release because students were starting school today. "I felt very much backed into a corner," she said.
"We, as the staff, weren't told about [the contract amendments]. I only found out about it because I was a parent."
She said she was now looking for another school for her child because she was unable to sign the amended enrolment contract.
"I am having to ask [the child] now to leave their friends through no fault of [their] own. We weren't given any warning that this was happening, and we've been told you either sign it or you have two weeks leeway to go," she said.
"I feel like my options are very, very limited."
She also said this would have a wider impact on the community at Citipointe.
"It is going to be so divisive in the school. It's going to separate people. And that's not my understanding of what the Christian faith is all about," she said.
A 2018 Citipointe alumnus Bree Leitch, who identifies as bisexual, said she was "pretty floored" when her parents received the amended contract on Friday.
She said her brother has been attending the school and he was supposed to start Year 12 today.
"I'm worried about what my brother is going to do and how he's going to get his education and graduate this year, and I'm really wanting to do something about it," Ms Leitch said.
Ms Leitch said she came to terms with her bisexuality when she was in Year 12 at Citipointe.
"I remember when I was in school, I would always think, 'If I was gay, I would never come out' … that would just be so hard. So scary," she said.
"And you just don't know what would happen, whether you'd get kicked out, there was just so much fear there.
"And having to just keep that part of me completely silent, and question it alone without being able to talk to anyone about it is pretty scary."
Ms Leitch said the amended contract was a "horrible thing" but "it means that it's something we can fight directly."
"It's something that's there and it exists, and it's black and white. And we're able to be say 'this is not OK'… we have a platform to build off of now," she said.
Ms Leitch said she wanted queer students at Citipointe, and other schools, to know they were not alone.
"You're valid and these things they're saying is not true. Don't let it change how you see yourself and don't let it make yourself think that you're not worthy. This whole community of people will stand behind you and support you, and we're doing to do everything we can to change this experience for you."
School has 'certain freedoms' under law to include clauses
In a statement to the media, Principal Pastor Brian Mulheran said the college "does not judge students on their sexuality or gender identity and we would not make a decision about their enrolment in the college simply on that basis".
He said the college wants to give parents and students the right to make an "informed choice" about supporting the school's approach to Christian education.
"We have always held these Christian beliefs and we have tried to be fair and transparent to everyone in our community by making them clear in the enrolment contract," he said.
"The college, through the freedoms afforded to it by law, has outlined our common beliefs and practices, so that parents can choose for their children to be educated at Citipointe and join our faith-based community."
Mr Mulheran said the school had sought legal advice in amending the contract, and argued it had "certain freedoms under international law and under Commonwealth and state legislation" which allowed it to include the new clauses.
Independent Schools Queensland chief executive Christopher Mountford told ABC Radio Brisbane independent schools were "their own entities" and could "deliver their own enrolment contract".
"The schools are being transparent and up-front in their enrolment contracts around the issues and beliefs that they have as a school, and that's consistent with other independent schools as well, and those contracts are legal under the current legislation," he said.
"The question of whether or not the school should or could do these things, is best answered by thinking through 'what are the school's ethos and processes they're putting forward to the community?' Is it reasonable and legal, what they're putting forward, and then can parents choose to engage in that school or not?"
He said it was important to have diversity across schools to allow parents to send their child to a school that "aligns with their beliefs and values".
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My other blogs: Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
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