I remember how it was -- JR
Thursday, September 22, 2022
The Left Targets Youngkin’s Transgender Education Reform Prioritizing Parental Rights
Many on the Left appear appalled at the idea that parents should have the right to know and intervene if their children “identify” as the opposite sex or seek controversial transgender medical interventions that may irreversibly harm their bodies.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, on Friday announced a new model policy on students who identify as transgender in schools, prioritizing parental rights and upholding sex-based policies while directing the Virginia Department of Education to enforce federal and state laws protecting children from discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
Youngkin’s policy reversed the directives issued under former Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, which mandated that schools adopt a pro-transgender stance and directed schools to keep parents in the dark if “a student is not ready or able to safely share with their family about their gender identity.”
If parents or guardians know about a minor student’s transgender identity and disagree with it, the Northam guidelines positioned the school as the arbiter of such disagreements.
The new Youngkin guidelines put parents in the driver’s seat. The model policy begins with the declaration: “Parents have the right to make decisions with respect to their children: Policies shall be drafted to safeguard parents’ rights with respect to their child, and to facilitate the exercise of those rights.”
The new policy states that “schools shall respect parents’ values and beliefs,” and that parents have the right “to instill in and nurture values and beliefs for their own children and make decisions concerning their children’s education and upbringing in accordance with their customs, faith, and family culture.”
The policy roots this squarely in the U.S. Constitution, key Supreme Court decisions, and Virginia law.
The Youngkin policy states that “schools shall defer to parents to make the best decisions with respect to their children,” regarding health care, names, pronouns, counseling, and social transition at school.
The new policy clarifies that students will participate in sex-segregated school programs according to their biological sex, rather than their stated gender identities, yet it allows for potential exceptions. “Single-user bathrooms and facilities should be made available in accessible areas and provided with appropriate signage, indicating accessibility for all students,” the policy states.
While the policy states that when sports are segregated by biological sex, male students and female students will compete according to their sex, it makes exceptions for federal law.
The policy also explicitly states that schools “should attempt to accommodate students with distinctive needs, including any student with a persistent and sincere belief that his or her gender differs from his or her sex.”
The new model policy criticizes the Northam-era guidelines, saying they “disregarded the rights of parents and ignored other legal and constitutional principles that significantly impact how schools educate students, including transgender students.” The new policy cites the same law under which Northam’s administration created its guidelines.
“This is about the right of parents to be involved in such important decisions and that all our students are treated with dignity,” Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter told The Daily Signal. “The law mandating that [the Virginia Department of Education] have a policy is cited, and the model policy is crafted to ensure local school boards who adopt it fully comply with all applicable federal and state laws. The ‘2022 Model Policies,’ designed to protect ‘the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools,’ allows for a 30-day comment period for Virginians to engage on its suggested content.”
Only 10% of school districts had adopted the Northam administration’s policies two years after Virginia law required them to adopt a policy on these issues, according to the Virginia Mercury.
The new guidelines make a great deal of sense. While transgender activists claim that students are more likely to commit suicide if schools and parents do not encourage their transgender identities, it remains unclear whether affirmation and controversial medical interventions actually help students with gender dysphoria.
Medical interventions can have dangerous lifelong impacts. So-called puberty blockers, for example, actually introduce a disease into a patient’s body, according to Dr. Michael Laidlaw, an endocrinologist in Rocklin, California. Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism occurs when the brain fails to send the right signal to the gonads to make the hormones necessary for development.
“An endocrinologist might treat a condition where a female’s testosterone levels are going to be outside the normal range,” Laidlaw told PJ Media. “We’ll treat that, and we’re aware of metabolic problems. At the same time, an endocrinologist may be giving high levels of testosterone to a female to ‘transition’ her.” Cross-sex hormones can also have serious long-term side effects, increasing the risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular events.
Government should defer to parents when it comes to the health and beliefs of their children, especially on such politically charged issues.
Yet Virginia Democrats responded to this moderate policy change with outrage.
“Gov. Youngkin’s mandate targets vulnerable children, and it’s downright shameful to think that an elected leader would punch down at kids to score political points,” Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., widely seen as a more moderate Democrat, wrote on Twitter. “This mandate rolls back the rights of kids to be themselves in schools.”
“We are appalled by the Youngkin administration’s overhaul of key protections for transgender students in public schools,” the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia wrote on Twitter. “LGBTQ+ students already experience much higher self-harm & suicide rates because of the discrimination they face. This will only make matters worse.”
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Does Your Kid’s School Librarian Need Parental Supervision? ‘Banned Books Week’ May Tell You
Banned Books Week is coming to K-12 schools and city libraries across the nation September 18-24. This is a time for librarians to promote books that have been challenged for offensive content, such as sexually explicit writing and images, the promotion of so-called transgender lifestyles, and child sexual abuse.
Librarians get to tout their activism as a virtuous commitment to First Amendment freedoms for students and others and they label those who don’t like the banned books as censors. But many of these books actually fall under the legal definition of obscenity. Others discuss things like the steps of “transgender transitioning” and how children can hide their internet search history from their parents. Nevertheless, many school and classroom libraries still carry them.
Research by Judith Reisman and Mary McAlister in the Liberty University Law Review, “Materials Deemed Harmful to Minors Are Welcomed into Classrooms and Libraries via Educational ‘Obscenity Exemptions,’” relayed that the Supreme Court has already settled that obscene material is not protected by the Constitution but left the definition of what is obscene to individual states based on the characteristics of their communities. Most states and the District of Columbia have obscenity laws with prohibitions on disseminating material that is “harmful to minors.”
But here’s the reason why school and classroom libraries can carry obscene materials: More than 40 states “have enacted exemptions to the prohibition against dissemination of obscene or indecent materials, even those ‘harmful to minors’ if the materials are labeled as or used by individuals or organizations for ‘educational, scientific, artistic’ or similar purposes,” according to Reisman and McAlister.
The Protect Child Health Coalition, an organization leading the charge against these exceptions, provides a list of state obscenity exemptions, so it’s easy to check and see if a particular state is on it.
But what does having these exemptions look like at the local level?
For books like “Gender Queer,” I’m unable to replicate the pictures depicted in the book for this article, as I would be subject to legal penalties. Likewise, a father at a recent school board meeting had his microphone silenced for attempting to read from some of the objectionable books found in his child’s school because the school board was aware that allowing the words to air was illegal.
But, magically, once a child enters a school library, a librarian can provide “Gender Queer” and other challenged books to him or her without fear of prosecution.
However, as more people have become aware that children have been harmed by this content, state legislators across the nation have begun offering legislation to close the legal loopholes that grant exemptions for K-12 libraries, and it’s possible that violators could face prosecution.
As an example of a state’s obscenity exemption, take a look at Texas Penal Code Section 43.24, which is the law that prohibits distribution of harmful material to children. The specific exemption is found at 43.24(c), and it provides “an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the sale, distribution, or exhibition was by a person having scientific, educational, governmental, or other similar justification.”
But Texas State Rep. Steve Toth is trying to change that. He announced legislation in June to repeal the exemption in Texas, and his bill would apply to taxpayer-funded school libraries and classroom assignments.
And Texas isn’t the only state where legislators are trying to close the loopholes. EveryLibrary, a national political action committee for libraries, tracks legislative attempts nationwide that would make libraries safer for children—though EveryLibrary calls it “legislation of concern.” This tracker allows you to monitor what’s happening in your state.
In the meantime, many librarians and some teachers remain committed to pushing harmful material on children. At a middle school in Puerto Rico for Department of Defense military dependents, one of the top five books checked out by children was “The Prince and the Dressmaker,” a story about a prince who hides his identity from his parents and “puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia.”
The Hill newspaper carried a story in late August about a teacher in Oklahoma who quit because she was told she wasn’t allowed to display certain books that had been challenged for inappropriate content. The article also mentioned the Brooklyn (New York) Library’s Books Unbanned program that invites “young people ages 13 to 21 from every state in the nation, to apply for a digital library available through” the program.
Brooklyn Library is on to something. Accessing digital library books is quick and easy, and I would like to invite parents to do just that and see firsthand what’s being pushed on their kids. It’s easy to download the Libby App so you can have instant access to library books. Or you could use your child’s digital library card through his or her school. Or you could take an afternoon to sit down in the children’s and teens’ section of your local and school libraries to carry out your own investigation. Don’t take my word or your librarian’s word about which books are or are not age-appropriate (you’ll find that the term “age-appropriate” is quite subjective).
Don’t know where to start? You could begin with the first three books listed as the American Library Association’s top 10 most challenged books of 2021, as these are the books being displayed to your children during Banned Books Week. These include “Gender Queer,” “Lawn Boy,” and “All Boys Aren’t Blue.” Throw in “George” (now “Melissa”), too, which has been included in past years’ lists. Some of these books would make a sex worker blush, and they most definitely promote anti-social behavior in the developing mind of a child.
As you read through the list, I suspect that you’ll be surprised at what you find. You’ll probably wonder, like I do, why librarians are so aggressively pushing these books on school-age children.
And to think, these same librarians are also in charge of “weeding” out books for removal from the library. Read up on equity-informed weeding, decolonizing the library, librarian neutrality, and critical librarianship, and maybe you’ll also question why we’re allowing such librarians to have free rein in deciding which books to purchase and which books to toss as they build their collections.
To be clear, fighting to remove school library books that are harmful to minors is not “pearl-clutching”—it’s common sense. It’s not a matter of a small group of people trying to prevent other people from accessing material they don’t like. Society has already decided through federal and state laws that the material in these books is obscene. And just because libraries receive an exemption, that doesn’t make the content any safer for children.
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Christian School Pastor Will Refer to Students by ‘Biological Sex,’ Stares Down Death Threats
A private Christian school in Florida remains stalwart in their conviction after being spotlighted in an NBC article for saying they will refer to students according to their “biological gender,” while asking “gay and transgender students to leave.”
The school has received praise and death threats for standing their ground.
School administrator Pastor Barry McKeen, at Grace Christian School, said he received death threats after NBC highlighted an email sent by the school to parents ahead of the school year outlining, among other policies, that students found practicing “any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, transgender identity/lifestyle” will be “asked to leave the school immediately.”
“The backlash for about a day and a half was very severe, a lot of death threats, burn-my-house-down threats,” McKeen told The Epoch Times. “And then after about a day and a half, most of our commentary turned positive, because some of the more, I guess you could say, conservative outlets started picking up the story.”
It was more like an avalanche of support flooding in from people applauding the policy—which has been in place since the early 70s, and is now being prescribed verbatim by other Christian schools in Florida.
In the past two weeks, Grace Christian School received 7,000 emails, which were “80 percent positive,” McKeen said, along with $45,000 in donations from across the world.
“One guy gave $5,000,” he said. “I’ve never met him. He’s never been to our church or school. But he read about the story and said, ‘I believe what you’re standing for, and here’s some money.’”
As classes rang in, on Aug. 15, the NBC reporter contacted McKeen for the story. Believing Grace Christian School was being breeched, the pastor declined to comment.
In the aftermath, he held his peace initially, planning to let it just “run its course.” He prayed about it, then decided to not be cowed into silence but to set the record straight.
The article contained truth and lies, McKeen said.
“Our school does not allow homosexual and transgender students,” he said. “That’s true. If a student is actively involved in those lifestyles, they would be asked to leave our school.
“There were some things that were untrue. It was said in the article that I said, ‘If you’re a homosexual you go to hell.’ … I never said that. I wouldn’t say that. It’s not what I believe.
“Any sin will condemn you to hell, whether that’s homosexuality or adultery or stealing or whatever it might be.”
Grace Christian students aren’t expected to be sexual at all; they’re students and aren’t married.
The article cited a 16-year-old female student, “who is gay,” whose family was prompted “to transfer her to another religious school that is more accepting.” McKeen said it was “not really accurate” to imply that anyone was asked to leave immediately, because they “didn’t ask anybody to leave.”
In a video statement posted on the school’s Facebook page, he clarified, saying, “We had one student on one occasion, whose parents and us came to an agreement for them to be withdrawn. And that’s about it.”
He further added, “The biggest issue that happens in this culture is because you believe something and you stand for something that you’re automatically hateful. We are not hateful. Probably that’s the thing in the article that hurt the most; we’re not hateful people. We just aren’t.”
The school, in Valrico, about 20 miles east of Tampa, aims to provide students, pre-kindergarten through grade 12, a rigorous academic program and “a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ,” while training them to “serve Him in their lives.”
This contrasts markedly next to public schools across America where transgenderism and highly sexualized content are being injected into curriculums. Parents took notice at the kitchen table during COVID lockdowns.
But parents across America also stood their ground and pushed back against school boards for corrupting their children’s morals and violating their constitutional rights.
In July 2022, business leader Clint Thomas headed a group of 11 parents to launch a lawsuit against Loudoun County Public Schools to curtail policies that would prevent parents from knowing if their children expressed a different gender in school.
In May 2021, Scott Smith was arrested at a school board meeting where he became vocal about his daughter’s being raped in a girls’ bathroom by a male, who claimed to be transgender, at Stone Bridge High School—again in Loudoun County.
In liberal democratic societies where diversity and inclusion are assets, Grace Christian ought be welcome enrichment—expanding the conversation in the cause of liberty. Parents can send their children wherever they choose, McKeen said.
If they prefer the biblical worldview, they can choose Grace Christian.
“It’s a private Christian school, so parents choose to come here, they pay to come here, and they sign these policies saying we’ll abide by these standards,” he told The Epoch Times. “We’re allowed to have these rules. It’s what we believe. And if you don’t believe the same way, you don’t have to come here.”
A pillar of Western civilization predating Magna Carta, religious freedom joins the equation.
“To believe something biblically and to be shouted down or intimidated by somebody who doesn’t believe [isn’t fair],” McKeen added. “I don’t try to enforce my beliefs on other people outside of where I am in our ministry. I don’t go to other places and try to make them believe what I believe or change their policies. I feel like they were trying to intimidate us to do that.”
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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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