Two members of the Orange Unified School District board have been removed by parents who opposed a policy requiring school staff to out transgender kids.
Two members of the Orange Unified School District board have been removed by parents who opposed a policy requiring school staff to out transgender kids.
Members of the Orange Unified School District board voted 4-0 to enact the policy in September. It was passed at 11:30 p.m., after the three opposed members walked out and withheld their votes.
The policy states that parents must be notified when a student seeks “to be identified as a gender other than the student’s biological sex or gender listed on the student’s birth certificate or any other official records.” This includes names, nicknames, and pronouns, and applies even if the student hasn’t taken action but has discussed the matter with a counselor.
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At the initial meeting in September, the board was overwhelmed by crowds who showed up to either protest or support the policy. However, the majority of the attendees voicing support did not have children in the district's schools, and most were not residents of the area, according to the Times.
the majority of the attendees voicing support did not have children in the district’s schools, and most were not residents of the area, according to the Times.
As they're fighting culture wars at other people's expenses, on the behalf of their political side, which will not care nor protect them as they think. In which word is it acceptable that a complete stranger has a say in an institution in which they won't ever take part in?
TL;DR: grownups tried to bully all the "not normal" kids in one go, forever. They're lucky this push-back is so civil. Here's a take on why this theme looks familiar: it's patriarchy.
When you have negative politicized action to reinforce "traditional" gender roles, it's always in defense of a hierarchy, with hetero men on top ("patriarchy")*. Embracing equality pushes the social norm towards treating people like people, regardless of gender, eradicating the social barriers and roles in that hierarchy. This effectively tears down a whole kind of class stratification and the power structure that comes from it. It doesn't scare people; it directly threatens their power and feels like a personal attack, which fuels all the moral licensing needed to be deviously underhanded in retaliation.
IMO, we should quit being surprised and outraged, and instead just expect that some knuckle-draggers are going to show up to try and ruin a good thing. Because as long as someone is invested in punching down on others, it's possible that they'll punch all the way to some position of authority if nobody stops them.
(* I have yet to witness a conservative regressive matriarchy, but I'm sure they exist somewhere.)
Tried stating a reasonable opinion with questions, got buried so hard I can't respond to the comment without it getting buried and disappearing. Civil discourse anyone? Or is civility only for people you mostly agree with? LOL, this post is blocked so hard I can't even read the replies without them disappearing. I can't even tell what OP said that was out-of-bounds.
This is how we create rightwing nuts. Take a person's reasonable post, beat the shit out of them for some much as having a question, pondering the pros and cons. Nope. Straight to jail.
Put yourself in OP's shoes. "Fuck me. I just said what I felt as a parent, how I might react. And I get hit with a wall of hate and bans?!" How do you think lemmy swayed OP's opinion? Discuss. (You'll get banned or blocked if you do, but grow a pair, state your case.)
I honestly don't know how I feel about this. If my kid (which I do have one) was trying to pass as another gender in school, but not home, I would want to know. It's generally not good for kids to keep big secrets like this from the people looking out for them. That's how they end up getting in to trouble in life.
Yeah, I'd want to know if my child was hiding something so utterly life changing. I hope my kids trust me, but coming out as trans is about as big as it gets.
At the same time, I'm not the kind of parent that wouldn't support my kid through such an issue. I understand it could be dangerous for some kids to be outted to their parents, but I don't know that we should be governing based on the worst possible outcomes, when keeping the secret could also be dangerous to some.
Yep, sucks either way. And either way, people may be hurt.
It is telling to me that most of the supporters that showed up had no skin in the game. I don't think this specific issue is as cut-and-dry as it appears at first. My mind has certainly changed on it the more I think about it.
About that. How would y'all feel if we flipped it? A conservative or liberal mob from out-of-town trying to influence your child's school board? (Which partly happened here!)
Tried stating a reasonable opinion with questions, got buried so hard I can't respond to the comment without it getting buried and disappearing. Civil discourse anyone? Or is civility only for people you mostly agree with? LOL, this post is blocked so hard I can't even read the replies without them disappearing. I can't even tell what OP said that was out-of-bounds.
This is how we create rightwing nuts. Take a person's reasonable post, beat the shit out of them for some much as having a question, pondering the pros and cons. Nope. Straight to jail.
Put yourself in OP's shoes. "Fuck me. I just said what I felt as a parent, how I might react. And I get hit with a wall of hate and bans?!" How do you think lemmy swayed OP's opinion? Discuss. (You'll get banned or blocked if you do, but grow a pair, state your case.)
I honestly don't know how I feel about this. If my kid (which I do have one) was trying to pass as another gender in school, but not home, I would want to know. It's generally not good for kids to keep big secrets like this from the people looking out for them. That's how they end up getting in to trouble in life.
Yeah, I'd want to know if my child was hiding something so utterly life changing. I hope my kids trust me, but coming out as trans is about as big as it gets.
At the same time, I'm not the kind of parent that wouldn't support my kid through such an issue. I understand it could be dangerous for some kids to be outted to their parents, but I don't know that we should be governing based on the worst possible outcomes, when keeping the secret could also be dangerous to some.
Yep, sucks either way. And either way, people may be hurt.
It is telling to me that most of the supporters that showed up had no skin in the game. I don't think this specific issue is as cut-and-dry as it appears at first. My mind has certainly changed on it the more I think about it.
About that. How would y'all feel if we flipped it? A conservative or liberal mob from out-of-town trying to influence your child's school board? (Which partly happened here!)
I honestly don't know how I feel about this. If my kid (which I do have one) was trying to pass as another gender in school, but not home, I would want to know. It's generally not good for kids to keep big secrets like this from the people looking out for them. That's how they end up getting in to trouble in life.
At the same time, I'm not the kind of parent that wouldn't support my kid through such an issue. I understand it could be dangerous for some kids to be outted to their parents, but I don't know that we should be governing based on the worst possible outcomes, when keeping the secret could also be dangerous to some.
It is telling to me that most of the supporters that showed up had no skin in the game. I don't think this specific issue is as cut-and-dry as it appears at first. My mind has certainly changed on it the more I think about it.