According to The Arizona Mirror by way of Raw Story:
Arizona Republicans this week lined up behind a measure that would discipline teachers and open them up to lawsuits if they don’t tell parents everything a student tells them — even if the student confides that he or she is gay or transgender. The legislation, House Bill 2161, would make it illegal for a government employee to withhold information that is “relevant to the physical, emotional or mental health of the parent’s child,” and specifically prevents teachers from withholding information about a student’s “purported gender identity” or a request to transition to a gender other than the “student’s biological sex.” The bill would allow parents to sue school districts if teachers don’t comply.
Jeanne Casteen, the executive director of the Arizona Secular Coalition and a former teacher, worried about how the reporting function of the bill would impact child abuse. Teachers are mandatory reporters, and Casteen said that every time she had to report child abuse, it was being inflicted by a parent. Under Kaiser’s bill, she said, a teacher would also have to notify the parents — the likely abusers — that the child informed them of the abuse. “I keep hearing about parental rights, but what about the rights of these students?” Casteen said.
Kaiser initially said the bill was created via a “stakeholder group” and his “own inherent passion” for the issue. But when Hernandez pressed him on which stakeholders were involved in drafting the bill, Kaiser admitted he didn’t work with education groups or teachers, but with anti-LGBTQ advocacy groups — chief among them the Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative Christian lobbying organization that has pushed numerous controversial and bigoted bills since forming in 1995. CAP holds sway with most Republican lawmakers and Gov. Doug Ducey, and is widely considered one of the most powerful lobbying groups at the state Capitol.“I know you have a long-standing (dislike) of that organization. I understand where the bait was in that question,” Kaiser told Hernandez, who is gay. “I’m not sure what education group I’d go to, because they’d be against this.”Another stakeholder that Kaiser consulted is Family Watch International, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated an anti-LGBTQ hate group. That group also has its fingerprints on another piece of legislation that would ban any books that have “sexually explicit” content and that critics say would effectively make it illegal to teach about homosexuality.
Below is the graphic from a Family Research Council email asking for money:
The email is the usual lies about the need to protect America's children from 'pornographic sex education,' 'LGBT ideology,' 'a pervasive anti-American sentiment' and (here's a new one) Critical Race Theory (which, for those who aren't familiar with the term, is the new way conservatives are scaring the hell out of their base.)
As odious as this ridiculous - and probably successful - fundraising attempt is, it gets even more nauseating when one remembers other ways FRC invokes 'protecting children' in its literature:
I'd be willing to believe that the Family Research Council actually did care about children in its own twisted way if it weren't for the group falsely implying that transgender children are rapists and all-around predators.
In reality, the Family Research Council sees children in the same manner which it sees religious beliefs, which is as a commodity for money, fear, and power.
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| No matter how many times the above claim about gay men and pedophilia has been refuted, some people still believe it as an incident in Cedar Rapids IA proved. |
A recent incident during a board meeting in Cedar Rapids, IA reminds us that the prejudicial beliefs about groups of people generally don't go away. Instead, they get remodeled or retooled into another form.
In the past, folks used to accuse LGBTQ people of trying to 'recruit' children. Now they say we are attempting to 'groom' them. The incident also reminds us of the success we have when we refuse to allow ourselves to be maligned.
From KCRG in Cedar Rapids (link includes a video news report of the situation including footage of the meeting):
A statement meant to promote inclusion in Fairfield, led to controversy, when city council member Judy Ham said it could lead to perversions and sex trafficking. Confused and offended, several community members in Fairfield addressed the city council Monday night over the comments, which were made January 10th.“This is called grooming if you don’t know what sex trafficking is,” Ham said while holding up the Statement of Intent prepared by the city’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. The statement, condemns discrimination based on several factors including sexual orientation and gender identity. Council member Doug Flournoy, responded to Ham’s concern at the January 10th meeting.“No this document in and of itself is not grooming but it’s a component of grooming isn’t it,” Flournoy said. “Yes it is,” Ham answered. “Because you normalize and you teach children these are normal things for people to be doing,” Flournoy explained.The conversation was tabled on the 10th, but led several LQBTQ residents to the microphone Monday night, to call on the city to pass the Statement of Intent.
A statement by ACLU of Iowa Executive Director Mark Stringer said the resolution included language that aligns with what the city is required to do by law."Treating everyone equally and with dignity, as the letter of intent states, is the foundation of fair and good government," Stringer said. "It's important to note that the law requires the government, including the City of Fairfield, to treat people fairly and equally and not discriminate. We were appalled to hear some city council members express disagreement with those long-held American principles."Several community members have reacted in Facebook posts and letters to the city's leadership, as well."What occurred during the Council's discourse can only be described as a step back in time," Lore Oliver wrote in a letter shared on Facebook. "To a time at which members of the LGBTQ community were viewed as subhuman and sexual deviants. I was appalled as at least one member of the Council compared myself, and those like myself to "perverts." It was also implied that by validating the humanity of LGBTQ people they would somehow be opening the door to "child groomers" and "sex traffickers."Other posts show community members who have urged others to contact their city council members, including Ham. Some have called for Ham's resignation.
