'Anti-woke,' anti-LGBTQ Ohio school board member removed after two-year reign of terror and harassment

Former Lakota (Ohio) school board member Darbi Boddy

I got this news from The Buckeye Flame, which is led by award-winning journalist Ken Schneck.  Both The Buckeye Flame and Schneck underscore the importance of reading and supporting LGBTQ-oriented news sources and blogs, "Mainstream" news sources never seem to do us justice.

While school board members are portrayed as generally at odds with each other, this particular school board in Lakota (Ohio) were all in agreement about one thing during a special March 20 meeting - fellow board member Darbi Boddy had to go. And except for one person who abstained, they voted unanimously (3-0) to dismiss her. The one who abstain probably did so for reasons not necessarily complimentary to Boddy. 

To hear the story, Boddy was responsible for a two-year reign of terror which left the school board and some members of the community completely exhausted and happy that she was dismissed.

From The Buckeye Flame (3/26/24):

Boddy was elected to the Lakota board, which covers the Cincinnati suburbs of West Liberty and Westchester townships, in November 2021. She ran on a platform of “teaching the greatness of America.” According to her campaign website, this greatness includes: 

 Ending the promotion of “racist ideologies to our students and faculty,” including “the 1619 Project, Critical Race Theory and Black Lives Matter.” 

The “honest teaching of American history.” America, she stated, has “given peasants the lifestyle of kings and more liberty and more wealth to minorities than any country in human history.” 

The “honest teaching of the sexes in our classrooms,” including “the fact that sex is determined at birth and cannot be changed” and the elimination of “boys’ competing in girls’ sports programs.” 

 

Boddy subsequently won a seat on the school board. That is when all hell broke loose with her holding the pitchfork: 

 In April 2021, only a few months after she was elected, Boddy was censured after she posted links to sexual content on Facebook. She claimed the links were a typo, but said they were representative of the pornography being taught in the schools. 

 At a November 2021 meeting, in front of a group of second graders being recognized for their civility and leadership, Boddy repeatedly kept yelling and disrupting the order of the meeting, all while her young daughter was crouched under the table. At that meeting, Boddy proposed banning trans students from athletics and forfeiting any athletic competitions against teams with trans students. That motion was defeated 4-1. 

Boddy further attempted to ban trans athletes and bathroom access for trans students at an April 2023 meeting. She again repeatedly yelled, interrupted her colleagues and was ruled out of order. An exasperated Casper called her a “petulant child.” (You can view moments from the explosive meeting here courtesy of Schneck) 

Between meetings, Boddy posted a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ and “anti-woke” articles and videos on her Facebook page. She has alleged that National Geographic is an activist publication that supports predators, that Pride flags represent exclusion, and that “there is no such thing as transgender.” 

She also reposted an unsigned letter alleging sexual assault in a Lakota school bathroom. There was no evidence or corroboration connected to the post.

 In addition, according to City Beat (8/9/23), Boddy began in a campaign of smears against Lakota School Superintendent Matt Miller; one that ended with him resigning:

Months later, during the start of the 2022-2023 school year, Boddy began zeroing in on Lakota Superintendent Matt Miller. Boddy claimed he was personally promoting CRT at Lakota Schools and that he engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct. Complaints from Boddy and community members led to an investigation from the Butler County Sheriff’s department, which found no probable cause for criminal charges against Miller, according to the board. 

The board conducted its own investigation, which also came up with nothing, but Boddy reportedly pressed the allegations further during school board meetings. Miller ultimately resigned as superintendent, directly blaming Boddy for creating a hostile working environment and alleging she’d promoted threats of violence against him and his family. 

Boddy's manic stridency finally got her into trouble when she began targeting fellow school board member Issac Adi. Adi was the one who abstained in the vote to dismiss her. One thinks that if he had voted to dismiss her, she would have been able to claim impropriety because she harassed him so badly that he filed a civil protection stalking order against her.

From The Buckeye Flame:

According to court documents, Boddy confronted Adi at an April 2023 conservative leadership conference in Florida, accosting him in front of witnesses. She claimed he wasn’t conservative enough. On June 22, Boddy posted a video to Facebook of her confronting Adi, claiming he said that her “brain was empty.” She filed an assault report after Adi was seen in the video pushing her camera away, but the Butler County Sheriff’s Office did not move forward with charges. 

 Adi filed a civil protection stalking order against Boddy in September 2023, but an exception was made for them to present at the same school board meetings pending Boddy’s appeal to the order. When that appeal was denied, she was issued a citation when she tried to enter a school board meeting in November. 

 Also, according to CityBeat (9/21/23):

The order details a months-long pattern of targeted harassment from Boddy towards Adi. "[Adi] contends that certain actions taken by [Boddy] have caused, and will continue to cause, him mental distress. He further contends that the mental distress caused by [Boddy] has resulted in hospitalization," the order reads. Adi testified that he was hospitalized for three days due to stress, and witnesses testified that Adi had indicated his health was declining as a result of interactions with Boddy.

 

This subsequently caused Boddy to miss school board meetings for over 90 days. That led to the board being able to dismiss her.

From The Buckeye Flame:

The resolution they passed dismissed Boddy pursuant to the Ohio Revised Code that states a seat shall be vacated when a board member is absent from board meetings for a period of 90 days, if the reason for the absence is declared insufficient by two-thirds of the Board. 

Immediately following the vote, Shaffer announced a vacancy on the board. Applause was heard as the meeting adjourned. Less than a day later, Boddy’s picture was removed from the board’s website.

One wonders if they all sang Ding, dong, the witch is dead. 

I certainly would have.

Washington becomes the seventh state to mandate LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum

From NBC News:

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, signed a law last week that includes a mandate for the state’s public schools to teach LGBTQ history, as red and blue states continue to diverge on whether schools should expose kids to gay and transgender identities. 

The new law, Senate Bill 5462, mandates that the state’s school districts adopt curricula that is as “culturally and experientially diverse as possible,” including the histories of LGBTQ people, people of color and people with disabilities. Schools will be required to institute the inclusive curricula by the 2025-26 school year. 

 “The governor was happy to sign legislation that aims to ensure students of all races and identities feel safe and welcome at school,” Mike Faulk, a spokesperson for Inslee, said in an email Monday. Faulk also referred NBC News to research published in the journal Sex Education that suggests LGBTQ-inclusive curricula can reduce rates of bullying and make children feel safer in school.

 . . . Washington is the seventh state to enact legislation mandating that public schools incorporate LGBTQ-inclusive curricula in some capacity, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank. The other six are: California, New Jersey, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada and Illinois, states that have been won by Democrats in the last four presidential elections. The law also comes as conservative lawmakers introduce record numbers of anti-LGBTQ measures, including legislation to regulate how LGBTQ issues are taught in public schools.

First of all, this proves yet again that voting always matter. If LGBTQ people are to get positive outcomes, we must put in elected officials who will work for those positive outcomes. Voting matters. Always.

Secondly, in light of all of the nonsense the LGBTQ community is facing now, it's easy to think that this doesn't matter. But it does matter.  When I was growing up, I would never dream of something like this. Being gay, or LGBTQ in general, was something a lot of folks tried to make shameful. We were shuttered into the closets and other dark places like we were something vile and fetid. Our lives were crudely sliced and diced into salacious stereotypes of oversexed, disease-ridden societal outcasts who should be kept away from kids and decent folks. 

Granted, it's still happening due to people like Chaya Raichik and statewide legislation attacking our health and safety. But even in the face of that, our community is still progressing. We are still moving forward. All of the mad talk about "grooming," all of the lies about gender-affirming care - particularly for our trans kids - may have slowed us, but it hasn't stopped us. In seven states - and I hope more in the future - kids will learn about our lives and history. They will learn that LGBTQ people exist and aren't people to be ashamed of. They will see that we have contributed to society and will continue to do so. And LGBTQ kids will be especially helped by this. 

In the onslaught of hate and misinformation, it becomes easy to forget that LGBTQ people don't stop moving forward. We are in a better place than we were before and that's due to our tenacity. And as each day passes, we will continue to be in better places. We don't stop because we can't stop. 

Our victory is inevitable.

Video - Trump supporters think drag queens are more dangerous than guns

I wasn't going to post anything on Sunday and I apologize for presenting this video (because interviews with Trump voters are so damn annoying and jaded), but I feel that this video is necessary. It's not to attack any group for their beliefs, but one must call out basic ignorance, especially when it comes to the LGBTQ community and our culture. And the video above oozes with ignorance. 

 It practically reeks with it. OH MY GOD, where should I start? With the fact that these folks don't know the difference between drag queens and the trans community. The fact that they actually feel that drag queens are more dangerous than guns? Take your pick. But I will end with one sad fact - these people VOTE. And if we are going to defeat nonsense like this or at the very least contain it, we are going to have to stop getting distracted. We need to vote with as much energy as we waste laughing at these folks. 

'Victory - Over 40 anti-LGBTQ 'policy riders' removed from federal budget bill' & other Thur/Fri news briefs

Massive Defeat For Anti-Trans And Anti-LGBTQ+ Riders In Spending Bill As Dems Hold Firm​ - Fellow GLAAD award nominee Erin Reed is a one-woman wrecking crew when it comes to dismantling transphobia and basic bigotry. Support her work. 

 One policy rider proposed for the Food and Drug Administration would have defunded any hospital that “distributes, sells, or otherwise uses drugs that disrupt the onset of puberty or sexual development for those under 18,” a measure targeting not only transgender youth but also those experiencing precocious puberty. Another rider sought to bar any government funding toward “surgical procedures or hormone therapy for the purposes of gender-affirming care” in the Department of Health and Human Services. 

This move would have significantly impacted private and subsidized insurance in the Healthcare Marketplace. It also aimed to bar the enforcement of President Biden’s executive order titled “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity,” which broadened anti-discrimination protections for transgender individuals. Additional riders included bans on funding for any organization that “promotes transgenderism,” Title IX protections for transgender youth, bans on legal challenges against states over anti-LGBTQ+ laws, book bans, DEI bans, and more. In total, over 40 riders were proposed and negotiated in the spending bills. None of these were found in the final bill. 

 Ultimately, the final spending bill released contained only a single anti-LGBTQ+ rider: a ban on pride flags being raised or displayed above foreign embassies. The policy, while certainly qualifying as anti-LGBTQ+ and a regression to Trump-era policies, notably does not bar personal displays of Pride flags by embassy workers. In the past, some embassies have gotten around such bans by not “flying a flag over the embassy” but rather, painting portions of the embassy in rainbow colors or draping flags on the side of buildings. 

White House Agrees To Ban Pride Flags At US Embassies In Spending Bill Deal - Unfortunately, this rider didn't slip by. I sincerely hope members of the community don't flip out over this. Compared to what could have been, this is very minor.

Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donates over $30 million to LGBTQ+ non-profits​ - Great news. Goodness knows we need this. 

Alabama forces universities to implement trans bathroom ban while outlawing DEI - This right here is a hot mess. 

Florida tried to erase LGBTQ teachers. These educators refuse to go quietly - Keep fighting. 

Biden administration ties record for number of confirmed LGBTQ judges in federal courts - Voting matters.

Video - Four years ago, Donald Trump botched the COVID pandemic response. His campaign wants America to forget what he did.

Four years ago, Donald Trump botched the COVID pandemic response and refused to take responsibility for the carnage he was causing. Now his campaign is trying to gaslight America to forget all of it. Thank you Chris Hayes and MSNBC for the above reminder.

SCOTUS turns down appeal of parents who lost custody of trans teen

I am not a fan of the current Supreme Court because of how it seems to put religious beliefs on an undeserved pedestal.  However, in this particular case, SCOTUS made the right decision. In rejecting this appeal, the Court is saying, at least for now, that the religious beliefs of the parents don't supersede the health and well-being of their child.

 From USA Today:

The Supreme Court declined to decide Monday whether an Indiana couple who believe children should be raised based on their sex at birth should have lost custody of their teenager, a transgender girl. The court, without comment, rejected an appeal from the teen’s parents, who had warned that cases similar to theirs are likely to reoccur “due to developing conflicts between parents and their children concerning gender identity.” 

 “With increasing frequency, governments run roughshod over parents’ religious beliefs on gender identity, including removing children from parents, favoring certain beliefs in divorce custody disputes, and preventing adoptions,” lawyers for Mary and Jeremy Cox of Anderson, Indiana, told the court in their appeal. “These cases are sure to proliferate.” 

 The state said the parents, who are self-described devout Christians, lost custody not because of their views but because of the medical necessity of addressing the teen’s severe eating disorder. A provision of Indiana law that is similar to statutes in nearly every state allows government intervention in “a variety of situations in which even well-intentioned parent find themselves unable to prevent serious harm,” the state told the court. 

 Indiana also argued that the custody dispute is no longer relevant because the teen, who was 16 when removed from the home, is now an adult. 

 The LGBTQ news site Them also added several other details about the case:

 The case stretches back to 2019, when Mary and Jeremy Cox of Anderson, Indiana said their child — then 14 years old — came out to them as a trans girl. As PBS affiliate WFYI reported, the Coxes, both self-described devout Christians, refused to accept their child’s identity, a sustained conflict that lawyers for the Department of Child Services (DCS) say eventually led to the child developing a severe eating disorder and both parents losing custody in 2021. 

 The Indiana Court of Appeals in 2022 upheld the DCS decision to remove the child from her parents’ care, finding that her eating disorder was directly linked to emotional distress and lack of support at home. Mary Cox’s comments to her child included the statement that “[child’s preferred name] is the bitch that killed my son,” according to the ruling. 

The court determined that the custody order was necessary to protect the child’s physical and emotional health, and while the Coxes are free to express their religious beliefs, “they do not have the right to exercise them in a manner that causes physical or emotional harm to [their] Child.”

'Actress fired from 'Color Purple' stage show because of anti-LGBTQ comments loses lawsuit' & other Mon/Tues news briefs

Editor's note - As you have noticed, I haven't been as steady on the posts as I have been in the past. I've been going through some trying situations, but I still want to keep you up-to-date, educated, and entertained. And most of all, empowered by what I post here. Please bear with me as I continue to do what I have been doing these past 17.5 years and above all thank you for continuing to stand by me.

Seyi Omooba

Christian actress spent 5 years in court defending her right to make anti-LGBTQ+ comments. She just lost. - You cannot attack the sexual orientation of the character you are hired to portray and expect to keep your job. It does cause problems to your employers. Also, how do you expect anyone to believe that you were unaware that Celie from 'The Color Purple' was a lesbian:

 After hearing testimony in 2021 that Omooba had previously told her agents that she refused to play gay roles and had not bothered to read the script for the musical version of The Color Purple before accepting the role, an employment tribunal dismissed the actor’s religious discrimination claim, The Telegraph reported. The tribunal agreed with Curve Theatre that Omooba had not been fired for her Christian beliefs, but rather because her anti-LGBTQ+ statements would have likely led to “catastrophic” backlash for the theater if she had appeared in the queer role. 

California parents oust school board members who enacted anti-LGBTQ+ policy - Bye Felicias. Voting matters.

Idaho considers a ban on using public funds or facilities for transgender care - There is absolutely no point to this madness. Why push this ban? 

Death of Nex Benedict spurs calls for action, help for LGBTQ teens and their peers - Terrible situation but hopefully some good will come out of it. 

Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis can’t stop racking up humiliating losses in Florida- It's been a good month. 

On Fox News, Caitlyn Jenner defends trans athlete ban - GURL, u r a HOT mess.