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.
Parents in Southern California have voted to remove two conservative school board members after they spearheaded a policy that forcibly outs transgender students to their guardians.
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.
Thanks for this. Honestly, I see this a bit differently from my initial thoughts.
This is why these kinds of things are so dangerous. They’re designed in such a way as to gloss over any nuances and appeal directly to people’s emotions.
It takes so much effort to show how harmful these actually are, while these people go on to pass more harmful laws while you’re busy getting rid of the first one. Republicans put forward over 200 anti-trans bills in the first 6 months of last year, amounting to something like 1.2 new bills every day.
If I wasn’t a part of this minority group and didn’t have the experience working with kids that I do, I don’t think I could point out the issues in this well enough that other people could see what I’m seeing. I can see them clear as day, but that’s because it’s part of my lived experience.
Whenever I see something like this, I always ask myself, “If this were aimed at adults, would I feel differently?” and “Is there hard data to back this up, or is it entirely running on assumptions/emotions?” Children are a favorite demographic to use for political stunts because everybody wants to protect them, and they can’t speak up for themselves about what they actually want and what would actually help them. It’s why Republicans hate Greta Thunberg so much. Because she’s so vocal and an activist standing up for what she believes in, and it goes against what they want you to think about kids.