There has been such an uptick of transphobic commenters at school board meetings. Meetings in my county have been filled with anti-transgender public commenters. I mean filled. Like people getting in line hours before the meetings to be one of the ten commenters on the list, what they are saying is horrifying. It is time to push back.
During the midterm election cycle, participation at our board meetings was at a fever pitch. Though the standing-room-only rooms have dwindled, I was still horrified when two of the five people providing public comment presented anti-trans agendas. To be clear, one of the women used words like “disgusting,” “wrong,” and “grooming” when referring to a piece of legislation that will create inclusive health education in our schools. She explained that this was her first time speaking publicly; it was like watching a scene from the 1960s.
As I sat quietly at home, watching the recording of the meeting, I felt enough was enough. We must start pushing back. What does that look like?
Write A Letter to Your School Board
Disclosure is a topic that is not taken lightly in our community. To clarify, we must protect our children and their anonymity. I suggest that you write a letter and choose a pseudonym. I have had school administrators push back because they “don’t take anonymous comments.” This is the time to push back politely; if my child’s safety and my family weren’t on the line, I would shout from the rooftops. The fact of the matter is that our children are under attack, so we are taking steps to protect them from being targeted and bullied.
Source Data for Letter
US Department of Education: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/lgbt.html
UCLA Williams Institute: https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/trans-adults-united-states/
Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/06/07/about-5-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-say-their-gender-is-different-from-their-sex-assigned-at-birth/
Share the letter with your fellow proud parents. Let’s make them hear our voices. To sum, we must fight back against anti-transgender commenters at school board meetings.
