U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps’s transgender alleged ex-girlfriend is calling him a “hypocrite” for comments he made that implied that transgender women and girls participating in sports are not fair.
Taylor Lianne Chandler clapped back at comments the 23-time Olympic gold medalist made about University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas earlier this month.
In an interview with CNN, Phelps, 36, was asked about the 22-year-old swimmer, who has been getting attention in the media for winning some swimming competitions.
“I can talk from the standpoint of doping,” Phelps said. “This leads back to organizing committees again, because it has to be a level playing field.”
No one is accusing Thomas of doping.
“That’s something we all need. Because that’s what sports are,” he continued. “I believe we should all feel comfortable with who we are in our own skin, but I think sports should all be played on an even playing field.”
Then she dug in, saying that Phelps is “a hypocrite for saying it should be a level playing field” considering that there was never really a level playing field for his competitors due to the genetic advantages he had.
“He is genetically superior with his 6’7″ wingspan, double-jointed ankles and huge feet,” she explained. “His chemical composition allows him to breathe in and fill his lungs and hold his breath longer.”
“Even he says that he never competed on a level playing field, inferring doping, and they still could not beat him,” Chandler added, saying that Phelps’s comments about doping “hurt the most.”
“That is harsh,” she said. “In that moment of watching and hearing him say those things, it felt like a literal slap in the face.”
“I felt like I was good enough to love, lay with and be with, but not be respected or allowed in the women’s sport of swimming – like I was not a woman, but rather an alien or God-knows-what. It can’t be a woman’s sport if it doesn’t include all women, period.”
She also said that she realized Phelps might have been “caught off guard” by the question, but she still wishes he had said “that he would have said he supports trans youth in sports, especially trans girls.”
Chandler also called out the media for focusing on the limited number of trans women who are winning in sports while ignoring the struggles trans women face more generally.
“People against women in trans sports have like five examples to choose from,” she said. “It’s not like trans women are dominating any sport overall. It is a pocket here and there around the country that the press jumps on to make it seem like it is a world pandemic.”
According to a 2015 interview in The Mirror, Chandler said that she and Phelps met on Tinder. Phelps has never publicly discussed their relationship.
The Ivy League, in which Thomas competes, has stood up for her, saying that she and the University of Pennsylvania have been following NCAA guidelines for transgender student-athletes.
Last year, President Joe Biden signed an executive order saying that Title IX, which bans discrimination on the basis of sex in education, also bans anti-LGBTQ discrimination because it’s impossible to discriminate against LGBTQ people without taking sex into account. Schools that receive federal funds – like the University of Pennsylvania – would be running afoul of federal law if they denied the educational opportunity that is school sports to transgender students.
From a secluded spot in her high school library, a 17-year-old girl spoke softly into her cellphone, worried that someone might overhear her say the things she’d hidden from her parents for years. They don’t know she’s queer, the student told a reporter, and given their past comments about homosexuality’s being a sin, she’s long feared they would learn her secret if they saw what she reads in the library.
That space, with its endless rows of books about characters from all sorts of backgrounds, has been her “safe haven,” she said — one of the few places where she feels completely free to be herself.
But books, including one of her recent favorites, have been vanishing from the shelves of Katy Independent School District libraries the past few months.
For more on this story, watch NBC’s “Nightly News with Lester Holt” tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT.
Gone: “Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts),” a book she’d read last year about a gay teenager who isn’t shy about discussing his adventurous sex life. Also banished: “The Handsome Girl and Her Beautiful Boy,” “All Boys Aren’t Blue” and “Lawn Boy” — all coming-of-age stories that prominently feature LGBTQ characters and passages about sex. Some titles were removed after parents formally complained, but others were quietly banned by the district without official reviews.
“As I’ve struggled with my own identity as a queer person, it’s been really, really important to me that I have access to these books,” said the girl, whom NBC News is not naming to avoid revealing her sexuality. “And I’m sure it’s really important to other queer kids. You should be able to see yourself reflected on the page.”
Her safe haven is now a battleground in an unprecedented effort by parents and conservative politicians in Texas to ban books dealing with race, sexuality and gender from schools, an NBC News investigation has found. Hundreds of titles have been pulled from libraries across the state for review, sometimes over the objections of school librarians, several of whom told NBC News they face increasingly hostile work environments and mounting pressure to pre-emptively pull books that might draw complaints.
Records requests to nearly 100 school districts in the Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin regions — a small sampling of the state’s 1,250 public school systems — revealed 75 formal requests by parents or community members to ban books from libraries during the first four months of this school year. In comparison, only one library book challenge was filed at those districts during the same time period a year earlier, records show. A handful of the districts reported more challenges this year than in the past two decades combined.
All but a few of the challenges this school year targeted books dealing with racism or sexuality, the majority of them featuring LGBTQ characters and explicit descriptions of sex. Many of the books under fire are newer titles, purchased by school librarians in recent years as part of a nationwide movement to diversify the content available to public school children.https://iframe.nbcnews.com/qT9NUOR?_showcaption=true&app=1
“Why are we sexualizing our precious children?” a Katy parent said at a November school board meeting after she suggested that books about LGBTQ relationships are causing children to improperly question their gender identities and sexual orientations. “Why are our libraries filled with pornography?”
Another parent in Katy, a Houston suburb, asked the district to remove a children’s biography of Michelle Obama, arguing that it promotes “reverse racism” against white people, according to the records obtained by NBC News. A parent in the Dallas suburb of Prosper wanted the school district to ban a children’s picture book about the life of Black Olympian Wilma Rudolph, because it mentions racism that Rudolph faced growing up in Tennessee in the 1940s. In the affluent Eanes Independent School District in Austin, a parent proposed replacing four books about racism, including “How to Be an Antiracist,” by Ibram X. Kendi, with copies of the Bible.
Similar debates are roiling communities across the country, fueled by parents, activists and Republican politicians who have mobilized against school programs and classroom lessons focused on LGBTQ issues and the legacy of racism in America. Last fall, some national groups involved in that effort — including No Left Turn in Education and Moms for Liberty — began circulating lists of school library books that they said were “indoctrinating kids to a dangerous ideology.”
And during his successful bid for governor in Virginia, Republican Glenn Youngkin made parents’ opposition to explicit books a central theme in the final stretch of his campaign, leading some GOP strategists to flag the issue as a winning strategy heading into the 2022 midterm elections.
The fight is particularly heated in Texas, where Republican state officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have gone as far as calling for criminal charges against any school staff member who provides children with access to young adult novels that some conservatives have labeled as “pornography.” Separately, state Rep. Matt Krause, a Republican, made a list of 850 titles dealing with racism or sexuality that might “make students feel discomfort” and demanded that Texas school districts investigate whether the books were in their libraries.
A group of Texas school librarians has launched a social media campaign to push back.
“There have always been efforts to censor books, but what we’re seeing right now is frankly unprecedented,” said Carolyn Foote, a retired school librarian in Austin who’s helping lead the #FReadom campaign. “A library is a place of voluntary inquiry. That means when a student walks in, they’re not forced to check out a book that they or their parents find objectionable. But they also don’t have authority to say what books should or shouldn’t be available to other students.”
Carolyn Foote, a retired school librarian, is spearheading a grassroots effort to fight back against book challenges in Texas.NBC News
Ten current or recently retired Texas school librarians who spoke to a reporter described growing fears that they could be attacked by parents on social media or threatened with criminal charges. Some said they’ve quietly removed LGBTQ-affirming books from shelves or declined to purchase new ones to avoid public criticism — raising fears about what free-speech advocates call a wave of “soft censorship” in Texas and across the country.
Five of the librarians said they were thinking about leaving the profession, and one already has. Sarah Chase, a longtime librarian at Carroll Senior High School in Southlake, a Fort Worth suburb, said the acrimony over books contributed to her decision to retire in December, months earlier than she’d planned.
“I’m no saint,” said Chase, 55. “I got out because I was afraid to stand up to the attacks. I didn’t want to get caught in somebody’s snare. Who wants to be called a pornographer? Who wants to be accused of being a pedophile or reported to the police for putting a book in a kid’s hand?”
In interviews and recorded comments at school board meetings, parents who’ve pushed for book removals described doing everything in their power to shield their children from sexually explicit content on the internet, only to discover it’s readily available in school libraries.
“It’s not censoring to guard minors from exposure to adult-themed books,” Kristen Mangus, a parent, said at a meeting in November of the Keller Independent School District Board of Trustees, a suburban district outside Fort Worth that’s fielded dozens of requests to ban books in recent months. “If they choose to check out from the public library with a parent, then so be it. But there is no reason whatsoever to have these books in our schools.”
Some protesting parents have insisted that their opposition is about sexually explicit books, regardless of the races or sexual orientations of the characters. They point out that some of the books being challenged feature heterosexual sex scenes. But in many instances, parents and GOP politicians have flagged books about racism and LGBTQ issues that don’t include explicit language, including some picture books about Black historical figures and transgender children.
Free speech advocates and authors deny that any of the books in question meet the legal definition of pornography. Although some include sexually explicit passages or drawings, those scenes are presented in the context of broader narratives and not for the explicit purpose of sexual stimulation, they said.
“Some parents want to pretend that books are the source of darkness in kids’ lives,” said Ashley Hope Pérez, author of the young adult novel “Out of Darkness,” which has been repeatedly targeted by Texas parents for its depiction of a rape scene and other mature content. “The reality for most kids is that difficulties, challenges, harm, oppression — those are present in their own lives, and books that reflect that reality can help to make them feel less alone.”
Several queer students, meanwhile, said the arguments by some parents, specifically the idea that it’s inappropriate for teenagers to read about LGBTQ sexual relationships, are making them feel unwelcome in their communities.
“Reading books or consuming any kind of media that has LGBTQ representation, it doesn’t turn people gay or make people turn out a certain way,” said Amber Kaul, a 17-year-old bisexual student in Katy. “I think reading those books helps kids realize that the feelings that they’ve already had are valid and OK, and I think that’s what a lot of these parents are opposed to.”
A teacher at the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake hung caution tape over bookshelves in October to protest efforts to remove “controversial” books.Obtained by NBC News
‘Short-circuiting’ the process
This fall wasn’t the first time Texas parents packed school board meeting rooms to complain about the corrupting influence of books.
Every year for nearly two decades beginning in the late 1990s, the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union surveyed every public and charter school in Texas to document attempts to ban library books. The annual reports paint a picture of past censorship movements, and make clear that the volume of challenges now hitting schools is unlike anything previously recorded in the state.
In the early 2000s, a conservative backlash to the Harry Potter book series, which some Christian leaders condemned as a satanic depiction of witchcraft, fueled a surge of book banning attempts in Texas, according to the ACLU data. But even at the peak of that wave, the Texas ACLU never documented more than 151 school library book challenges in one year. About half that many were documented in just the first four months of the 2021 school year at only a small sampling of Texas school districts, according to the records obtained by NBC News.
During the 2018-19 school year, the last time the ACLU conducted the censorship survey, Texas schools reported only 17 library book challenges statewide. Twice as many have been filed so far this school year at Keller ISD alone.
“I’ve been doing this work for 20 years, and I’ve never seen the volume of challenges that we’re seeing right now,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association, which tracks attempts to ban library books nationwide.
Caldwell-Stone said the number of Texas book challenges documented in the records obtained by NBC News likely represents a vast undercount, because it doesn’t account for books that are being removed from shelves based on verbal complaints at board meetings or parent emails, often in violation of school district policies.
In response to past censorship movements, the American Library Association developed guidelines for schools to prevent the sudden and arbitrary removal of books. Under the guidelines, which have been adopted by most large districts in Texas and nationally, parents are asked to fill out forms explaining why they believe a book should be banned. Then a committee of school employees and community volunteers reviews the book in its entirety and determines whether it meets district standards, keeping in mind that a parent’s ability to control what students can read “extends only to his or her own child,” according to language included in most district policies.
A challenged book is supposed to remain on shelves and available to students while the committee deliberates, and the final decision should be made public, Caldwell-Stone said.
“What we’re seeing these days is a short-circuiting of that process, despite the fact that school boards often do have these reconsideration policies on their own books,” she said. “They’re ignoring them to respond to the controversy and the moral panics that they’re getting targeted with at school board meetings, and books are being abruptly removed.”
A photo taken by a teacher shows a cart full of books as they were being removed from a North East ISD library in December.Obtained by NBC News
That scenario has been repeated at several Texas school districts in recent months, NBC News found. In December, the Denton Independent School District near Dallas made headlineswhen administrators pulled down a copy of “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” a memoir by queer Black author George M. Johnson, after learning that parents in neighboring towns had concerns about it. A district spokesperson, Julie Zwahr, said school officials are now reviewing a total of 11 library books to determine whether they are “pervasively vulgar,” even though the district has received only one formal book challenge this school year. The North East Independent School District in San Antonio hadn’t received any library book challenges from parents as of December, according to records provided to NBC News. But that month, administrators directed librarians to box up more than 400 titlesdealing with race, sexuality and gender.
At a subsequent school board meeting, North East leaders said that they had pulled the books for review after Krause, the Republican lawmaker, distributed his list of 850 titles that he said violate new state laws governing how sex and race are addressed in Texas classrooms. North East spokesperson Aubrey Chancellor did not respond to a reporter’s request for comment, but told the Texas Tribune in December that the district asked staff to review books on Krause’s list “to ensure they did not have any obscene or vulgar material in them.”
A photo taken by a student in Granbury, Texas, shows men hauling away boxes of library books labeled “Krause’s List,” in reference to the 850 titles that state Rep. Matt Krause wants removed from schools.Obtained by NBC News
“For us, this is not about politics or censorship, but rather about ensuring that parents choose what is appropriate for their minor children,” she said then.
In another instance, the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, responding to an NBC News public records request, reported that it had received zero library book challenges in 2021. But emails reviewed by a reporter show that a parent had complained informally in August to a Carroll administrator and two school board members about the book, “Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out,” by Susan Kuklin.
“There is extreme sexual content in that book that isn’t even appropriate for me to put in an email,” the parent wrote.https://iframe.nbcnews.com/bExjHrx?_showcaption=true
Rather than requiring the mom to fill out a form to initiate the district’s formal library review process, Chase, the recently retired Carroll librarian, said an administrator shared the email with her and another librarian, and in order to avoid conflict, they agreed to remove the book from high school shelves.
“I hate that we did this, because we didn’t go through the formal review ourselves,” Chase said. “I think a lot of librarians are making decisions out of fear, and that puts us in a position of self-censorship.”
Book fight spreads from Virginia to Texas
Mary Ellen Cuzela, a mother of three in Katy, a sprawling and booming suburb outside Houston, had never thought much about what library books her kids might have access to at school. But in September, she heard then-candidate Youngkin mention a Virginia school district’s fight over “sexually explicit material in the library” during his campaign for governor against Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
Curious, Cuzela searched the Katy Independent School District’s catalog and was surprised to find that one of the books at the center of the Virginia fight, “Lawn Boy,” by Jonathan Evison, was available at her children’s high school.
Cuzela picked up a copy from the public library and “was absolutely amazed” by what she read, she said. The book, which traces the story of a Mexican American character’s journey to understanding his own sexuality and ethnic identity, was “filled with vulgarity,” Cuzela said, including dozens of four-letter words, explicit sexual references and a description of oral sex between fourth-grade boys during a church youth group meeting.
“I don’t care whether you’re straight, gay, transgender, gender fluid, any race,” she said. “That book had it all and was degrading for all kinds of people.”
She soon discovered that several other young adult books that had been targeted in Virginia and other Texas districts were available at Katy ISD. Cuzela shared her findings with some “like-minded parents,” and together they set out to get administrators to do something.
The school system, a diverse district of nearly 85,000 students, had already made national headlines that fall when administrators temporarily removed copies of “New Kid” and “Class Act” by Jerry Craft from school libraries after parents complained that the graphic novels, about Black seventh graders at a mostly white school, would indoctrinate students of color with a “victim mentality” and make some kids feel guilty for being white.
But Cuzela said she and her friends were having a hard time getting Katy administrators to take their concerns about sexually explicit books seriously. So they hatched a plan, and on Nov. 15, she and five other moms showed up at a Katy school board meeting with a stack of books.
One by one, they took turns at the lectern during public comments. Cuzela implored the board to audit all of the district’s library books and get rid of those that are too obscene to be read aloud in public.
“If you are filtering a student’s internet access,” she said, “why are we not filtering the library?”
Minutes later, Jennifer Adler, a mother of five, held up a copy of “Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts),” by L.C. Rosen, for the board to see. Adler explained that the book is about a character named Jack, who writes a teen sex advice column for an online site. Then she began reading.
“‘I wonder how he does it … how he gets all that D?’” Adler said, reading the first in a series of explicit excerpts referring to anal and oral sex.
After ending with a passage that included a detailed description of male genitalia and advice on how to give oral sex, she looked up at the board members, her voice shaking as she spoke.
“I cannot even imagine how I would feel if my child came home with this type of book,” said Adler, whose oldest child is in middle school. “We cannot unread this type of content, and I would like to protect my kids’ hearts and minds from this.”
The audience, packed with parents and community members who shared her concerns, erupted in applause.
‘Taking the matter seriously’
Rosen, the author of “Jack of Hearts,” wasn’t surprised when he heard about the demands to ban his book in Katy. Like other authors whose books have been targeted in recent months, Rosen said parents have been reading passages out of context.
At the time of the book’s release in 2015, the School Library Journal, a magazine that districts rely on to select library books, wrote that the dearth of “sex positive queer literature” made “Jack of Hearts” an “essential addition to library collections that serve teens.”
The sex advice columns written by the book’s protagonist are part of a bigger narrative that’s meant to empower queer teens and help them feel safe talking about their sexuality, Rosen said.
All of the questions answered in Jack’s advice column were submitted by real students, Rosen said. And the author consulted with sex education experts to write Jack’s responses, with the goal of providing LGBTQ teens with practical information that’s often omitted from sex ed classes.
“I think it’s troubling when they can’t distinguish between porn — which is not meant for education — and a book like mine that’s trying to educate teenagers and tell them, ‘It’s OK to have these desires; here’s how to act on them consensually and safely,’” Rosen said.
Cuzela and her allies, who denied that they were specifically targeting LGBTQ content, saw things differently. And so did Katy ISD leaders, according to internal messages obtained by NBC News.
Rather than asking the parents to file formal challenges or forming a committee to review the books they’d read aloud, Darlene Rankin, the district’s director of instructional technology, sent an email the day after the school board meeting directing school staff to immediately remove two titles from all libraries: “Jack of Hearts” and “Forever for a Year,” by B.T. Gottfred.
“If these books are currently checked out to students, you must contact the student in order to have the book returned,” wrote Rankin, who declined an interview request.
In the weeks that followed, Katy parents continued applying pressure, calling on the district not only to audit libraries for vulgar content, but to overhaul the selection process to de-emphasize recommendations from prominent book review journals, arguing that those groups are pushing a liberal agenda.
In early December, Superintendent Ken Gregorski responded to those demands, announcing in a letter to all parents that the district was launching a broad review of its library books to remove any that might be considered “pervasively vulgar.” Gregorski, who declined to be interviewed, invited parents to report other books they want removed and assured them that he would “ensure the district is taking the matter seriously and putting into action the plans that resolve the issues for which we are all concerned.”
In total this school year, according to internal messages, the district has launched reviews into at least 30 library books and so far has deemed nine to be inappropriate for students at any grade level, including five that prominently feature LGBTQ characters. Several other books, including “This Is Your Time,” by the civil rights era icon Ruby Bridges, were deemed inappropriate or too mature for young children and removed from either elementary or middle school libraries.
Most of these reviews were opened without a formal book challenge, records show, even though one is required under Katy ISD’s local policy.
In at least two instances, according to three district employees with knowledge of the review process, senior district administrators have ordered books to be removed from libraries even after review committees examined them and voted to keep them in schools. The district employees spoke to a reporter on the condition of anonymity, worried that they might be disciplined for sharing their concerns publicly.
In response to detailed written questions, Katy ISD spokesperson Maria DiPetta wrote that “the district will have to kindly pass on your request.”
Cuzela said she’s pleased that the district is now taking her concerns seriously and hopes administrators go further. Although she doesn’t believe most librarians are knowingly stocking shelves with “pornographic material,” she agrees with Abbott’s call for criminal charges against any who do, including in Katy.
“We have laws in Texas against providing sexually explicit material to children,” she said. “It’s a law on the books, and if they knowingly are providing this, they need to be advised and investigated.”
Foote, the retired school librarian who’s leading a statewide campaign against book bans, said Katy’s approach is flawed, not only because it lacks transparency and opens the door for additional censorship attempts, but because of the signal it sends.
“You can’t overstate the impact these decisions can have on LGBTQ students and even teachers,” Foote said. “Intentional or not, these bans are sending a message to them about their place in the community.”
On the phone at her high school library, the queer Katy student who worries her parents won’t accept her for who she is said she was outraged when she found out librarians had started removing books — especially “Jack of Hearts.”
“For me, a lot of these books offer hope,” the student said. “I’m going to be going to college soon, and I’m really looking forward to that and the freedom that it offers. Until then, my greatest adventure is going to be through reading.”
Like other library books she’d read that centered on LGBTQ characters, the student said “Jack of Hearts” gave her a sense of validation. The main character, a 17-year-old who isn’t shy about his love for partying, makeup and boys, was a sharp contrast to her own high school experience, constantly on guard against saying or doing anything that might lead to her being outed.
The book, she said, made her feel less alone.
Rosen, the author, has heard similar things from other teenagers. When he gets those messages, he said he usually replies to say that he hopes things will get better.
But then he adds: “I can’t promise that it will.”
From a secluded spot in her high school library, a 17-year-old girl spoke softly into her cellphone, worried that someone might overhear her say the things she’d hidden from her parents for years. They don’t know she’s queer, the student told a reporter, and given their past comments about homosexuality’s being a sin, she’s long feared they would learn her secret if they saw what she reads in the library.
That space, with its endless rows of books about characters from all sorts of backgrounds, has been her “safe haven,” she said — one of the few places where she feels completely free to be herself.
But books, including one of her recent favorites, have been vanishing from the shelves of Katy Independent School District libraries the past few months.
For more on this story, watch NBC’s “Nightly News with Lester Holt” tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT.
Gone: “Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts),” a book she’d read last year about a gay teenager who isn’t shy about discussing his adventurous sex life. Also banished: “The Handsome Girl and Her Beautiful Boy,” “All Boys Aren’t Blue” and “Lawn Boy” — all coming-of-age stories that prominently feature LGBTQ characters and passages about sex. Some titles were removed after parents formally complained, but others were quietly banned by the district without official reviews.
“As I’ve struggled with my own identity as a queer person, it’s been really, really important to me that I have access to these books,” said the girl, whom NBC News is not naming to avoid revealing her sexuality. “And I’m sure it’s really important to other queer kids. You should be able to see yourself reflected on the page.”
Her safe haven is now a battleground in an unprecedented effort by parents and conservative politicians in Texas to ban books dealing with race, sexuality and gender from schools, an NBC News investigation has found. Hundreds of titles have been pulled from libraries across the state for review, sometimes over the objections of school librarians, several of whom told NBC News they face increasingly hostile work environments and mounting pressure to pre-emptively pull books that might draw complaints.
Records requests to nearly 100 school districts in the Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin regions — a small sampling of the state’s 1,250 public school systems — revealed 75 formal requests by parents or community members to ban books from libraries during the first four months of this school year. In comparison, only one library book challenge was filed at those districts during the same time period a year earlier, records show. A handful of the districts reported more challenges this year than in the past two decades combined.
All but a few of the challenges this school year targeted books dealing with racism or sexuality, the majority of them featuring LGBTQ characters and explicit descriptions of sex. Many of the books under fire are newer titles, purchased by school librarians in recent years as part of a nationwide movement to diversify the content available to public school children.https://iframe.nbcnews.com/qT9NUOR?_showcaption=true&app=1
“Why are we sexualizing our precious children?” a Katy parent said at a November school board meeting after she suggested that books about LGBTQ relationships are causing children to improperly question their gender identities and sexual orientations. “Why are our libraries filled with pornography?”
Another parent in Katy, a Houston suburb, asked the district to remove a children’s biography of Michelle Obama, arguing that it promotes “reverse racism” against white people, according to the records obtained by NBC News. A parent in the Dallas suburb of Prosper wanted the school district to ban a children’s picture book about the life of Black Olympian Wilma Rudolph, because it mentions racism that Rudolph faced growing up in Tennessee in the 1940s. In the affluent Eanes Independent School District in Austin, a parent proposed replacing four books about racism, including “How to Be an Antiracist,” by Ibram X. Kendi, with copies of the Bible.
Similar debates are roiling communities across the country, fueled by parents, activists and Republican politicians who have mobilized against school programs and classroom lessons focused on LGBTQ issues and the legacy of racism in America. Last fall, some national groups involved in that effort — including No Left Turn in Education and Moms for Liberty — began circulating lists of school library books that they said were “indoctrinating kids to a dangerous ideology.”
And during his successful bid for governor in Virginia, Republican Glenn Youngkin made parents’ opposition to explicit books a central theme in the final stretch of his campaign, leading some GOP strategists to flag the issue as a winning strategy heading into the 2022 midterm elections.
The fight is particularly heated in Texas, where Republican state officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have gone as far as calling for criminal charges against any school staff member who provides children with access to young adult novels that some conservatives have labeled as “pornography.” Separately, state Rep. Matt Krause, a Republican, made a list of 850 titles dealing with racism or sexuality that might “make students feel discomfort” and demanded that Texas school districts investigate whether the books were in their libraries.
A group of Texas school librarians has launched a social media campaign to push back.
“There have always been efforts to censor books, but what we’re seeing right now is frankly unprecedented,” said Carolyn Foote, a retired school librarian in Austin who’s helping lead the #FReadom campaign. “A library is a place of voluntary inquiry. That means when a student walks in, they’re not forced to check out a book that they or their parents find objectionable. But they also don’t have authority to say what books should or shouldn’t be available to other students.”
Carolyn Foote, a retired school librarian, is spearheading a grassroots effort to fight back against book challenges in Texas.NBC News
Ten current or recently retired Texas school librarians who spoke to a reporter described growing fears that they could be attacked by parents on social media or threatened with criminal charges. Some said they’ve quietly removed LGBTQ-affirming books from shelves or declined to purchase new ones to avoid public criticism — raising fears about what free-speech advocates call a wave of “soft censorship” in Texas and across the country.
Five of the librarians said they were thinking about leaving the profession, and one already has. Sarah Chase, a longtime librarian at Carroll Senior High School in Southlake, a Fort Worth suburb, said the acrimony over books contributed to her decision to retire in December, months earlier than she’d planned.
“I’m no saint,” said Chase, 55. “I got out because I was afraid to stand up to the attacks. I didn’t want to get caught in somebody’s snare. Who wants to be called a pornographer? Who wants to be accused of being a pedophile or reported to the police for putting a book in a kid’s hand?”
In interviews and recorded comments at school board meetings, parents who’ve pushed for book removals described doing everything in their power to shield their children from sexually explicit content on the internet, only to discover it’s readily available in school libraries.
“It’s not censoring to guard minors from exposure to adult-themed books,” Kristen Mangus, a parent, said at a meeting in November of the Keller Independent School District Board of Trustees, a suburban district outside Fort Worth that’s fielded dozens of requests to ban books in recent months. “If they choose to check out from the public library with a parent, then so be it. But there is no reason whatsoever to have these books in our schools.”
Some protesting parents have insisted that their opposition is about sexually explicit books, regardless of the races or sexual orientations of the characters. They point out that some of the books being challenged feature heterosexual sex scenes. But in many instances, parents and GOP politicians have flagged books about racism and LGBTQ issues that don’t include explicit language, including some picture books about Black historical figures and transgender children.
Free speech advocates and authors deny that any of the books in question meet the legal definition of pornography. Although some include sexually explicit passages or drawings, those scenes are presented in the context of broader narratives and not for the explicit purpose of sexual stimulation, they said.
“Some parents want to pretend that books are the source of darkness in kids’ lives,” said Ashley Hope Pérez, author of the young adult novel “Out of Darkness,” which has been repeatedly targeted by Texas parents for its depiction of a rape scene and other mature content. “The reality for most kids is that difficulties, challenges, harm, oppression — those are present in their own lives, and books that reflect that reality can help to make them feel less alone.”
Several queer students, meanwhile, said the arguments by some parents, specifically the idea that it’s inappropriate for teenagers to read about LGBTQ sexual relationships, are making them feel unwelcome in their communities.
“Reading books or consuming any kind of media that has LGBTQ representation, it doesn’t turn people gay or make people turn out a certain way,” said Amber Kaul, a 17-year-old bisexual student in Katy. “I think reading those books helps kids realize that the feelings that they’ve already had are valid and OK, and I think that’s what a lot of these parents are opposed to.”
A teacher at the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake hung caution tape over bookshelves in October to protest efforts to remove “controversial” books.Obtained by NBC News
‘Short-circuiting’ the process
This fall wasn’t the first time Texas parents packed school board meeting rooms to complain about the corrupting influence of books.
Every year for nearly two decades beginning in the late 1990s, the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union surveyed every public and charter school in Texas to document attempts to ban library books. The annual reports paint a picture of past censorship movements, and make clear that the volume of challenges now hitting schools is unlike anything previously recorded in the state.
In the early 2000s, a conservative backlash to the Harry Potter book series, which some Christian leaders condemned as a satanic depiction of witchcraft, fueled a surge of book banning attempts in Texas, according to the ACLU data. But even at the peak of that wave, the Texas ACLU never documented more than 151 school library book challenges in one year. About half that many were documented in just the first four months of the 2021 school year at only a small sampling of Texas school districts, according to the records obtained by NBC News.
During the 2018-19 school year, the last time the ACLU conducted the censorship survey, Texas schools reported only 17 library book challenges statewide. Twice as many have been filed so far this school year at Keller ISD alone.
“I’ve been doing this work for 20 years, and I’ve never seen the volume of challenges that we’re seeing right now,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association, which tracks attempts to ban library books nationwide.
Caldwell-Stone said the number of Texas book challenges documented in the records obtained by NBC News likely represents a vast undercount, because it doesn’t account for books that are being removed from shelves based on verbal complaints at board meetings or parent emails, often in violation of school district policies.
In response to past censorship movements, the American Library Association developed guidelines for schools to prevent the sudden and arbitrary removal of books. Under the guidelines, which have been adopted by most large districts in Texas and nationally, parents are asked to fill out forms explaining why they believe a book should be banned. Then a committee of school employees and community volunteers reviews the book in its entirety and determines whether it meets district standards, keeping in mind that a parent’s ability to control what students can read “extends only to his or her own child,” according to language included in most district policies.
A challenged book is supposed to remain on shelves and available to students while the committee deliberates, and the final decision should be made public, Caldwell-Stone said.
“What we’re seeing these days is a short-circuiting of that process, despite the fact that school boards often do have these reconsideration policies on their own books,” she said. “They’re ignoring them to respond to the controversy and the moral panics that they’re getting targeted with at school board meetings, and books are being abruptly removed.”
A photo taken by a teacher shows a cart full of books as they were being removed from a North East ISD library in December.Obtained by NBC News
That scenario has been repeated at several Texas school districts in recent months, NBC News found. In December, the Denton Independent School District near Dallas made headlineswhen administrators pulled down a copy of “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” a memoir by queer Black author George M. Johnson, after learning that parents in neighboring towns had concerns about it. A district spokesperson, Julie Zwahr, said school officials are now reviewing a total of 11 library books to determine whether they are “pervasively vulgar,” even though the district has received only one formal book challenge this school year. The North East Independent School District in San Antonio hadn’t received any library book challenges from parents as of December, according to records provided to NBC News. But that month, administrators directed librarians to box up more than 400 titlesdealing with race, sexuality and gender.
At a subsequent school board meeting, North East leaders said that they had pulled the books for review after Krause, the Republican lawmaker, distributed his list of 850 titles that he said violate new state laws governing how sex and race are addressed in Texas classrooms. North East spokesperson Aubrey Chancellor did not respond to a reporter’s request for comment, but told the Texas Tribune in December that the district asked staff to review books on Krause’s list “to ensure they did not have any obscene or vulgar material in them.”
A photo taken by a student in Granbury, Texas, shows men hauling away boxes of library books labeled “Krause’s List,” in reference to the 850 titles that state Rep. Matt Krause wants removed from schools.Obtained by NBC News
“For us, this is not about politics or censorship, but rather about ensuring that parents choose what is appropriate for their minor children,” she said then.
In another instance, the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, responding to an NBC News public records request, reported that it had received zero library book challenges in 2021. But emails reviewed by a reporter show that a parent had complained informally in August to a Carroll administrator and two school board members about the book, “Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out,” by Susan Kuklin.
“There is extreme sexual content in that book that isn’t even appropriate for me to put in an email,” the parent wrote.https://iframe.nbcnews.com/bExjHrx?_showcaption=true
Rather than requiring the mom to fill out a form to initiate the district’s formal library review process, Chase, the recently retired Carroll librarian, said an administrator shared the email with her and another librarian, and in order to avoid conflict, they agreed to remove the book from high school shelves.
“I hate that we did this, because we didn’t go through the formal review ourselves,” Chase said. “I think a lot of librarians are making decisions out of fear, and that puts us in a position of self-censorship.”
Book fight spreads from Virginia to Texas
Mary Ellen Cuzela, a mother of three in Katy, a sprawling and booming suburb outside Houston, had never thought much about what library books her kids might have access to at school. But in September, she heard then-candidate Youngkin mention a Virginia school district’s fight over “sexually explicit material in the library” during his campaign for governor against Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
Curious, Cuzela searched the Katy Independent School District’s catalog and was surprised to find that one of the books at the center of the Virginia fight, “Lawn Boy,” by Jonathan Evison, was available at her children’s high school.
Cuzela picked up a copy from the public library and “was absolutely amazed” by what she read, she said. The book, which traces the story of a Mexican American character’s journey to understanding his own sexuality and ethnic identity, was “filled with vulgarity,” Cuzela said, including dozens of four-letter words, explicit sexual references and a description of oral sex between fourth-grade boys during a church youth group meeting.
“I don’t care whether you’re straight, gay, transgender, gender fluid, any race,” she said. “That book had it all and was degrading for all kinds of people.”
She soon discovered that several other young adult books that had been targeted in Virginia and other Texas districts were available at Katy ISD. Cuzela shared her findings with some “like-minded parents,” and together they set out to get administrators to do something.
The school system, a diverse district of nearly 85,000 students, had already made national headlines that fall when administrators temporarily removed copies of “New Kid” and “Class Act” by Jerry Craft from school libraries after parents complained that the graphic novels, about Black seventh graders at a mostly white school, would indoctrinate students of color with a “victim mentality” and make some kids feel guilty for being white.
But Cuzela said she and her friends were having a hard time getting Katy administrators to take their concerns about sexually explicit books seriously. So they hatched a plan, and on Nov. 15, she and five other moms showed up at a Katy school board meeting with a stack of books.
One by one, they took turns at the lectern during public comments. Cuzela implored the board to audit all of the district’s library books and get rid of those that are too obscene to be read aloud in public.
“If you are filtering a student’s internet access,” she said, “why are we not filtering the library?”
Minutes later, Jennifer Adler, a mother of five, held up a copy of “Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts),” by L.C. Rosen, for the board to see. Adler explained that the book is about a character named Jack, who writes a teen sex advice column for an online site. Then she began reading.
“‘I wonder how he does it … how he gets all that D?’” Adler said, reading the first in a series of explicit excerpts referring to anal and oral sex.
After ending with a passage that included a detailed description of male genitalia and advice on how to give oral sex, she looked up at the board members, her voice shaking as she spoke.
“I cannot even imagine how I would feel if my child came home with this type of book,” said Adler, whose oldest child is in middle school. “We cannot unread this type of content, and I would like to protect my kids’ hearts and minds from this.”
The audience, packed with parents and community members who shared her concerns, erupted in applause.
‘Taking the matter seriously’
Rosen, the author of “Jack of Hearts,” wasn’t surprised when he heard about the demands to ban his book in Katy. Like other authors whose books have been targeted in recent months, Rosen said parents have been reading passages out of context.
At the time of the book’s release in 2015, the School Library Journal, a magazine that districts rely on to select library books, wrote that the dearth of “sex positive queer literature” made “Jack of Hearts” an “essential addition to library collections that serve teens.”
The sex advice columns written by the book’s protagonist are part of a bigger narrative that’s meant to empower queer teens and help them feel safe talking about their sexuality, Rosen said.
All of the questions answered in Jack’s advice column were submitted by real students, Rosen said. And the author consulted with sex education experts to write Jack’s responses, with the goal of providing LGBTQ teens with practical information that’s often omitted from sex ed classes.
“I think it’s troubling when they can’t distinguish between porn — which is not meant for education — and a book like mine that’s trying to educate teenagers and tell them, ‘It’s OK to have these desires; here’s how to act on them consensually and safely,’” Rosen said.
Cuzela and her allies, who denied that they were specifically targeting LGBTQ content, saw things differently. And so did Katy ISD leaders, according to internal messages obtained by NBC News.
Rather than asking the parents to file formal challenges or forming a committee to review the books they’d read aloud, Darlene Rankin, the district’s director of instructional technology, sent an email the day after the school board meeting directing school staff to immediately remove two titles from all libraries: “Jack of Hearts” and “Forever for a Year,” by B.T. Gottfred.
“If these books are currently checked out to students, you must contact the student in order to have the book returned,” wrote Rankin, who declined an interview request.
In the weeks that followed, Katy parents continued applying pressure, calling on the district not only to audit libraries for vulgar content, but to overhaul the selection process to de-emphasize recommendations from prominent book review journals, arguing that those groups are pushing a liberal agenda.
In early December, Superintendent Ken Gregorski responded to those demands, announcing in a letter to all parents that the district was launching a broad review of its library books to remove any that might be considered “pervasively vulgar.” Gregorski, who declined to be interviewed, invited parents to report other books they want removed and assured them that he would “ensure the district is taking the matter seriously and putting into action the plans that resolve the issues for which we are all concerned.”
In total this school year, according to internal messages, the district has launched reviews into at least 30 library books and so far has deemed nine to be inappropriate for students at any grade level, including five that prominently feature LGBTQ characters. Several other books, including “This Is Your Time,” by the civil rights era icon Ruby Bridges, were deemed inappropriate or too mature for young children and removed from either elementary or middle school libraries.
Most of these reviews were opened without a formal book challenge, records show, even though one is required under Katy ISD’s local policy.
In at least two instances, according to three district employees with knowledge of the review process, senior district administrators have ordered books to be removed from libraries even after review committees examined them and voted to keep them in schools. The district employees spoke to a reporter on the condition of anonymity, worried that they might be disciplined for sharing their concerns publicly.
In response to detailed written questions, Katy ISD spokesperson Maria DiPetta wrote that “the district will have to kindly pass on your request.”
Cuzela said she’s pleased that the district is now taking her concerns seriously and hopes administrators go further. Although she doesn’t believe most librarians are knowingly stocking shelves with “pornographic material,” she agrees with Abbott’s call for criminal charges against any who do, including in Katy.
“We have laws in Texas against providing sexually explicit material to children,” she said. “It’s a law on the books, and if they knowingly are providing this, they need to be advised and investigated.”
Foote, the retired school librarian who’s leading a statewide campaign against book bans, said Katy’s approach is flawed, not only because it lacks transparency and opens the door for additional censorship attempts, but because of the signal it sends.
“You can’t overstate the impact these decisions can have on LGBTQ students and even teachers,” Foote said. “Intentional or not, these bans are sending a message to them about their place in the community.”
On the phone at her high school library, the queer Katy student who worries her parents won’t accept her for who she is said she was outraged when she found out librarians had started removing books — especially “Jack of Hearts.”
“For me, a lot of these books offer hope,” the student said. “I’m going to be going to college soon, and I’m really looking forward to that and the freedom that it offers. Until then, my greatest adventure is going to be through reading.”
Like other library books she’d read that centered on LGBTQ characters, the student said “Jack of Hearts” gave her a sense of validation. The main character, a 17-year-old who isn’t shy about his love for partying, makeup and boys, was a sharp contrast to her own high school experience, constantly on guard against saying or doing anything that might lead to her being outed.
The book, she said, made her feel less alone.
Rosen, the author, has heard similar things from other teenagers. When he gets those messages, he said he usually replies to say that he hopes things will get better.
San Francisco Pride is reimagining what Pride itself means to our communities. While nothing could ever — ever! — cancel Pride in the queerest, most inclusive city in America, we know it has been a long time since we all gathered along Market Street and at Civic Center. As we prepare for our return to a “traditional” San Francisco Pride, we are examining every element of Pride Weekend to ensure that 2022’s experience is our best yet. From community stage programming to partnerships, we’re working hard to make you feel represented, valued, and seen.
SF Pride 2022 and Public Health We know that our communities are concerned about the spread of the omicron variant. We also know that people are mourning the passing of LGBTQ+ icons like Betty White and Andre Leon Talley, losses that hit us harder than usual after two years of nonstop loss, false starts, and disappointments. The safety and wellbeing of our communities — LGBTQ+ people of the Bay Area residents, visitors to San Francisco, allies, everyone — have guided our actions since Day One. We are focused on making #SFPride2022 the safest and most welcoming event in our history.
Help Us Make Pride 2022 the Best It Can Be Now that New Year’s is behind is, we’re actively looking for sponsors to support the work of SF Pride. These corporate partnerships allow us to build the extensive infrastructure of our large event, and help us share funds with nonprofits that directly serve our communities, via our Community Affiliates Program. To get your organization involved in Pride 2022 — or simply to see our criteria for who we choose to work with and why — go to sfpride.org/partners.
Thank You to Everyone Who Submitted Nominations for Community Grand Marshals! We have to play coy on the names just yet (sorry not sorry) but we’re aiming to release the public ballot in early February — and then members of the general public will have your chance to select who we bestow this honor to. Later, in March, SF Pride members in good standing will conduct a separate vote to make their choice, and then our Board of Directors will make one final selection of its own. The full slate of 2022 Community Grand Marshals will be announced at our membership meeting on Wednesday, April 13, at 7 p.m.
A new California law requires public colleges to update diplomas and records for transgender students who have changed their names.
The new law, which took effect on Jan. 1, requires the state’s public colleges to update records for students who have legally changed their names. It also allows graduates to request an updated copy of their diploma at no cost to them.
Then, starting with the 2023-24 class, it will require institutions to allow students to self-identify their names on diplomas, even without legal documentation of a name change. (The legislation does not specifically require colleges to let students self-identify their names on educational records besides diplomas without legally changing their name. It also does not affect how people are identified on legal documents used for tax, immigration status and other purposes.)
California is the first state to enact such a law. A previous version failed in the Legislature in 2020.
The right to self-identify one’s name on a college diploma helps protect transgender and gender non-conforming students, advocates say. Research shows that transgender people are at higher risk of discrimination and violence.
More than one in four trans people has experienced a “bias-driven assault”, with rates even higher for trans women and trans people of color, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Academic records listing a student’s name and gender as assigned at birth could potentially “out” that student’s identity, which can put them at a significant disadvantage when seeking housing and employment, said David Chiu, who authored the bill while representing San Francisco in the state Assembly. Chiu, now the San Francisco city attorney, said he was asked by Equality California and other transgender activist groups to draft the bill.
A “shocking and offensive” report from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has shown that Metropolitan Police officers engaged horrific bullying and harassment, including calling each other “f**king gay” and threatening to “hate f**k” each other.
In 2018, the IOPC investigation initially “focused on teams formed to tackle crime and disorder in the Westminster area”, but was expanded when further officers came forward. It eventually expanded to nine investigations, linked to become Operation Hotton.
Investigators “reviewed thousands of messages exchanged by officers, including many which were highly sexualised, discriminatory or referred to violence”, and which were “generally described as banter by officers”.
An Operation Hotton learning report, published Tuesday (1 February), has revealed the extent of the discrimination, misogyny, homophobia and racism that officers took part in.
IOPC regional director Sal Naseem said: “The learning report we are publishing today is shocking and contains language which is offensive – and some may find it upsetting.
“However, we felt it was important to provide the context for the public, the Met and other forces, for why such hard hitting recommendations are necessary.”
Metropolitan Police officers dismissed homophobic, racist, misogynist and violent comments as ‘banter’
The investigation found “pervasive evidence” of bullying and harassment within the Metropolitan Police Force (MPS), “involving officers predominantly working in teams based at Charing Cross Police Station”.
The report found evidence of “demeaning and intimidating actions” towards new officers still on probation “such as beckoning them with a bell, and threats to cut their hair and belongings”, as well as other “officers being shouted at by supervisors, and women being sexually harassed or treated as a ‘weary female’ when speaking out about the behaviours of male colleagues”.
“Malicious comments were a frequent part of the bullying,” the report found, but discriminatory, sexualised or violent comments were often dismissed as “laddish banter”.
Examples of “banter” highlighted in the report included officers sending homophobic comments to each other such as “you f**king gay” and “f**k you bender”, as well as a male officer threatening to “rape”, “chloroform” and “hate f**k” a female officer.
In a WhatsApp group involving 17 police officers, messages were sent “about police officers attending a festival dressed as known sex offenders and a molested child”, as well as further comments about “rape” and “raping” each other.
Other messages included referring to Somalian people as “rats”, Black people as “robbers” and disabled people as “spastics” and “retards”.
One message from a Metropolitan Police officer read: “My dad kidnapped some African children and used them to make dog food.”
Multiple messages were discovered that bragged about domestic violence, with one officer writing: “You ever slapped your missus? It makes them love you more.
“Seriously since I did that she won’t leave me alone. Now I know why these daft c**ts are getting murdered by their spastic boyfriends.
“Knock a bird about and she will love you. Human nature. They are biologically programmed to like that s**t.”
According to the IOPC, during the investigation two officers were dismissed for gross misconduct and barred from future employment with the police, four officers attended misconduct meetings and a fifth would have done the same had they not resigned first, two officers received management action and another officer received practice requiring improvement.
The incidents described in the report are ‘not isolated or historic’, said the IOPC
IOPC Regional Director Sal Naseem said: “The behaviour we uncovered was disgraceful and fell well below the standards expected of the officers involved.
“While these officers predominantly worked in teams in Westminster, which have since been disbanded, we know from other recent cases that these issues are not isolated or historic.
While Naseem said he “welcomed” steps taken by the Met to address the issues of discrimination within the force, for example its its Rebuilding Trust plan that focussed on standards, culture and women’s safety, he insisted that “more is required”.
The report sent out 15 recommendations to “tackle underlying cultural issues by preventing environments from developing in which unprofessional and inappropriate behaviour can thrive and go unchallenged”.
The recommendations include for the Metropolitan Police Service to “publicly commit to being an anti-racist organisation with a zero-tolerance policy towards sexism, misogyny, bullying and harassment”.
Naseem added: “Our recommendations focus on the identified cultural issues and aim to ensure that those who work for the force feel safe with their colleagues, and that communities feel safe with those whose job is to protect them.
“The MPS has to enjoy the trust and confidence of its own officers from diverse communities before it can hope to bridge the gap in trust and confidence with the communities it serves.”
Social Security Opens to Survivors of Same-Sex Couples Who Could Not Marry The Social Security Administration now allows lesbians and gay men to receive survivor’s benefits if we can show that we were in a committed relationship and would have married had that been possible. This could be a huge benefit to many LGBTQ seniors! Starting at age 60 — or 50 for those who are disabled — a survivor can either apply for a deceased spouse’s Social Security benefits (if these are higher than the survivor’s, or if the survivor does not have the work history to qualify) or apply for them temporarily and delay claiming their own (allowing their benefit to increase until they reach full retirement age or beyond). More information here.
Coronavirus Updates You can order your free at-home covid tests from the USPS by filling in the form here. Additionally, the Spahr Center has acquired more coronavirus rapid home test kits and they are available for free in the office – 150 Nellen Avenue, Suite 100, Corte Madera 94925; 415/457-2487. The office is open 10 am – 3 pm weekdays. Only vaccinated people may come to the office and masks must be worn inside the building. Any staff person can direct you to the kits. In order to keep track of new infections, the County asks that we report self-test resultshere. To see Marin County’s latest pandemic information, click here. The mask recommendations of the Mask Nerd– an aerosol scientist who studies mask effectiveness – are featured in this article and highly informative video. May we all be safe and well!
UPCOMING EVENTS(more info below) February 8 Birthday Celebration* February 10Who & What Do You Love? February 15 Valentine Social/Game/Conversation* February 17 Death Cafe
Living Room Mondays7 to 8 pm *Social Committee event, registration requiredby emailing them at socialcommittee@comcast.net
To join the Spahr Senior Groupon ZoomMondays, 7 to 8 pm, &Thursdays, 12:30 to 2 pm,click the purple button below the Butterfly Heart or here:
New participants are warmly welcomed!If you’re zoom-challenged, let me know and I’ll work with you!
Topical Thursdays12:30 to 2 pm February 3 The People’s ChoiceWe’ll decide in the moment what’s in our hearts & minds. February 10Who & What Do You Love?Let’s break out of the Valentine’s Day expectation of there being that special someone who answers all our hopes & needs and talk about the many ways love exists in our lives. February 17 Death CafeJoin Patricia Stamm in discussing a topic we may well all have in the back of our minds yet seldom talk about. See flyer and link to more information below.
Living Room Mondays7 to 8 pm We share with each other about how we’re doing and have unstructured conversations focused on listening from our hearts and deepening community.
Community Notices Marin Center for Independent Living recently partnered with a regional home modifications company to provide grab bars for the bathroom, small home repairs and more. This program will help to address the critical health issue of falls prevention among older adults and adults with disabilities. This program is free if your household income is less than $119,680. For more information about this Dignity at Home program or for any other questions, call Tonique McNair at 415/754-3923 or click here.
Are you an LGBTQ senior living in San Anselmo? The Marin County Commission on Aging is seeking a representative from San Anselmo and would welcome a member of our community. The Commission acts as an advocacy group for the interests and needs of the County’s older population and serves as an advisory council to the County Board of Supervisors. The 21 member Commission is comprised of representatives from Marin’s cities, towns, and unincorporated areas. The Commission meets on the second Thursday of the month from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. To apply, please click here.
The Spahr Center’s Food Pantryis open to seniors who need support in meeting their nutrition needs. We want to help! Items such as fresh meats, eggs and dairy, prepared meals, pasta, sauces, and canned goods are delivered weekly to people who sign up. Contact The Spahr Center for more information: info@thespahrcenter.org or 415/457-2487
The Social Committee has been consistently offering fun events to offset the boredom of the pandemic. They want to help celebrate your birthday if you’ll let them know when it is. Everyone born in any month will be celebrated on the second Tuesday of that month – including your birthday if you’ll let them know when it rolls around! February’s events are back on zoom. The Birthday Celebration takes place at 4 pm on February 8 and the Valentine’s Day Social/Game/Conversation is at 4 pm on February 15. They will resume in-person events as soon as the pandemic allows. To sign up for their emails or register for events, clickhere.
Vivalon Resources for Seniors Whistlestop, now renamed Vivalon, offers many resources for us seniors, now listed in this easy-to-print one-page guide. Access to rides, food, classes, activities, resources, referrals, and more. Membership not required for most classes and services during the pandemic. Some in-person events are being planned. To get Vivalon’s listings, click here. They also provide access to resources including rides for older adults. Please note: there is a 3-week registration process for the ride program so register now if you think you may need rides in the future. Click here for their website.
Building Community in the Midst of Sheltering-in-PlaceSee old friends and make new ones! Join us!The Spahr Center’s LGBT Senior Discussion Groupscontinue everyMonday, 7 to 8 pm& Thursday, 12:30 to 2 pm on zoom
To Join Group by Video using Computer, Smart Phone or TabletJust click this button at the start time, 6:55 pm Mondays / 12:25 pm Thursdays:Join GroupAlways the same link! Try it, it’s easy!
To Join Group by Phone CallIf you don’t have internet connections or prefer joining by phone,call the following number at the start time,6:55 pm Mondays / 12:25 pm Thursdays:1-669-900-6833The Meeting id is 820 7368 6606#(no participant id required)The password, if requested, is 135296# If you want to be called into the group by phone, notify Bill Blackburn at 415/450-5339
California Department of Aging ResourcesThe CDA has a website that is packed with information and resources relevant to the lives of seniors in our state. From Covid-19 updates to more general care for age-related health issues, access to legal assistance to getting home-delivered meals to help with housing, you may well find answers to your questions by clicking: here.
Adult and Aging Service’s Information and Assistance Line, providing information and referrals to the full range of services available to older adults, adults with disabilities and their family caregivers, has a new phone number and email address: 415/473-INFO (4636) 8:30 am to 4:30 pm weekdays473INFO@marincounty.org
Questions? Assistance? We have resources and volunteers for:grocery deliveryfood assistancehelp with technology issues such as using zoomproviding weekly comfort calls to check in on youplus more!
The percentage of Americans who say they are satisfied with the acceptance of gay and lesbian people in the country has reached a new peak at 62%, according to a poll released Wednesday. Gallup’s annual Mood of the Nation poll asks people about their satisfaction with aspects of U.S. life and policy areas, ranging from the overall quality of life to the nation’s military strength and environmental issues.
In 2022, 62% of survey respondents said they are very or somewhat satisfied with the acceptance of gays and lesbians in the nation, up from 55% in 2021 and 56% in 2020. Jeff Jones, a senior editor at Gallup, told USA TODAY that the question shows whether gay and lesbian people are “being considered not an outsider group but a normal, mainstream group of people in the U.S.”
Read the full article. Perhaps notably, Gallup’s wording of the question specifies “gays and lesbians” – and not the more inclusive LGBTQs.
Sometimes, when the news comes on your screen, you think: this must be from Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update. Until, a few seconds in, you realize: this isn’t satire, it’s all too real.
That’s how I felt when I heard about the Stop W.O.K.E Act. I’m not making this up or satirizing the news. I wouldn’t even try to be like the fabulous Samantha Bee.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has introduced the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act (a.k.a. the Stop W.O.K.E Act) to the Florida Legislature.
DeSantis, like many Republican politicos nationwide, including Virginia’s new governor Glenn Youngkin, is a good culture warrior.
Months ago, Florida, like some other states, banned the teaching of critical race theory. Earlier this month, for instance, Virginia Gov. Youngkin in his first week in office issued an executive order prohibiting the teaching of “inherently divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory.”
Never mind that critical race theory hasn’t been taught in our country’s elementary, middle, or high schools. It’s a theory taught to graduate students. It says that historically laws and policies have created systemic racism.
But that wasn’t not good enough for DeSantis. The Stop W.O.K.E. Act would take things even further. If passed, the legislation, “will give businesses, employees, children and families tools to fight back against woke indoctrination,” said a DeSantis office press release.
“The Stop W.O.K.E. Act will be the strongest legislation of its kind in the nation,” the press release said, “and will take on both corporate wokeness and Critical Race Theory.”
DeSantis wants us to believe that he’s on the side of the angels – that he wants to make the world more just. To prove how righteous he is, DeSantis talked about the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Washington Post reported. “You think about what MILK stood for,” he told an audience in Wildwood, Fla. “He said he didn’t want people judged on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character.”
“You listen to some of these people nowadays,” DeSantis said, “they don’t talk about that.”
It’s horrifying and enraging to hear DeSantis quote the words of King, a civil rights icon who inspired many to work for racial justice. DeSantis was using King’s work as part of a culture war against everything King stood for.
“I was right about ‘The Politics of the English Language,’” George Orwell, the author of “1984” who taught us about “Newspeak,” is saying to himself, “this is more Orwellian than even I would have imagined.”
Unfortunately, if passed, the Stop W.O.K.E. Act, would have even more draconian consequences than polluting the language. DeSantis has decided to follow the example of the Texas abortion law, which allows private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion.
If enacted into law, the Stop W.O.K.E. Act would give parents or other private citizens the right to sue if they think critical race theory is being taught in schools or workplaces.
This should set off alarm bells for everyone, Black, white, hetero, LGBTQ+ — from parents to teachers to authors to students.
It’s fine for parents to complain to teachers or school boards. Or for employees to seek redress from their supervisors or human resources departments.
But do we want private citizens to enforce the law? What would it be like to have to worry whether about your neighbor or co-worker would sue you if they felt you were espousing critical race theory?
If you’re LGBTQ, you should be especially concerned.
In plain, non-Orwellian English: Republican politicos know that some folks don’t want to learn about our country’s history of racism or about LGBTQ sexuality, gender identity, culture and history.
We can’t afford to throw up our hands on this.
Let’s do all we can to prevent the erasure of racism and LGBTQ culture from the teaching of our country’s history.
A new highly-infectious and damaging strain of HIV, resulting from a mutation in the virus, has been discovered in the Netherlands.
Scientists working on the BEEHIVE project, a study of HIV genomics and virulence across Europe and Uganda, published their findings in the journal Science on Thursday (3 February).
According to UNAIDS, 38 million people around the world are currently living with the most prominent strain of the virus, HIV-1, and it has caused, to date, around 33 million deaths. HIV-2 is the other most prominent type of HIV, and is most commonly seen in West Africa.
The newly discovered mutation, a subtype of HIV-1, has been named “virulent subtype B” or the “VB variant”, and it showed “significant differences before antiretroviral treatment compared with individuals infected with other HIV variants”.
Measuring the viral load, or level of virus in the blood, of those with the VB variant, scientists found that it was between 3.5 and 5.5 times higher than those with other variants of HIV.
The new strain also damaged the immune system twice as fast, “placing them at risk of developing AIDS much more rapidly”, and those with the VB variant were at a higher risk of transmitting the virus to others.
Thankfully, scientists found that after starting treatment, “individuals with the VB variant had similar immune system recovery and survival to individuals with other HIV variants”.
But they emphasised the need to get tested often for early diagnosis, because of the rapid progression of the variant.
Lead study author Dr Chris Wymant, from the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute and Nuffield Department of Medicine, said: “Before this study, the genetics of the HIV virus were known to be relevant for virulence, implying that the evolution of a new variant could change its impact on health.
“Discovery of the VB variant demonstrated this, providing a rare example of the risk posed by viral virulence evolution.”
Senior author professor Christophe Fraser, of the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute and Nuffield Department of Medicine, added: “Our findings emphasise the importance of World Health Organization guidance that individuals at risk of acquiring HIV have access to regular testing to allow early diagnosis, followed by immediate treatment.
“This limits the amount of time HIV can damage an individual’s immune system and jeopardise their health.
“It also ensures that HIV is suppressed as quickly as possible, which prevents transmission to other individuals.”
According to the Terrence Higgins Trust, one in 20 people with HIV are unaware they have it, which increases the risk of damage to the immune system, and of passing it on to sexual partners.
Stephen Balch, a former professor who also has opposed the 2015 Supreme Court ruling overturning state bans on same-sex marriage, is a content adviser for the revision of the standards that will guide social studies courses from kindergarten through 12th grade.
The Texas Freedom Network, a liberal group promoting religious freedom and education, is calling on the State Board of Education to withdraw Balch’s appointment, citing his writings calling the 2020 election a “literal coup,” among other things.
The group also pointed to Balch’s support of a letter urging officials to disregard the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling against bans on same-sex marriage as an example of another “attack on our constitutional system of government”.
