Daniel Villarreal

About one-third of the 1,586 books banned from schools nationwide have LGBTQ themes and characters, according to a report from the free-speech organization PEN America. The bans have largely come from Republican politicians, conservative school boards and so-called “parents’ rights” groups that have opposed such content as “woke” “indoctrination” that’s “inappropriate” for school children. For their report, PEN America examined publicly noted book bans occurring from the start of July 2021 to the end of March 2022. During that time, school districts banned 379 LGBTQ titles, including 84 that deal with transgender topics and characters. Four of the most frequently banned […]

In order to defend Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, and others like it being introduced across the country, some rightwing media figures are stating that all male teachers are likely pedophiles. On Sunday night, David Mamet, a 74-year-old Pulitzer prize-winning playwright who is also a male teacher of playwriting, told Fox News host Mark Levin, “What we have is kids being — not only indoctrinated — but groomed in a very real sense, by people who are, whether they know it or not, sexual predators.” Related: Florida teen goes viral for defying Don’t Say Gay law & teaching class about Stonewall […]