| Dear Friend, A school board is on the verge of forcing teachers to out their students to their parents if a student begins going by a different name or pronoun.(1) You’d think this school board is in Texas or Florida, but no. It’s Orange Unified School District in California. Extremist policies targeting LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities are gaining ground in California, driven by hate groups like Moms for Liberty, but there has not been a unified progressive effort to push back. That changes now. Courage California is leading the fight to stop them, and we’re launching a brand new initiative to call out these hate groups for the harm they do to our children. Will you donate to Courage California and stop the extremist takeover of our schools?
Moms for Liberty was designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its extremist vitriol.(2) Their playbook includes banning books that discuss LGBTQ+ or BIPOC issues, blocking trans athletes from playing sports, and preventing everything from sex ed to the history of slavery from being taught in classrooms. Moms for Liberty is funded by a handful of right-wing political families, but its reach is growing every day. California has more than two dozen chapters, including in Los Angeles and San Diego.(3) And slowly but surely, these extremists are making gains in our state:(4)
Forceable outings literally put lives at risk, considering that 80% of trans kids are abused or neglected by a family member.(5) As one student in San Ramon Unified School District said, “I hear ignorant adults telling me that I don’t know what I’m talking about when I talk about my own feelings. It might not seem like it hurts us, but it does. It hurts us badly.”(6) So far, the right wing has been lockstep in their extremism, but progressives haven’t had a cohesive plan to stop them. That’s why Courage California is convening groups from across the state this week to hear from school boards who have fought back these attacks on LGBTQ+ and BIPOC students so we can get on the same page about stopping them. And we are devoting significant resources to educating the public about the harms Moms for Liberty and groups like it are doing, as well as helping to organize people to stop them in their own districts. We must act now to stop these extremists. Will you donate today? Thank you for standing with us! –Irene, along with Angela, Annie, Isidra, Jen, Sheena, and Lindsay (the Courage team)
PS: Courage California is fighting for equity and justice across the state and country. Will you become a monthly donor and help sustain our work? Donations go to support all of Courage California's work for a more progressive California and country. Follow us now on Facebook or Twitter! Footnotes:  |
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