A conservative radio host is accusing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton of attempting to indoctrinate American schoolchildren into supporting sexual deviancy through her plan to stop bullying in schools.
Linda Harvey, writing in a column for the anti-gay activist Matt Barber’s website BarbWire, primarily takes issue with Clinton’s inclusion of protections for LGBT students in her anti-bullying plan. She accuses Clinton of attempting to “firmly plant homosexuality and gender confusion as fully accepted behaviors even among grade school children,” adding that such promoting such ideas amounts to “institutional child abuse.”
Clinton’s “Better than Bullying” program, which would cost $500 million, calls upon schools to develop comprehensive anti-bullying policies, including those that address cyberbullying, to expand behavioral health prevention and intervention programming, and to provide support for educators to foster a more inclusive school climate. States would receive grants and matching funds if they complied with those requirements.
Harvey bemoans that Clinton seeks to enforce part of her plan through the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights by having the office crack down on Title IX violations where transgender children are denied access to restrooms or locker rooms that are inconsistent with their gender identity. Those that continue to engage in anti-trans discrimination could lose federal funding as a result.
“These are…children designed like all others as male or female heterosexuals, who are sadly tempted to use their bodies in ways adults and schools should universally discourage,” Harvey writes about LGBT students. “There is nothing positive about homosexual behavior or gender pretense, and this is the position schools should always take for the long-term well-being of students.
“Under Hillary’s plan, Congress would pass the ‘Safe Schools Improvement Act.’ Sounds positive, until one realizes it would be a school ‘anti-bullying’ law to protect homosexuality and gender-switching as behavioral rights in schools,” she adds. “This is what a Hillary presidency will spend its time on. There’s an easy solution, however. Elect a more conservative candidate — Donald Trump.”
Voters in Huntington Beach, California, a Los Angeles exurb in Orange County, approved a measure last week to ban the Pride flag and any other non-governmental banners on city property. The move is part of a larger right-wing push against LGBTQ visibility.
While only 31% of registered voters showed up at the polls in this year's presidential primary, the primary ballot also featured Measure B, which sought to limit the types of flags displayed on government property. Nearly 58% of those voters endorsed the measure, according to county election results.
Moving forward, any flag representing a political or social cause, such as breast cancer awareness, a specific religion, or a specific community -- such as the LGBTQ community -- will not be permitted to fly on city-owned flagpoles.
Former Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner expressed support for a conservative New York County's policy banning transgender female athletes from using county-owned facilities.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman instituted the ban via executive order last month.
Under it, any sports teams designated specifically for female athletes with transgender team members are prevented from competing or practicing at Nassau's 100-plus county facilities. This includes all ballfields, basketball and tennis courts, swimming pools, and ice rinks.
Blakeman argued that allowing trans females to compete against cisgender female athletes is unfair and potentially dangerous, due to the biological and physiological differences that favor transgender athletes in any match-up.
"I love that you think I have more than one home," laughs Wilson Cruz, settling in at his New York apartment for what will ultimately become a wide-ranging, two-hour Zoom interview. "I am a journeyman actor who has been cobbling together a career for 30 years. That's what I am."
Truth is, Wilson Cruz is much more than that. This is the third time Cruz has been featured on a Metro Weekly cover, and he ensures that a conversation with him feels familiar, like time spent with a best friend. Talking with him is also somewhat of a unique event -- spirited, unbridled, utterly free of artifice. He is warm. He is welcoming. He is wise.
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