An Oklahoma school board member is citing the First Amendment to shield himself from criticism after sharing a profanity-laden TikTok video attacking parents of transgender children.
Andy McGuire, a board member for Velma-Alma Public Schools in Stephens County, Oklahoma, billed the video, a copy of which was obtained by The Oklahomannewspaper, as a “public service announcement.”
Posting under the handle @savagegent77, McGuire said in the video that he was speaking to parents who think it’s “okay for your child to decide if they want to be a girl or a boy or whatever other ridiculous-[expletive] pronoun you can come up with.”
“It’s going to be a shock, I understand, there are only two genders,” McGuire continued. “Let me repeat, there are only two genders.
“So if in your sick, twisted mind you’ve got some other thought process going on about girls and boys, do us all a favor, find the busiest street that you can find, take your ass out, lay down on the center line and do the world a favor.”
Velma-Alma Superintendent Raymond Rice told The Duncan Bannerthat McGuire’s comments have no affiliation with the district, but refused to comment further on the matter.
“I’m not going to speak to it — that particular board member is a private individual and was not representing Velma-Alma Public Schools and he wasn’t speaking on our behalf,” Rice said. “He is protected by the First Amendment. Other than that, I will not speak about it.”
When asked by reporters if the issue might arise at a future school board meeting, Rice again refused to comment further on the incident.
McGuire confirmed to the Banner via Facebook Messenger that he was the man in the video, and that he posted the video to his TikTok last week. He said the comments were not made on behalf of the school district, and said the video is protected under his constitutional right to free speech.
“First of all, I am a private citizen/individual and in no way, shape or form do I speak for or on behalf of Velma-Alma Public Schools,” McGuire said. “The things I share on my personal social media accounts are just that … personal. I’m thankful to live in a country where my freedom of speech is protected by the First Amendment.”
Oklahoma has recently been in the news for its approach to cultural issues, which are front and center as school board meetings around the country have become battlegrounds over how — if at all — school districts should address issues of race, sexuality, and gender, as well as the content of or curriculum materials for history and English-language arts classes.
A bill introduced in the state legislature this year would allow parents to ban books with “sexual content,” which some people fear will be interpreted or implemented in a way that leads to bans on books containing LGBTQ characters or content, even if that content is incidental and not crucial to the plot.
Last year, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) ordered the Oklahoma Health Department to stop issuing nonbinary birth certificates after the State Health Department issued a birth certificate with a nonbinary gender marker in response to a lawsuit. Oklahoma Republicans threw a tantrum after the birth certificate was issued, arguing that birth certificates are intended to reflect vital statistics, and should not be amended to include a gender that does not match a person’s assigned sex at birth.
New York PBS affiliate WNET has removed three educational episodes addressing transgender identity and drag expression from its archives, following threats from congressional conservatives and the Trump administration to defund public broadcasting.
One targeted program was a 2021 episode of the educational series Let’s Learn, titled “The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish.” The episode featured drag queen and children’s author Lil Miss Hot Mess reading from her book of the same name—a playful take on the classic nursery rhyme “The Wheels on the Bus.”
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a directive from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that prohibits transgender and nonbinary individuals from obtaining passports reflecting their gender identities.
Rubio's directive, issued in January, had instructed State Department staff to freeze all applications for passports with "X" gender markers or applications requesting changes to gender markers on existing passports.
Rubio also directed his subordinate to enforce a section of the Immigration and Nationalist Act that allows the United States to refuse entry to any visa applicant who commits identity fraud or misrepresents who they are, with particular focus on transgender athletes from foreign countries.
The ruling in Tennessee’s gender-affirming care case could unravel key legal wins for transgender Americans as lower courts are told to take another look.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered lower federal courts to revisit pro-transgender rulings after siding with Tennessee in a 6-3 decision upholding the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
In its June 30 ruling, the Court found the law did not discriminate based on sex or transgender status -- and while it did not address other laws affecting transgender Americans, it opened the door for states to impose even broader restrictions on transgender rights and legal protections.
As reported by CNN, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Amy Coney Barrett wrote in concurring opinions that courts should not be required to closely scrutinize laws alleged to discriminate against transgender people.
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An Oklahoma school board member is citing the First Amendment to shield himself from criticism after sharing a profanity-laden TikTok video attacking parents of transgender children.
Andy McGuire, a board member for Velma-Alma Public Schools in Stephens County, Oklahoma, billed the video, a copy of which was obtained by The Oklahoman newspaper, as a “public service announcement.”
Posting under the handle @savagegent77, McGuire said in the video that he was speaking to parents who think it’s “okay for your child to decide if they want to be a girl or a boy or whatever other ridiculous-[expletive] pronoun you can come up with.”
“It’s going to be a shock, I understand, there are only two genders,” McGuire continued. “Let me repeat, there are only two genders.
“So if in your sick, twisted mind you’ve got some other thought process going on about girls and boys, do us all a favor, find the busiest street that you can find, take your ass out, lay down on the center line and do the world a favor.”
Velma-Alma Superintendent Raymond Rice told The Duncan Banner that McGuire’s comments have no affiliation with the district, but refused to comment further on the matter.
“I’m not going to speak to it — that particular board member is a private individual and was not representing Velma-Alma Public Schools and he wasn’t speaking on our behalf,” Rice said. “He is protected by the First Amendment. Other than that, I will not speak about it.”
When asked by reporters if the issue might arise at a future school board meeting, Rice again refused to comment further on the incident.
McGuire confirmed to the Banner via Facebook Messenger that he was the man in the video, and that he posted the video to his TikTok last week. He said the comments were not made on behalf of the school district, and said the video is protected under his constitutional right to free speech.
“First of all, I am a private citizen/individual and in no way, shape or form do I speak for or on behalf of Velma-Alma Public Schools,” McGuire said. “The things I share on my personal social media accounts are just that … personal. I’m thankful to live in a country where my freedom of speech is protected by the First Amendment.”
Oklahoma has recently been in the news for its approach to cultural issues, which are front and center as school board meetings around the country have become battlegrounds over how — if at all — school districts should address issues of race, sexuality, and gender, as well as the content of or curriculum materials for history and English-language arts classes.
A bill introduced in the state legislature this year would allow parents to ban books with “sexual content,” which some people fear will be interpreted or implemented in a way that leads to bans on books containing LGBTQ characters or content, even if that content is incidental and not crucial to the plot.
Last year, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) ordered the Oklahoma Health Department to stop issuing nonbinary birth certificates after the State Health Department issued a birth certificate with a nonbinary gender marker in response to a lawsuit. Oklahoma Republicans threw a tantrum after the birth certificate was issued, arguing that birth certificates are intended to reflect vital statistics, and should not be amended to include a gender that does not match a person’s assigned sex at birth.
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