Monthly Archives: April 2022

Since Florida passed its controversial dont say gay bill, conservative states across America have been advancing similar bills as they attempt to ban the discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms.

Last month, Floridas Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed into law the Parental Rights in Education bill. The law prohibits all discussion of sexuality and gender identity in schools, a move that advocates say will erase LGBTQ+ students and history.

Since the bills introduction and passage, various Republican-run states have filed similar legislation that mimics Floridas, reflecting a chilling wave of speech and identity restrictions across the country.

Over 156 gag-order bills targeting issues of identity have been introduced or refiled in 39 states since January 2021, according to a February report by PEN America, a non-profit that seeks to protect freedom of expression in the US. At least 105 of those target K-12 schools, 49 target higher education and 62 include mandatory punishments for those found in violation.

Floridas dont say gay bill is just the tip of the iceberg. While race, sex and American history remain the most common targets of censorship, bills silencing speech about LGBTQ+ identities have also surged to the fore, the organization said.

In March, Georgia legislators introduced the Common Humanity in Private Education Act. According to the act, No private or nonpublic school or program shall promote, compel, or encourage classroom discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not appropriate for the age and developmental stage of the student.

The act, which is sponsored by 10 Republican state senators, says a focus on racial and gender identity and its resulting discrimination on the basis of color, race, ethnicity and national origin is destructive to the fabric of American society.

LGBTQ+ advocates in Georgia have pushed back heavily against the bill, arguing that it is not about parental rights but rather restricting the activities, participation and learning of children in schools.

In Louisiana, a Republican state representative introduced a bill last month that seeks to ban discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation in certain public school classrooms.

The bill, proposed by representative Dodie Horton, seeks to prohibit teachers and others from discussing their sexual orientation or gender identity with students from kindergarten through 12th grade. It also seeks to also ban teachers and other presenters from discussing topics of sexual orientation and gender identity with students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

In February, Republicans in Kansas introduced a state House bill that would make the depiction of homosexuality in classroom materials a class B misdemeanor.

In Indiana, state legislators proposed a bill that would require schools to obtain prior informed written consent from the parent of a student who is less than eighteen years of age before the student may participate in any instruction on human sexuality.

The listed topics in the bill that would require parental consent includes abortion, birth control or contraceptives, sexual activity, sexual orientation, transgenderism and gender identity. Before obtaining written consent from parents, the bill would require schools to provide parents with informed written notice which shall accurately describe in detail the contents and nature of the instruction on human sexuality, including the purpose of the instruction on human sexuality.

A bill introduced by Tennessee state Republicans in February seeks to prohibit any instructional materials that promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgender issues or lifestyles.

In Arizona, proposed bills by Republican state senators include those that would block gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth, as well as force teachers, nurses and other school staff to disclose a minors gender identity to their parents.

Oklahoma state legislators recently passed a bill that prevents students enrolled in colleges from being required to engage in any form of mandatory gender or sexual diversity training or counseling; provided, voluntary counseling shall not be prohibited. The law also states, Any orientation or requirement that presents any form of race or sex stereotyping or a bias on the basis of race or sex shall be prohibited.

Earlier this week, Ohio Republican representatives Jean Schmidt and Mike Loychik introduced a bill that would ban kindergarten through third-grade classrooms from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity. Additionally, classrooms with older students would be disallowed from featuring those topics in ways that are not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.

In response to the bills introduction, Democratic representative Brigid Kelly called it a huge problem} and said: Were not giving people access to the tools, the materials, the lessons they need to prepare children for the diverse world that exists.

Similarly, South Carolina state lawmakers introduced a bill that would ban state entities, including schools from subjecting students to instruction, presentations, discussions, counseling, or materials in any medium that involves topics including sexual lifestyles, acts, or practices, as well as gender identity or lifestyles.

Additionally, like the Oklahoma law, another South Carolina bill seeks to prevent teachers, staff members and district employees from engaging in gender and sexual diversity training.

In states such as Wisconsin and Rhode Island, personal pronouns have also become a contentious subject for conservative lawmakers. Both chambers of the Wisconsin legislature have approved a bill which has yet to be signed into law that includes a parents right to choose pronouns for their children.

In Rhode Island, a proposed bill would require children to be addressed by their common names and the pronouns associated with their biological gender unless their parents grant permission to change them.

Floridas cruel dont say gay bill is one of hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills moving through state legislatures, most of which primarily attack trans youth, the American Civil Liberties Union tweeted in February.

Censoring classroom discussions wont keep kids from being LGBTQ. It just piles on to the national pattern of attacks, it added.

Read more:

Floridas dont say gay bill inspired a chilling wave of Republican legislation - The Guardian

As a former Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman, I have a unique understanding of the way our local party qualifies candidates. Mike Dumitru is one of those candidates and I wholeheartedly support his candidacy for Circuit Court Judge, Division II.

Earlier this week, I received a mailer from the other candidate suggesting that Mike is not a true conservative and implying he voted in the Democratic primary in 2020. This is a patently false mischaracterization and is contradicted by Mikes voting record, which reflects that he voted in both Republican primaries in 2020. This type of campaigning is certainly troubling to me, especially in a judicial race. I have nothing against the other candidate as I do not know him and Im not sure I ever met him at our Republican party events through the years.

Just as troubling is the implicit statement that Mike is not a true Republican. I understand fully the values that make someone a Republican and Mike holds those values! He is a Republican under both the Bylaws and Rules of the Tennessee Republican Party but just as importantly in his actions and values. He is engaged in the local Republican party, has supported other local Republican candidates, and was seated as a voting delegate for his precinct in the last Hamilton County Republican Delegate Convention. Mike is a strict jurist who will enforce the law as written and passed by our elected representatives, will not legislate from the bench, and will rule narrowly. He will never be an activist judge. And his personal storyof a family who fled a communist country where the concept of small government was a mere fairy talehas colored the lens through which he views our government, including the judiciary.

But even setting aside his values, let me say this. I have personally known Judge Jeff Hollingsworth inside and outside of the courtroom for nearly 20 years. If you are looking for someone who will follow in the same footsteps, Mike Dumitru is your candidate. I have no doubt that he will bring to the position the same moral character, legal ability, and judicial temperament of Judge Hollingsworth while honorably serving our community as the Division II Circuit Court Judge.

I encourage all Republicans to join me and my family and vote for Mike Dumitru in the Republican primary for Circuit Court Judge during early voting or on May 3.

Tony SandersHamilton County Republican Party Chairman2013-2017

* * *

I've always been involved in this community and I've met a lot of people during those years as a businessman and volunteer. Mike Dumitru cares about Hamilton County and he's committed to our citizens and the judicialprocess.

Mike has proven he has the knowledge and the temperament to be a great judge. His strong work ethic, understanding of the importance of responsive local government , and willingness to listen to community concerns makes him the best in this race.

If you don't know Mike, you need to meet him. You'll see what I mean; he's the real thing and Hamilton County needs him.

Manny Rico, Local Businessman and former City Councilman

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This Republican Is Supporting Mike Dumitru - And Response - The Chattanoogan

The grinding battle over congressional redistricting is drawing to a close. And, contrary to expectations that the process would result in big Republican gains, the final House of Representatives map may well improve somewhat for Democrats.

The main reason is gerrymandering redrawing of district lines for partisan benefit. Republicans built on their existing gerrymanders to try to expand their House advantage, but Democrats fired back even more powerfully with gerrymanders of their own.

Basically, Democrats saved themselves by resorting to a tactic theyve previously denounced as not only unfair but downright unethical House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called gerrymandering unjust and deeply dangerous in 2019. But in the absence of national reforms banning the practice, refusing to gerrymander would have meant effective unilateral disarmament, ceding the GOP a significant advantage in the battle for control over the House.

Redistricting has proceeded like a tug of war. As state legislatures, judges, and commissions have approved new maps, creating more safe or swing districts in various states, the underlying partisanship of the median House district has been pulled in one direction, and then the other. The most powerful pulls came from either state legislatures that gerrymandered, or state courts that struck down certain gerrymandered maps, as this graphic shows:

This cycles Republican gerrymanders pulled the median district (which already leaned 2 percentage points to the right) another point further right. But state court rulings striking down North Carolina and Ohio maps effectively wiped out most of that net gain.

Meanwhile, Democratic gerrymanders in states like New York and Illinois pulled the median district nearly 3 points leftward, so it was actually close to neutral. (Joe Bidens margin in the median district would have nearly matched his national popular vote margin in the 2020 presidential election.) But an aggressive gerrymander in GOP-controlled Florida could soon shift things right again, if approved. Other state court rulings could shift things further, particularly in New York, where Democrats gerrymander is under scrutiny.

Currently, it looks like there will be close to an equal number of districts leaning left and right of the national average, with a slight edge to Republicans in the median district.

Now, its entirely possible, perhaps likely, that Democrats will still lose badly in House elections this fall the party has a small majority, President Biden is unpopular, and the historical pattern is for the incumbents party to struggle in the midterms. But unlike much of the previous decade, the underlying map may be at least somewhat less biased in Republicans favor.

The last national redistricting happened after Republicans won sweeping victories in the 2010 midterms, giving them control over many state legislatures and governorships. They used that power to draw lines that gave them a big advantage in the House.

By 2012, when that last redistricting was finished, the median House district leaned nearly 6 percentage points further toward Republicans presidentially than that years national popular vote. The results were clear: Obama won nationally by about 4 points in 2012, but he lost the median district by about 2 points. Whats more, 55 percent of the overall House districts (240 out of 435) leaned Republican, per the New York Times. That sizable advantage helped Republicans hold the House in 2012 despite Obamas national win.

But over the course of the ensuing decade, that GOP advantage significantly eroded. Changes in demographic voting patterns made many suburban districts less safe for Republicans. Meanwhile, courts struck down Republican gerrymanders in states like Florida, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. By the time the 2020 results were in, the median House district still leaned toward Republicans, but only by 2 points, rather than 6 points. And about 52 percent of districts (228 out of 435) had a Republican lean.

That was real progress for Democrats on reducing the bias of the House, but it was accompanied by disappointment. First, though Democrats performed well in the 2018 and 2020 elections, they fell short of retaking several key governorships and legislatures, meaning Republicans would have the power to gerrymander again in these states. Second, the party had hoped the Supreme Court would declare partisan gerrymandering unconstitutional, banning it nationwide, but Trumps appointees moved to the court to the right and the conservative majority ruled otherwise. Third, efforts to pass a nationwide gerrymandering ban through the Democrat-controlled Congress under Biden were stymied by the Senate filibuster.

So as 2021 began, Republicans had the power of line-drawing in several swing states, as well as red states where they hadnt yet maxed out their advantage. The GOP still had an advantage in the House map, and now it seemed they could entrench and expand it.

There are varying ways to estimate the underlying partisanship of a district or an overall map, but for now, Ill focus mainly on a simple one: how the district voted in the most recent presidential race, compared to the national popular vote. (The New York Timess Nate Cohn used this metric in his own recent analysis.)

In 2020, Biden won the popular vote by a margin of 4.4 percentage points. If he won by more than that in a given district, Im calling that a Democratic-leaning district. If he won by less than that, or lost the district, Im calling it a Republican-leaning district. This metric lets us look at the partisan lean for the median House district (the one necessary to give a party a majority), and also measure how many districts lean toward Democrats or Republicans overall.

Focusing on the presidential numbers wont be a perfect guide to House results. House candidates run with their own strengths and weaknesses, and some manage to defy their districts underlying partisan lean. But there have been fewer such candidates lately in 2020, only 16 out of 435 House victors won a district where the opposite partys presidential candidate also won.

Other analysts may have slightly different specific calculations for the maps overall lean. For this cycle, Ive used the Cook Political Report (an invaluable resource for anyone closely following elections), which calculated the presidential results in each new district. As an alternative, Cook also uses a metric called the PVI (Partisan Voting Index), which incorporates the past two presidential elections. FiveThirtyEight has its own partisan lean score. The Economists G. Elliott Morris argues it can be most predictive to look at the presidential election prior to the most recent one. Still, these different estimates will probably be roughly similar overall.

Lets start by looking at how Republican gerrymandering attempts fared this cycle. The GOP did indeed try to expand their advantage in key states, but their overall impact was hampered by a few factors.

In the finalized maps so far, then, Republicans have ended up with just a handful of new districts leaning in their favor. But thats compared to a map that was already favorable to them, and they managed to preserve or strengthen preexisting pro-GOP maps in key states.

However, one other state may soon give them a big assist: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and GOP state legislative leaders have been at odds for months on just how much the House map should tilt in Republicans favor, with DeSantis pushing for a more extreme gerrymander. And just this week, DeSantis appeared to win: The legislature said it would approve whatever maps he wanted. Florida alone could move the median districts margin one percentage point to the right.

Democrats, meanwhile, really went to town with gerrymanders of their own in states they controlled:

That amounts to wiping out 12 Republican districts and creating 11 Democratic districts an enormous impact on the overall map.

One caveat is that some analysts think Democrats may have spread themselves a bit too thin in some of these maps by creating several districts that lean Democratic, but not strongly so, such that Republicans could very plausibly win in these areas in a strong GOP year. This is the case particularly in Illinois, Nevada, and New Mexico. Still, in a Republican wave year, the GOP is quite likely to win control of the House regardless of what happens in these states. But the lean-Democratic districts tip the balance when theres a close national contest.

There were also states in which redistricting was handled by commissions (rather than state legislatures), or where power was divided. For overall partisan balance, these proved to be close to a wash for instance, commissions eliminated a Republican-leaning district in both California and Michigan, but created a Republican-leaning district in both Arizona and Colorado. (Some Democrats are rueing the lost opportunities to gerrymander Colorado and Virginia, states where they had full control in 2021, because redistricting authority had been given to commissions there.)

Overall, then, the 2022 redistricting wars turned out to come down to a battle of the gerrymanders and Democrats ended up being more impactful.

Democrats have spent the past decade deriding gerrymandering as unethical and immoral, and trying to get it banned across the country.

Yet the plain reality is that, if they had decided not to do any of it, Republicans would not only have retained their existing advantage in the House map, they would have expanded it.

Though some states havent finalized their maps yet and these numbers can change, its currently looking like around 218 districts will have voted more for Trump than the national average in 2020, and 217 districts will have voted more for Biden (per the Cook Political Reports numbers). Furthermore, Bidens margin of victory in the median district would be about 1 percentage point lower than his margin of victory nationally. Thats not perfectly balanced, but its pretty balanced meaning the map itself will likely only swing outcomes in the very closest of elections.

Contrast this to a scenario where Democrats agreed to unilaterally disarm and do no gerrymandering or where the blue states tied their own hands by adopting serious anti-gerrymandering reforms.

Assuming something close to the 2020 maps remained in these states, around 230 of the overall new districts would have voted more for Trump than the national average, and the median district would have leaned nearly 4 points to the right of the national presidential popular vote.

A similar dynamic has arisen with other good-government reform issues, like campaign finance. Democrats spent a decade condemning conservative big money and dark money, and trying without success to rein in their influence. But the party thought it would be foolish to take the high ground by forswearing those practices. And eventually, by 2020, they arguably ended up mastering them more expertly than Republicans.

Republicans believe Democrats appeals to ethics were always situational. They point out that Democrats only began to complain about gerrymandering so loudly once Republicans got the chance to do so much of it in 2010, and that Democratic state parties have often been eager to gerrymander when theyve had the power to do so.

Still, all this does get at the difficulty of making reforms stick without a national solution. Theres a prisoners dilemma aspect to gerrymandering, in which agreeing not to get your hands dirty may well just mean agreeing to lose.

For Democrats genuinely concerned about good-government reforms, that poses a challenge. Without a national solution, is it worth it to try to keep reforming gerrymandering in blue-leaning states?

Or, if you do so, are you just a sucker?

Original post:

Democrats gerrymandered more effectively than Republicans this cycle - Vox.com

If you ask some (okay, many) conservative pundits, Democrats are grooming children. As in, grooming them to be abused by pedophiles. Some Republicans have even accused Democrats of being pedophiles themselves.

The grooming charges lump together concerns that kids are being introduced too early to sexually explicit material, to the existence of transgender people, and to non-heterosexual sexual orientations. In March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed what critics have dubbed the Dont Say Gay bill, a measure that discourages teachers from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation in classrooms. Versions of the measure have been proposed in at least a dozen other states. Referring to the bill, DeSantiss spokesperson Christina Pushaw tweeted, If youre against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you dont denounce the grooming of 4-8 year old children. A pastor even organized an anti-grooming rally at Disneys headquarters in California.

This type of rhetoric is damaging in its own right. As the commentator David French writes in his newsletter, Throwing around accusations of pedophilia, sympathy for pedophilia, grooming, or sympathy for grooming is a recipe for threats and violencean assessment that some historians endorse. This latest pedophilia panic overlaps with the false beliefs of the QAnon movement, which fueled the Pizzagate incident in 2016.

But bills such as Floridas are also likely to have a chilling effect on comprehensive sexual education in schools, with deleterious effects. Comprehensive sex ed doesnt just help prevent bullying; it helps kids have healthier relationships of all kinds, improves their communication skills, and even boosts their media literacy. Compared with abstinence-only sex education or no sex education at all, comprehensive sex ed helps reduce teen pregnancy rates. One meta-analysis found that European countries, many of which offer comprehensive, mandatory sex ed, including for young children, tend to have the lowest rates of child sexual abuse in the world. Sex education is the exact opposite of grooming, says Nora Gelperin, the director of sexuality education at Advocates for Youth, a sex-ed nonprofit. Sex education, even when started in the earliest grades, has shown to be protective for kids, especially around child sexual abuse.

A 2020 study that examined three decades of research on sex education found that comprehensive sex ed that begins in elementary school can help prevent child sex abuse, among other benefits. Stranger dangertype language isnt recommended these days; about 93 percent of child sexual-abuse victims know their abusers. Instead, these programs help children identify the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching, the difference between tattling and keeping unsafe secrets, and how to identify abusive situations. In other words, sex ed isnt groomingit helps protect kids from grooming.

Modern sex ed also seems to give kids a sense of empowerment, including by teaching them the correct names for their own genitals. Predators are less likely to select a child who can accurately talk about those body parts, Gelperin says, than a child that is ignorant of what those body parts are actually called. It also makes kids less likely to victimize one another: One program for eighth graders, called Safe Dates, was associated with lower rates of physical and sexual dating violence four years later, compared with a control group.

Experts recommend starting sex education as early as kindergarten and teaching it the way you would math. Five-year-olds dont tend to learn geometry, but they do learn about numbers and shapes. Similarly, experts say kindergartners dont need to be told about, for example, orgasms, but they are encouraged to understand what their body parts are and how to protect themselves from unwanted touching.

One of the best-regarded American sex-ed curricula is Rights, Respect, and Responsibility, or the 3Rs, developed by Advocates for Youth and available for free online. For kindergartners and first graders, the lessons focus on preventing bullying, setting boundaries about touching, and learning what types of things make babies (elephants, but not pizza). The most explicit section covers the proper names of genitalia, including an explanation that most girls have a hole called the vagina that is used when a female has a baby. The use of correct anatomical terms is meant to ensure that kids are understood if they ever report abuse. But also, this is your body and you have a right to know what the different parts are called, the curriculum explains.

The first-grade lesson plans also include a section about gender identity, in which teachers are encouraged to say something like You might feel like youre a boy even if you have body parts that some people might tell you are girl parts. You might feel like youre a girl even if you have body parts that some people might tell you are boy parts. And you might not feel like youre a boy or a girl, but youre a little bit of both. No matter how you feel, youre perfectly normal!

Though this message does not exactly comport with a socially conservative worldview, it hardly amounts to grooming children to be molested by pedophiles. The argument for providing information on sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary school is that children are likely to encounter these concepts in the wild. Between 2 million and 4 million American children are being raised by a non-straight parent. Some children might either be transgender themselves or have a parent who is. Advocates of this type of curriculum say these concepts can be explained more accurately in school, and help make kids who are not straight or cisgender feel welcomed.

But just because the 3Rs curriculum is recommended doesnt mean it gets taught. Far from it: Sex ed, like all lesson plans, varies dramatically by school district, and usually reflects the values of the surrounding community. For example, Texas, which has more children than almost any other state, does not require high schools to teach sex ed. As of 2017, most Texas schools districts took an abstinence-only approach to sex ed, and though the state has recently introduced some discussion of contraceptives in middle school, abstinence must be emphasized. Instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation is not currently offered in Florida from kindergarten to third grade, the ages targeted by the Dont Say Gay bill.

Most European countries do provide comprehensive sex ed in every school, however. Experts link Europeans superior sexual-health outcomeslower teen pregnancy rates, lower rates of sexual abuse, and lower STD rates among young peopleto better, earlier sex ed. In Western Europe, sex ed tends to be mandatory and blunt, and start before kindergarten; its like the 3Rs, but more graphic.

In the Netherlands, sex ed begins before many kids can read. From age 5, children are taught about reproduction, about pregnancy and birth of a baby, says Elsbeth Reitzema, the sexuality-education program officer at Rutgers, a Dutch nonprofit that helps run the countrys sex-ed programs. They also learn the main physical differences between boys and girls, about the genitals and their functions. By the end of primary school, children have learned about reproduction, pregnancy, and birth. They know that a woman, if she is fertile, can become pregnant through sex in the manner of penis-in-vagina sex. They also learn about being intersex, transgender, and nonbinary. When theyre 11, kids learn about masturbation.

One popular Dutch sex-ed curriculum explains to fourth graders that the clitoris is a very sensitive place. Touching it can give a nice feeling, according to Beyond Birds and Bees, a 2018 book in part about the Dutch approach to sex ed by Bonnie Rough, who has written on the same topic for The Atlantic. It is not customary for parents to take their children out of the lesson, Reitzema told me. Should parents object to the lessons, then the school will explain what the content of the lessons is. This usually removes the parents resistance to the lessons.

In Swedens mandatory sex-ed program, 7-to-9-year-olds learn about all body parts, and discuss gender, Hans Olsson, the countrys senior adviser on sexuality education, told me. School has a duty to counteract limiting gender patterns, already at [the] preschool level. Also in preschool, kids learn about bodily integrity and name their sexual organs. Rather than the proper terminology, though, Swedish kids use snopp, which is like willy, and snippa. (Dont know the equivalent word in English, Olsson said.) Starting in fourth grade, Swedish kids learn about LGBTQ issues.

Sara Zaske, the author of the German comparative-parenting book Achtung Baby, told me that her 7-year-old daughters class in Berlin read the childrens book Mummy Laid an Egg without asking parents permission first. The picture book, which was originally published in English, features cartoon drawings of Daddys tube and Mummys hole, along with the ways mummies and daddies fit together. Unlike in the United States, Zaske writes in her book, German kids learn much more about sex than conception. German schools cover STD prevention, yes, but also masturbation, orgasms, and homosexuality. Zaske quotes one doctor in an article on the city of Berlins official website as saying, Sex education cannot begin early enough.

Rough and others dont see these types of lessons as giving children ideas about sex and sexuality. After all, adults openly do thingsdrink alcohol, use the stove, drivethat kids cant. Kids understand when an activity is for adults only. She and other advocates reject the notion that telling kids about different sexual orientations or gender identities turns kids gay or gender-nonconforming. Teaching about the topics is not creating new LGBTQ students, says Elizabeth Schroeder, a sexuality educator and co-author of the 3Rs curriculum.

But most important, early sex ed opens up lines of communication between kids and responsible adults. If we start giving off the impression that sex is a topic that when you ask me a question that Im going to start acting weird and funny and dishonest about it, they quickly pick up that this is something off-limits, says Emily Rothman, a health-sciences professor at Boston University. So theyre either gonna think, Well, I can go to my friends or I can go to the internet. By which she means: to porn.

The larger point of this kind of instruction is what the Dutch call sexual assertiveness: If somebody is saying or doing something that makes your body feel uncomfortable, youve been taught how to notice that and what to do next, Rough told me. One aim of communicating freely about sex with a teacher or another trusted adult is the development of a trusting, trustworthy relationship with a grown-up who has the childs best interests at heart.

Meanwhile, only a quarter of U.S. public schools report that students practice communication, decision making, goal setting, or refusal skills as part of sex ed, Rough writes in her book. Instead, some American children learn about sex through porn, through experimentation, or, tragically, from an abuser. Because so much of American sex education treats sexual activity as dangerous or shameful, kids who are victimized by adults may feel that they have to keep it secret. European children who learn about their body, and are warned about inappropriate touching, can better protect themselves. There, Rough writes, those who prey on children can no longer benefit from their ignorance.

See the original post here:

Republicans Have Sex Ed All Wrong - The Atlantic

It took a single stroke of Ron DeSantiss pen, passing Floridas so-called dont say gay bill into law, to transform the self-proclaimed happiest place on earth into a scene of bitter conflict.

Disneys theme parks have become the latest battlefront in the pugnacious rightwing Republican governors culture war on what he calls wokeness, and on the states LBGTQ+ community. DeSantis, a close Trump ally, and perhaps rival, is threatening sanctions on the corporate behemoth after it dared to challenge the controversial law banning discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms.

DeSantis, however, is no comedic Disney villain doomed to lose and be taught the error of his ways before peace is restored to the kingdom.

The ambitious Trumpist governor, many observers say, has sights set on his own presidential run in 2024, and doesnt care if he tramples Floridas largest private employer and its notably diverse cast of almost 80,000 to get there. Or if he upends the tradition of decades of special privilege Disney has enjoyed in Florida in return for the tens of millions of dollars it has spent on political lobbying and campaign contributions.

Those perks include the right to self-government, granted to Disney by the Florida legislature in 1967 when the Magic Kingdom was under construction in Orlando, and which vocal DeSantis loyalists are now seeking to repeal in order to punish the company.

Hes running in a GOP primary for president of the United States, which is the motivating factor behind every single decision that he makes, Carlos Guillermo Smith, an openly gay Democratic member of the Florida house, said.

This doesnt make Floridians better off, unfortunately. Its all about Ron DeSantis, what he wants, and what helps his political future. They are [also] abusing their power and trying to scare Floridians and businesses away from expressing any support for the LGBTQ community.

We have major problems in Florida, and Governor DeSantis seems more interested in settling scores and seeking retribution against people who dont agree with his agenda.

DeSantiss feud with Disney has escalated in recent days following the companys statement that it would work to repeal the law, which experts say stigmatizes gay and transgender people, and could harm childrens mental health and lead to suicides.

Last week, the governor appeared to back the proposal by Spencer Roach, a Republican state congressman, to cancel the 1967 agreement, which allowed the company to build then operate Disney World autonomously. Disney, DeSantis said, had crossed the line by committing to help overturn the dont say gay law, officially known as the Parental Rights in Education Act, and that it was time for Disneys special privileges to end.

Theyre used to having their way, and theyre not used to having people that will stand in their way, DeSantis said at a press conference in St Johns county.

Actually, the state of Floridas going to be governed by the best interests of the people in Florida. Were certainly not going to bend the knee to woke executives in California, he added, referring to Disneys corporate headquarters in Burbank.

In an email to the Guardian, DeSantiss spokesperson, Christina Pushaw, denied DeSantis was seeking retaliation over Disney for its stance.

For his entire political career, his position has always been that all businesses should be able to compete on a fair playing field, and that its wrong for governments to dole out favors to politically connected companies, she said.

But records show that Disney, which announced last month it was suspending all political donations in the state as the dont say gay bill progressed, contributed almost $1m to the Republican party of Florida in 2020, and $50,000 directly to DeSantis.

Meanwhile, an analysis compiled by Anna Eskamani, a Democratic state congresswoman representing Disneys central Florida heartland, lists decades of perks and privileges she says the company has enjoyed from lawmakers.

They feature millions of dollars in sales and property tax breaks, corporate income tax refunds, and language inserted into, or left out of certain legislation that would affect the company, including a human trafficking bill that could have exposed its hotels to lawsuits, and an exemption to regulations over materials used in road construction on Disney property.

The governor hasnt held the company accountable beyond yelling about it on Fox News, said Eskamani, who stressed that she accepts no corporate campaign contributions.

Disneys business model, and tax structures, have remained unchanged, and even the governors office has helped Disney maintain special privileges. So much of this I find to be ironic.

But thats not what hes talking about. Hes talking about specific, punitive punishments of one company because they dare speak out against a homophobic and transphobic bill because they have LGBTQ+ employees who are scared for their health and wellbeing.

[Disney] needs to recruit and retain diverse staff and will not be able to do that the direction Florida is going. As economic partners they have every right to express themselves, but under the DeSantis administration, if you dare challenge him, he will bully you into submission.

Pushback on DeSantis has also come from Republicans. Larry Hogan, the governor of Maryland, told CNN: The whole thing seems like just a crazy fight. The bill was kind of absurd and not something that would have happened in our state.

For its part, Disney appears to have been caught wrong-footed by the furore. The company was accused of voicing its opposition late, and issuing its statement only after an outcry and walkout by cast members.

Chief executive Bob Chapek apologized for pain, frustration and sadness caused by its earlier silence in a letter aimed at its LBGTQ+ workers. You needed me to be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights and I let you down, he wrote.

The misstep also allowed DeSantis to seize on perceived dishonesty by Disney, which employs dozens of lobbyists in Tallahassee but did not use them to speak with lawmakers as the law was drafted.

They didnt seem to have a problem with it when it was going through. This was such an affront, why werent they speaking up at the outset? DeSantis said.

In a further blow to Disneys attempts to make amends, the Human Rights Campaign is refusing a $5m donation until the company proves its commitment to work with LGBTQ+ advocates to overturn the dont say gay law.

Disney did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Disney is caught between a rock and a hard place, said Charles Zelden, professor of humanities and politics at Nova Southeastern University and a longtime Florida Disney watcher.

I suspect their lobbyists told them, You know, keep quiet on this and thats what they tried to do, but then they couldnt because the cast members rose up and said, You got to object to this. They cant afford to alienate not only their cast members but people who support a more liberal, diverse society.

Zelden said he was curious about DeSantiss next move.

Disney has all these lobbyists to make sure they dont lose their special taxing district. So it just means that the fight will progress into the legislature, and theyve got a heck of a tool with their money and their clout to fend off concrete attacks, he said.

The verbal attacks will continue, but as long as it stays that way, the Mouse is all right.

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DeSantis takes on Disney in latest battle in the Republican culture war - The Guardian