Well it happened!
I get the Triangle Community Center’s newsletter and the first article was…
“Don’t Say Gay” Comes to Connecticut
A lot of folks have been (justifiably) incensed at the legislative attacks on the LGBTQ+ communities in places like Florida and Texas. But did you know that there are leaders right here in Connecticut who seek to erase and deny the humanity of people who are not straight?
Last month, the Greenwich Board of Education adopted a new Title IX policy, which they insist complies with the federal requirement that bars discrimination on the basis of sex—a definition that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled includes the spectrum of gender identity and sexual orientation. In fact, the original draft of the Greenwich policy specifically prohibited “discrimination or harassment on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.”
Yet the version of the policy passed last month conspicuously removes any language referring to gender identity and sexual orientation. The Board was quick to note that “this policy covers all students, whether or not certain language is included.”
So, if the policy does indeed cover all students, and if the language referencing sexual orientation and gender identity was in the original draft, then why go through the trouble of removing it from the final version?
It almost seems as though the Greenwich Board of Education wants to pretend that the LGBTQ+ community doesn’t exist. If the substance of the policy remains the same, as they say, then the only effect of removing the language about gender identity and sexual orientation is the linguistic pseudo-erasure of the LGBTQ+ community in Greenwich Public Schools. The action of removing any reference to gender identify and sexual orientation mimicks Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law; it is a way to pretend our community doesn’t exist.
This sounds more like a Red state than a Blue state and the city’s First Selectman is not happy,
First Selectman Fred Camillo asserted last June that Greenwich "has always been a leader in ... standing for equity for everybody." We appeal to the Greenwich Board of Education to restore references to gender identity and sexual orientation in their Title IX policy to reflect that commitment to equity. This simple language update would help codify Greenwich as a town where the LGBTQ+ community can feel safe and welcome, especially at a time when we are under attack in so many other parts of the country.
It just goes to show you nowhere is safe from their hate.
Revised BOE Title IX Student Policy Passed without Mention of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation
Greenwich Free Press
May 2, 2022
Back in January, the Greenwich Board of Education voted along party lines on a policy codifying Title IX, which meant it failed to pass.Andreana Bellach of Shipman and Goodman, an attorney hired by the district, explained that the board was required by law to adopt a policy in compliance with Title IX.
A heated discussion ensued about trans athletes competing in sports, with the four Democratic members voting in favor and the four Republicans voting against.
At the time, Republican Cody Kittle said, “I don’t think we’re doing any harm. We’re just allowing something like that to play out and if down the road we say, you know this is costing too much in lawyers, or causing other issues, we can re-evaluate it.”
Yeah, you don’t see any harm because you are a Lilly white straight male.
The result was the language was amended to remove the statement, “Discrimination or harassment on the basis of sex includes discrimination or harassment on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.”
The new language added, “The Board agrees to comply with Title IX of the Education amendments of 1972 and the Regulations as amended in the Final Rule promulgated pursuant thereto.”
MAGA Republicans are alive here in the Nutmeg state. That is just about the same language that Trump’s Department of Education used back in 2020, totally ignoring the ruling by the Supreme Court earlier that year.
“As I’ve [A parent and educator] watched the Title IX student policy discussion unfold over the last 6 months, I have at many times been speechless, angry, and unsure if I really heard what I did, and overall ashamed that these conversations are happening at the meetings of the governing body of our schools. “
One thing that clued me in on why the Republicans hate us so much,
“Schools need to be grounded in science and facts, not political social justice and progressive garbage.”
– Kristen Nieminski
Is that they still believe after all these years that we chose to be trans, or gay, they don’t believe in the science.
Yes, even liberal Connecticut this still can happen… VOTE!
Save a life, it just may be your child’s life that is saved.
I am not going to step lightly here. I am going to carry a big stick. The Salvadoran revolutionary poet, Roque Dalton said it best in these words, "Don't ever forget that the least fascist among the fascists are also fascists. Applies yes. Toni Morison 1995 address at Howard talked of the 10 step by step procedures to carry a society from the first to the last solution or better known as the final. She stated, "Let us be reminded that before there is a final solution there must be a first, then a second and even a third. The move to the final solution is not a jump. It takes one step then another." Jason Stanley writing in the Guardian tells us that amerikkka is now in fascism's legal stage. Again, repeat after Roque Dalton and remember his words. I am not anonymous I am Richard Nelson.
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