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Tennessee Officials Weigh Eliminating All School Clubs in Attempt to Ban Gay-Straight Alliance

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EXCLUSIVE: School Board Chair Says It’s ‘Something That We Will Discuss’

School board members in Franklin County, Tennessee, may consider eliminating all extracurricular clubs in an effort to get rid of a newly formed Gay-Straight Alliance.

The GSA at Franklin County High School in Winchester has been under attack since it first met in January, with parents comparing it to ISIS, and students vandalizing the club’s posters and wearing “Straight Pride” signs in protest. 

Last month, anti-LGBT residents who spoke at a school board meeting warned that the GSA is part of a “radical gay political agenda” that seeks to recruit children:

Posted by Franklin County High School TN Gay Straight Alliance Supporters on Monday, February 8, 2016

In response to the controversy over the GSA, the Franklin County School Board has decided to draft new guidelines for student organizations. Under the federal Equal Access Act, officials must allow the GSA unless they eliminate all extracurricular clubs, from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to the Student Council. 

After rumors began circulating online Tuesday morning, board Chairman Kevin Caroland confirmed that eliminating all extracurricular clubs was among the possibilities discussed during a work session on Monday night.

“We discussed last night our policies and procedures and the possibility of getting rid of all clubs, and what all that would entail. There was not a consensus. that I could tell,” Caroland told The New Civil Rights Movement in an exclusive interview. “We had a large number of emails that have asked us to look at that.” 

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The school board will hold its regular monthly meeting next week, but Caroland said he’s unsure whether officials will take up the issue. He said board members provided district staff with “a laundry list” of questions but set no timetable for further consideration of the matter. 

“We’re trying to spell out for the community what would happen if we shut down all clubs,” Caroland said. “I think the community needs to be educated on what the consequences are of doing that. We’re just trying to get it all laid out so nobody’s surprised by anything.”

After last month’s board meeting, where opponents of the GSA waved Christian flags and warned about the dangers of “fisting, rimming and anal sex,” it may have appeared to casual observers that the hate would finally subside. 

But Caroland said: “The controversy is still alive and thriving.” 

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According to documents from Monday’s workshop, there are 17 extracurricular student organizations at Franklin County High School. The documents state that the GSA “fosters a safe environment for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) students and their allies.”

“The FCHS GSA will offer a space where LGBT students and their allies can speak freely and honestly with their peers about issues specific to LGBT students without fear of rejection or harassment,” the documents state. 

The proposed new regulations for student organizations that were discussed Monday night are here and here.

 

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‘Massive Shift’: FCC Chair Says Local TV Will ‘Decide What the American People Think’

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September 18, 2025

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Explaining the “massive shift” he intends to impose on the focus of the Federal Communications Commission, Chairman Brendan Carr announced that he will take America back to the era when local television stations shaped what the American people “think.”

“So again,” Carr told Fox News on Thursday, “we’re going back to that era when local TV stations, judging the public interest, get to decide what the American people think.”

“And again, we’re constraining the power through those actions of Disney, of Comcast. And I think the American public can be much better off. But, yeah, I don’t think this is the last shoe to drop,” he said, appearing to refer to the suspension of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel.

READ MORE: Trump Labels Flag Burning, Organized Protests ‘Incitement to Riot’

“This is a massive shift that’s taking place in the media ecosystem, and I think the consequences are going to  continue to flow,” he declared.

On Thursday, speaking aboard Air Force One, President Donald Trump wrongly suggested that broadcast networks, licensed by the FCC, are “not allowed” to criticize him.

“When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that’s all they do — if you go back, I guess they haven’t had a conservative one in years, or something — when you go back and take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that,” Trump said.

Carr is one of the authors of The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. President Donald Trump praised Carr as “a warrior for Free Speech,” CBS News reported last year.

There are few “local” television stations left in the U.S., in the sense that nearly all are owned by several major broadcast conglomerates, including Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Gray Television, Tegna, Hearst, and Scripps.

READ MORE: ‘Corrupt Abuse of Power’: Dems Rip FCC Chair Over Kimmel Suspension

 

Image via Reuters

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Trump Labels Flag Burning, Organized Protests ‘Incitement to Riot’

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September 18, 2025

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President Donald Trump, explaining his controversial decision to attempt to label Antifa a terrorist organization, said burning the American flag is an “incitement to riot,” as are organized protests — which he claimed lead to “death.”

“They have signs and they’re all professionally made,” Trump told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum on Thursday, apparently referring to those suspected of celebrating the murder of Charlie Kirk, NBC News reported. “Real protesters make them in their basement.”

After suggesting without offering any evidence that philanthropist George Soros might be behind organized protests, Trump declared, “it’s incitement to riot. That’s a criminal act. And people are dying because of it. So it’s really, you know, it’s death.”

Speaking about his executive order to designate Antifa — which is not an organized group and it does it have leaders — a terrorist group, Trump said, “They are.”

READ MORE: ‘All They Do Is Hit Trump’: President Says Networks ‘Not Allowed to Do That’

Asked, “do you believe that there is a vast terrorist movement in the United States that people need to be aware of, and is it responsible for Charlie Kirk’s killing, for the attempts on your life, for these CEOs that we saw in New York City?” Trump replied, “You never know, and we’ll find out, maybe.”

“But in the meantime, we’re gonna do a big thing with respect to Antifa. It’s a sick group, a very, very sick group.”

“They love burning the American flag. I think it’s terrible that they burn the American flag. And we’re saying it incites riots, and therefore, you go to jail for one year, if you burn the American flag.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that it is not illegal to burn the American flag, it is a protected form of free speech.

READ MORE: ‘Corrupt Abuse of Power’: Dems Rip FCC Chair Over Kimmel Suspension

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‘All They Do Is Hit Trump’: President Says Networks ‘Not Allowed to Do That’

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7 hours ago

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September 18, 2025

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President Donald Trump has been claiming that the ABC suspended late night host Jimmy Kimmel because of poor ratings, but he shared a different thought on Thursday about what the future of network television might entail.

“When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that’s all they do — if you go back, I guess they haven’t had a conservative one in years, or something — when you go back and take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that,” Trump said, according to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

The Independent added that President Trump “told reporters on Air Force One as he jets back from his State visit to the U.K. that because he won the election and networks give him ‘wholly bad publicity,’ that ‘I would think maybe their license should be taken away.'”

“It will be up to Brendan Carr. I think Brendan Carr is outstanding. He’s a patriot. He loves our country, and he’s a tough guy,” the president said, referring to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

READ MORE: ‘Corrupt Abuse of Power’: Dems Rip FCC Chair Over Kimmel Suspension

 

Image via Reuters

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