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ANTI-LGBT EXTREMISM

Gay Teacher Cyberbullied So Severely She Had to Take Mental Health Leave – Parents Support Students

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‘We Back the School District 100 Percent’ One Parent Says After Administration Refuses to Take Action

She never discussed her sexuality with her students – although there is no reason why she should not have. But she did post a photo of her and her partner to Instagram, and after it was discovered, that’s when the cyberbullying began.

Amy Estes, a California middle school teacher says she went to the administrators asking for help and support, but got none. She says they ignored the problem, saying it was “drama,” and would “blow over.”

It didn’t.

“Estes, who has taught English at Spring View Middle School in Rocklin for five years, considered herself well-liked before the barrage of online taunts, nasty statements and memes began at the beginning of the school year,” The Sacramento Bee reports.

The school not only refused to step in, but told her she should not discuss her sexuality as a means of getting the attacks to stop unless it was absolutely necessary.

“At the recommendation of her bosses, Estes tried to talk to the student she was told was the ringleader. He denied any wrongdoing,” the paper says. “She said she asked the school to investigate the social media posts and to talk to the students involved. She was told the school does not monitor what is being said on the internet. Estes says such monitoring has been done when students were bullying one another.”

Estes, it turns out, had helped to create the school’s anti-bullying curriculum, so she was familiar with ways to handle bullying.

She “said she met with the principal again. ‘I think we need to do better,’ Estes said she told her. ‘I don’t feel supported, and we’ve talked about this since September and still nothing.'”

The principal called it a teachable moment and said she wasn’t sure what Estes wanted school officials to do.

“What I wanted from my administration was to utilize the discipline matrix that I worked hard to establish,” said Estes, who helped build the anti-bullying curriculum used with students. “If there is hate speech, students are given a consequence – detention or other consequences. Speaking so hatefully deserved more than a teachable moment.”

It didn’t get better.

“She assigned her students a positive lesson: Write a report about how you would create a utopia and give a class presentation. When it was the girl’s turn, she said her utopia would not include gay marriage because it was bad. Her paper used a derogatory word to describe gay people, among other inflammatory things, Estes said.

The students reacted with clapping and cheers, obviously looking to her for reaction, Estes said.

And that was her breaking point.

After that, some parents got involved – to support the students who were bullying Estes.

WFMY reports one of the parents of Estes’ students says, “we back the school district 100 percent. She shouldn’t have her sexual preferences pushed on you and our religious views shouldn’t be pushed on anybody else.”

Another told WFMY that, “Because we don’t believe in [same-sex marriage] doesn’t mean it’s hate speech. It’s not hate speech to say what we believe.”
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ANTI-LGBT EXTREMISM

Linda McMahon Says California Can Avoid Education Funding Cuts by Apologizing to Cis Athletes

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1 year ago

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June 25, 2025

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Education Secretary Linda McMahon threatened to withhold federal funding from California over allowing transgender student athletes to compete. She said the only way the state could stop this from happening would be to send a letter of apology to all cisgender female athletes and strip trans athletes’ titles.

McMahon appeared on Fox News Wednesday morning to address the threatened cuts to California’s funding. In a clip surfaced by journalist Aaron Rupar, she laid out what the state needs to do to stop her from cutting funding.

“They really need to send a letter of apology to all of the female participants in sports. They need to return the titles that were taken away from these women who competed and lost to males in the sports. They just have to make it right to those women competitors,” McMahon said.

READ MORE: Trans Kids Wanting To Play Team Sports Get Legal Wins

“You know, it’s very interesting to hear Governor Newsom say that it’s a matter of fairness. It’s easy. You know, talk is cheap. I think he needs to put his money where his mouth is,” she continued. “I sent him a letter and asked him to do just that, if he’s talking about fairness. But there was no action taken on his part. So he talks about it, but he doesn’t do anything about it. So we’ve stepped in. We’ve investigated. Our Office of Civil Rights investigated this thoroughly and found that there was an infraction.”

While it’s unknown how many transgender student athletes are in California, EdSource estimates the number to be under 10. And when it comes to California’s title-winning transgender athletes, the number is even lower: one. On May 31, AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley High won first place in the girls’ high jump and triple jump in the state’s track-and-field finals.

Despite the incredibly small number of trans athletes competing, the GOP has focused disproportionately on the issue. And even California’s Governor Gavin Newsom has—as McMahon referenced—said he believes it’s “deeply unfair” for transgender athletes to compete.

“I think it’s an issue of fairness, I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness — it’s deeply unfair. I am not wrestling with the fairness issue,” Newsom told conservative commentator Charlie Kirk in March on This Is Gavin Newsom, the governor’s podcast. “I revere sports. So, the issue of fairness is completely legit.”

While Newsom thinks it’s “unfair,” the data does not support his conclusion. Not only is there an incredibly small number of trans athletes—and even fewer who have won competitions—there is no evidence that they have an advantage over cisgender athletes. The truth is, rules against transgender athletes competing is rooted in bigotry and misinformation, nothing more.

Image via Reuters

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ANTI-LGBT EXTREMISM

Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Sponsor Doubles Down on Outing LGBTQ Children to Parents With New Amendment

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4 years ago

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February 21, 2022

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The sponsor of Florida’s highly controversial and dangerous “Don’t Say Gay” bill is doubling down on the “outing” provision of his legislation, which is expected to get a vote by the full House Tuesday.

GOP State Rep Joe Harding has added a proposed amendment to his own bill, Florida Politics reports. Harding is a freshman lawmaker who has no background in education, child development, or LGBTQ issues.

Currently, HB 1557 says teachers, administrators, and other staff must contact parents about a student’s “mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being, or a change in related services or monitoring.” Meaning schools must tell parents if their child comes out as LGBTQ at school.

If they don’t, the bill says, parents can sue.

There is currently one provision to protect at-risk children, schools can opt to not inform parents, “if a reasonably prudent person would believe that disclosure would result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect.”

Of those who seek help, 40 percent of homeless youth are LGBTQ, often as a direct result of coming out or being outed to their parents.

Rep. Harding would like to ensure that either parents are told their child has come out as LGBTQ, or – according to his new amendment – if the school has determined they should not be told because “a reasonably prudent person would believe that disclosure would result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect,” the parents within six weeks of not being told must be notified that the school has withheld information from them.

Not only will that put some children at great risk, but it will also put school officials at risk.

The amendment says school officials must devise a “plan” to tell parents while protecting the child’s well-being, but does not give them any indication of what that would look like, or how to avoid likely hostility to the official and likely harm to the child.

Imagine this phone call:

“Hello, Mr. Jones, this is Principal Smith. We have information related to your child’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being but have decided to not disclose that information to you. However, by law, we’re required to inform you we are withholding this information. Have a nice day.”

Image by Krissy Venosdale via Flickr and a CC license

 

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ANTI-LGBT EXTREMISM

Fort Lauderdale to Honor Pastor Whose Ministry Appears on Southern Poverty Law Center’s Anti-LGBT Hate Group List

Published

5 years ago

on

March 16, 2021

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Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s City Commissioners Tuesday evening will honor Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Westminster Academy. Included in those proclamations is the church’s founder, Dr. D. James Kennedy, whose D. James Kennedy Ministries appears on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of anti-LGBTQ hate groups.

Fort Lauderdale’s mayor, who is also its first gay mayor, Dean Trantalis, will sign the proclamations making March 21, 2021 Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church Day and Westminster Academy Day, as South Florida Gay News reports.

Florida LGBTQ activist Michael Rajner posted the proclamations:

A search of the D. James Kennedy Ministries website shows hundreds of articles on homosexuality. Some of them include “Freedom from Homosexuality through the Gospel,” “Brazen Attacks on Marriage,” and “Sexual Anarchy Puts Religious Liberty at Risk.”

Truth Wins Out, an LGBT equality non-profit, calls the proclamations “no different than honoring the KKK.”

“It’s outrageous to honor Coral Ridge. It is no different than honoring the KKK. This church lied about LGBT people, produced hate propaganda and perpetuated the “ex-gay” hoax. They have NEVER apologized for ruining lives. Stop this madness!”

TWO offers some background into Kennedy and Coral Ridge in a press release:

In 1998, the Truth in Love Campaign was hatched at Coral Ridge, led by Janet Folger Porter. The $600,000 effort placed full-page ads in newspapers with “ex-gays” claiming that gay and trans people who prayed and went to conversion therapy could “change”. This resulted in an avalanche of media coverage, including a Newsweek cover story headlined, “Gay for Life?” During that campaign, Folger Porter said on Nightline that she supported sodomy laws that would lead to the arrest and imprisonment of LGBTQ people. As part of Truth in Love, Coral Ridge flew an airplane over Gay Days at Disney with large banner that had an “ex-gay” message.

Researcher Alvin McEwen points out that Kennedy also endorsed a horrifying anti-LGBTQ cartoon book, Homosexuality: Legitimate, Alternative Deathstyle. The book libels LGBTQ people with fake statistics, such as “41% more gays than heterosexuals admitted to shoplifting!”

 

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