Connect with us

COMMENTARY

‘Radical Gender Ideology’: Mike Pence Goes to Iowa to Attack Transgender Children in the Name of God (Video)

Published

on

Less than one month after the January 6 insurrection Mike Pence made one of his first moves as a former vice president: he joined Young America’s Foundation as a Ronald Reagan Presidential Scholar. YAF, a decades-old youth outreach group designed to influence high school and college-aged conservatives, boasts alumni like Trump architect of child separation policies Stephen Miller. It has received millions from the DeVos family, and has a chapter that was listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Last year far-right Daily Wire political commentator Matt Walsh gave college speeches sponsored by YAF, attacking “radical gender ideology” – right-wing talk for supporting the rights of transgender people. Walsh, 36-years old, has built his career on the backs of LGBTQ people – so much so his Wikipedia page says “Known for: Opposition to the LGBTQ+ movement.”

It wasn’t long before Pence embraced the battle against “radical gender ideology,” including in a speech at Catholic University in November.

He did so again on Wednesday, again dipping his toe in the water that is Iowa, the proving ground for Republican presidential candidates, in a speech filled with fear-mongering, false claims, and biblical quotes, denigrating transgender children by saying: “Instead of encouraging a tragedy of a broken ideology from the left, we should teach every child that they are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God.”

“You all know the arguments against this transgender ideology,” Pence told his audience. “It’s harmful to our kids. Oftentimes those that medically or surgically transition as children see no health or quality of life benefits and it’s often much worse,” he said, falsely.

RELATED: Mike Pence: Americans Have No Right to ‘Freedom From Religion’

Pence, who identifies as “a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican – in that order,” didn’t make that declaration as he addressed a small group gathered inside a local Cedar Rapids pizza parlor.

But he did declare, “radical gender ideology has slipped into our classrooms, teaching children to hate their own bodies and furthering the notion that it’s possible to transition from one gender to another. And worst of all, I don’t need to tell you here, some school district parents are helpless to stop this from happening.”

“Across the country,” Pence continued, “parents’ rights are being trampled by a politically correct nanny state that’s ruining our schools and telling parents they have no role in their child’s education.”

Pence had a game plan: he didn’t just happen to show up in Iowa on Wednesday because he was in the area. He targeted Cedar Rapids because a local school district is fighting in court to keep its policy supporting transgender students. And he showed up on Wednesday because there was a closely-watched court hearing in St. Louis, focused in part on an Iowa school district’s policy on transgender children and he wanted to be certain to show parents he is their fighter.

That school policy in part “recognizes students’ chosen name and gender identity, a policy that a group of parents say violates their constitutional rights,” as Courthouse News explains.

RELATED: Mike Pence Chooses Right Wing Religious Org Tied to Anti-LGBTQ Hate Group to Host His First Post-VP Speech

“Parents of Iowa schoolchildren, Republican state legislators and advocates for recognizing LGBTQ rights are clashing at school board meetings and state Capitol hearings over whether some schools have gone too far in protecting transgender students – even from their parents,” CN’s report explains.

“That clash came into sharp focus during oral arguments Wednesday morning before the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis, where a group of parents are asking the federal appeals court to block a Linn-Mar [Iowa] Community School District policy designed to respect the wishes of transgender students who don’t want to be identified by their gender or name given at birth – including directing school officials to use students’ chosen names at school and in school records – without necessarily informing or consulting with parents.”

The former vice president who is also a former Indiana governor, former GOP congressman, and former right-wing radio talk show host, on Wednesday focused what he called “radical gender ideology.” In fact, Pence used the word “radical” eight times. The word “God” four times. He used the word “family” eight times. He used the word “child,” “children,” “kid,” or “kids” 25 times. And the word “parent” a whopping 32 times, more than once a minute in his speech than ran less than 20 minutes.

Pence blamed Democrats for forcing Republicans to wage a battle against allowing transgender children to have dignity, support, and autonomy.

“You know, it wasn’t our choice to start the left’s culture war, and now we have no choice but to win. And we will win,” Pence promised, to applause.

Courthouse News also notes, “As a measure of how intense the fight over this issue is not just in Iowa but nationally, 66 friend-of-the-court [amicus] briefs were filed with the Eighth Circuit, including by 18 states. All but five opposed the Linn-Mar policy.”

One of those 66 briefs came from a group associated with Mike Pence, which he made sure to tell parents. After promising parents “we will win,” Pence said: “The next step on the road to victory began here in Iowa and it continued in Minnesota today,” referring to the St. Louis court hearing.

“Great organization here in Iowa called Parents Defending Education recognized what was happening in the Linn-Mar Community Schools and took the matter into the courts. And today as I visited Minnesota, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals was hearing the case and I couldn’t be more proud,” he boasted, “that our organization, Advancing American Freedom rounded up more than 20 pro-family conservative organizations in America. We intervened in the case with an amicus brief and we’re gonna fight for parents’ rights all the way to the Supreme Court, if need be.”

(Filing an amicus brief is not “intervening.”)

“The case was brought to stop the school here in Iowa from implementing a radical transgender policy,” Pence bellowed, stressing the word “radical.”

Pence then moved to a biblical reference to denigrate transgender children.

READ MORE: Legal Experts: Fulton County Grand Jury Report Means ‘Trump Likely Committed Crimes’ and ‘Expect Charges to Follow’

“The policy is designed to facilitate students’ gender transitions, without the knowledge of their parents. It also is designed to punish other students who fail to use a student’s preferred pronoun or to punish students who voice opinions on transgender issues that are out of step with the radical left, even if that proceeds from a religious conviction that male and female, He created them,” Pence said, directly quoting the bible’s Book of Genesis.

After mischaracterizing the goals of the policy, Pence declared, “Folks, this isn’t bad policy. This is crazy. And it stops right here right now.”

Pence continued to use language of mental illness, telling parents: “We’re asking the court to end this dangerous integrating policy. Restore sanity and the preeminent role of parents in our public schools not just here in Iowa, but all across America. The hypocrisy of this or the absurdity of this comes into high relief,” he continued, “when you realize the same school district that will provide a gender transition plan to your child without your consent or knowledge still has to get a written authorization signed by you to give them an aspirin. Amazing.”

He then continued his fear-mongering, claiming the schools have, “a secret plan to transition a child from one gender to the other.”

“You know there’s a reason why kids are not allowed to enter into a legal contract until they reach the age of majority without their parent’s permission. That’s because every parent and grandparent knows young people are not psychologically prepared to understand the full consequences and accept the full responsibility of their decision.”

Pence continued his biblical references, saying, “we have to have parents’ rights restored so they can guide, instruct, and protect their children in the way they should go, embracing that ancient principle that if you train up a child and the way they should go when they’re old will not depart from it,” direct from The Book of Proverbs.

It “doesn’t say the government would train up the child, their parents will,” he added. “It is in fact one of the most ancient liberties in existence, the right of parents to direct the upbringing, education and care of their children. Family as a sovereign sphere predates government. We do not co-parent with government.”

Pence ended his speech urging parents to “pray.”

Watch clips of Pence above, his full speech below, or both at this link.

 

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

COMMENTARY

Donald Trump Just Called for Another Coup and Hardly Anyone Even Noticed

Published

2 weeks ago

on

March 14, 2023

By

Donald Trump, the one-term ex-president who is running for the Republican nomination for president once again, on Monday advocated for yet another coup against the United States.

Trump is currently under at least four criminal investigations: his unlawful retention and refusal to return classified and other White House documents; his alleged election fraud attempts in Georgia; his alleged hush money payment to two women and the campaign finance issues those raise; and his alleged attempted coup, sometimes referred to as an “autocoup, or “autogolpe” – a self-coup – and the actions he took surrounding the January 6 insurrection.

After Trump’s expected GOP challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, was widely mocked two weeks ago for being unable to tell a reporter from a Murdoch outlet in the UK how he would handle the U.S. efforts to support Ukraine against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s illegal war, Fox’s Tucker Carlson submitted written questions to all current and potential GOP presidential candidates.

DeSantis, in that now-infamous interview, had responded to the Ukraine question by telling the reporter: “Perhaps you should cover some other ground?” and, “I think I’ve said enough.”

READ MORE: Trump Falsely Says Mike Pence Is to ‘Blame’ for Violence on January 6

On Monday, sharing with viewers DeSantis’ new, written response, Carlson declared the Ukraine issue is the most important question of our time: “Until tonight, no one could really say with precision where he stood on the war in Ukraine, which is arguably the most important topic in the world.”

DeSantis’ response made news largely because it is in direct opposition to current U.S. policy. The far-right Florida governor declared the war against Ukraine a mere “territorial dispute” and not in America’s “vital national interests,” as NBC News reported. (Experts disagree with DeSantis’ position, with some calling the war against Ukraine a genocide.)

Trump’s response, however, should have drawn as much attention.

Carlson, in the video below, very specifically says he submitted six questions about Ukraine to Trump, DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Kristi Noem, Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, Greg Abbott, Tim Scott, Chris Christie, Chris Sununu, Asa Hutchinson, John Bolton and Vivek Ramaswamy. (Not all responded.)

According to the segment on his show Monday night, none of those questions included a question about “regime change” in Russia.

And yet Trump’s, DeSantis’ and Pence’s responses did, so it’s possible Carlson wasn’t being fully transparent, although why he didn’t mention he asked that question seems important. And to be clear, the Biden administration has made clear regime change in Russia is not the goal.

So, first, here’s DeSantis’ response that mentions “regime change”:

“A policy of ‘regime change’ in Russia (no doubt popular among the DC foreign policy interventionists) would greatly increase the stakes of the conflict, making the use of nuclear weapons more likely. Such a policy would neither stop the death and destruction of the war, nor produce a pro-American, Madisonian constitutionalist in the Kremlin. History indicates that Putin’s successor, in this hypothetical, would likely be even more ruthless. The costs to achieve such a dubious outcome could become astronomical.”

READ MORE: Chasten Buttigieg Accuses Mike Pence of Using Couple’s Twins as a ‘Punchline’ in Homophobic Attack

And here’s Trump’s response that mentions “regime change”:

“Should the United States support regime change in Russia?”

“No. We should support regime change in the United States, that’s far more important. The Biden administration are the ones who got us into this mess,” Trump wrote, according to Carlson.

“Regime change,” as most know, is the removal of a current government, often by force, which could also be called a coup.

If you google the definition of “regime change,” you’ll find this: “the replacement of one administration or government by another, especially by means of military force.”

Certainly not at the ballot box.

Some might say, as they often do, “Well, maybe Donald Trump doesn’t know what the term really means.”

He does.

May 27, 2019: Asked about his military buildup in the Middle East and his pull-out of President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal, Trump told reporters, “We’re not looking for regime change. I want to make that clear.”

January 3, 2020: “President Donald Trump said Friday that America does not seek ‘regime change’ in Iran, less than a day after the U.S. launched an airstrike that killed the country’s top general, Qasem Soleimani.”

Donald Trump called for another coup Monday night.

Watch Carlson’s segment below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump: ‘World War III Is Looming’ and We Are ‘Doomed’ if You Don’t Put Me Back in the White House

 

Continue Reading

COMMENTARY

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Signs Law Gutting Child Labor Protections for Minors Under 16 Years Old

Published

3 weeks ago

on

March 8, 2023

By

Arkansas Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed into law a bill further destabilizing minors in what was once called the “Land of Opportunity.” Her signature comes on the same day lawmakers sent to her desk a sprawling bill revamping Arkansas’ education system to allow wealthy families to remove funds from public elementary and secondary schools and put them into private tuition.

On Tuesday, Huckabee Sanders, barely months into her term, signed HB1410, the Youth Hiring Act, which guts child labor protections and removes what the new governor called “arbitrary” and “burdensome and obsolete” regulations that required the state to verify the age of anyone working who is under 16-years old.

Those regulations merely required “children under the age of 16 obtain an employment certificate, which is accessible to local school officials, before a company can hire them,” Quartz reports. “The change would end one of the only oversight mechanisms for child labor in the state.”

The new law “rolls back significant portions of the state’s child labor protections,” The Washington Post reports.

READ MORE: Fox’s Bartiromo Admitted to Banning Staff From Calling Joe Biden ‘President-Elect’: Report

Before Gov. Huckabee signed the bill into law, children under 16 were required “to verify their age and provide a description of the work schedule, as well as a parent or legal guardian’s consent, in the certificate,” according to Quartz.

While Republican governors and lawmakers across the country have taken up the mantle of “parents’ rights” as they support bans on books, sex education, and any discussion of LGBTQ people, Governor Huckabee has removed the right of parents to be informed of or consent to their young minor children getting a job.

Before Huckabee Sanders signed the Youth Hiring Act, state law prohibited “children under 16 from working more than eight hours a day, more than six days a week and more than 48 hours per week,” KNOE reported. “Opponents of House Bill 1410 have expressed concerns it will open the door to violations of these child labor requirements and put children at risk of human trafficking.”

READ MORE: Anti-LGBTQ Bills Filed in States This Year Rapidly Approaching 400 – Already More Than in All of 2022: ACLU

Quartz also reports that Governor Huckabee, who mentions her own three children in her official state biography, signed the law stripping rights from parents and children just weeks after the U.S. Dept. of Labor fined a slaughterhouse cleaning company $1.5 million for child labor violations, involving over 100 children. That fine includes $150,000 for two locations in Huckabee’s state of Arkansas.

This week Huckabee Sanders flooded her Twitter page with tweets praising her education legislation, including from former Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and other “school choice” activists who call taking public education funds and handing them to private and faith-based institutions education or school “choice.” She posted not one tweet mentioning her stripping parents’ rights and children’s protections from state law.

 

Continue Reading

COMMENTARY

FBI Director Wray Promotes COVID ‘Lab Leak’ Theory on Fox News, Leading Some Republicans to Talk About ‘Bioweapons’

Published

4 weeks ago

on

March 1, 2023

By

FBI Director Chris Wray promoted the “lab leak” theory of COVID-19’s origins in a Tuesday evening interview on the right-wing propaganda cable TV network Fox News. Wray’s poorly-worded and confusing remarks led some, including several GOP lawmakers, to wrongly propose he may have been suggesting COVID was a bioweapon from China. They also quickly made their way into a congressional hearing less than one hour later when far-right Republican Rep. Jim Banks, citing the FBI Director’s claim, asked if “there is a chance that the Wuhan lab was involved in bioweapons research?”

Director Wray, who was appointed by Donald Trump in 2017, told Fox News’ Bret Baier the “FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan.”

His “lab leak” claim is not the consensus of the medical or scientific communities, nor the intelligence community, nor the federal government of the United States, nor the World Health Organization.

As NPR noted, “Wray’s remarks are the first in public by a senior law enforcement official following the Energy Department’s classified report, published by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, saying the pandemic was likely caused by a lab leak in China. That assessment was reportedly ‘low confidence.'”

READ MORE: Buttigieg Goes On Offense as Republicans Attack

In remarks that could further fray the already damaged relationship between Washington and Beijing, Director Wray tossed around the allegation that COVID is the result of “a potential leak from a Chinese government controlled lab that killed millions of Americans and that’s precisely what that capability was designed for.”

His remarks have been seen as confusing.

In context, here’s what Wray said (video is below): “The FBI has folks, agents, professionals, analysts, virologists, microbiologists, etc., who focus specifically on the dangers of biological threats which include things like novel viruses like COVID. And the concerns that in the wrong hands, some bad guys, a hostile nation state, a terrorist, a criminal, the threats that those those could pose. So here you’re talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab that killed millions of Americans and that’s precisely what that capability was designed for.”

(Wray is off on the U.S. death toll, which is estimated to be 1,145,661.)

There’s debate on what Wray meant when he said, “that’s precisely what that capability was designed for.” Some took that to mean China’s Wuhan lab was “designed for” making bioweapons, and some took that to mean the FBI’s “folks” have the capability to investigate those biological threats.

Crooked Media editor-in-chief Brian Beutler, responding to a Twitter user, said: “To state the obvious, this isn’t the most natural construction of the actual words Wray spoke. But if it’s what he *meant* he needs to correct his own error in a high profile setting, because as it stands he just told millions of Fox viewers COVID is probably a Chinese bioweapon.”

Economist and frequent political commentator David Rothschild also pointed to Wray’s confusing remarks, tweeting, “Pretty sure Trump’s man (Wray) *meant* that figuring out how the virus started & spread is what FBI’s capabilities are designed for not that the Chinese intentionally created & leaked the virus to kill millions of Americans: Wray should clarify what he spewed on Republican TV.”

And indeed, it didn’t take long for another far-right Republican, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, to make clear why what Wray said was dangerous and reckless: “Chris Wray made it sound like #Covid was part of a bioweapons program.”

The Director also said, “our work related to this continues and there are not a whole lot of details I can share that aren’t classified. I will just make the observation that the Chinese government seems to me has been doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work here, the work that we’re doing the work that our U.S. government and close foreign partners are doing, and that’s unfortunate for everybody.”

NPR, reporting on Wray’s remarks, noted that “the FBI’s assessment is far from universal. Four other U.S. intelligence agencies as well as the National Intelligence Council say, with low confidence, that COVID emerged through natural transmission.”

READ MORE: ‘Just a Disgrace’: Former DOJ Officials Express Concern, Call for Resignation of FBI Director Wray

“Eight U.S. government agencies are investigating the source of COVID-19, and they remain very divided on the issue. None of them is certain about the cause. Four lean toward natural causes. Two haven’t taken a position,” NPR’s report adds.. “Meanwhile, the evidence produced by the greater scientific community points overwhelmingly to a natural cause, via exposure to an infected animal.”

NBC News reporter Kevin Collier posted the Intelligence Community’s assessment, which was produced prior to Wray’s Tuesday night remarks. He notes the IC assessment “hid which agency thinks what,” and adds: “That the FBI decided to come forth like this, and doing so by heavily touting a major Wray interview on Fox News, is certainly a choice.”

After his interview the FBI posted a portion of his remarks to Twitter.

Others were also quick to respond to Wray’s remarks.

“Wray now claiming lab leak of bioweapon designed to kill Americans,” tweeted the founder and publisher of Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall.

Nicholas Bauer, PhD, tweeted, “Biden should fire Wray. Not because of the underlying content – the FBI hasn’t changed its position – but poor judgment to get interviewed on Fox News and participate in this clearly choreographed media influence blitz.”

Journalist, author, and conspiracy theory expert Mike Rothschild slammed Director Wray: “‘Most likely a potential lab incident’ is pretty big hedge from Wray regarding the lab leak theory. Also, why is the FBI giving an opinion on something that seems like the CIA or CDC’s territory?”

“This is a meaningless statement that sounds designed to do nothing other than get airtime on Fox News,” Rothschild added. “How did they assess this? What is the evidence? What *exact* path did the ‘leak’ take?”

READ MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mike Lee Spread Anti-Ukraine Disinformation With Deceptively-Edited Viral Video

 

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.