I think people have such distaste and disgust for transgender individuals that they look for any reason to vilify their motives. It's human nature.
Volunteers come to read to the students on average about once every 4 years. There may be other schools that have it happen yearly. I have never heard of a drag queen doing it, or anyone that is transgender doing it. There have a few gay/lesbian teachers and administrators. Some students say they want different pronouns. Many students dress fairly androgynous as it is. Nobody dresses as a transgender. I don't see a problem with kids being exposed to trans people. I don't see a problem with encouraging students to accept others as the way people wished to be accepted. I have never once seen or heard of anyone trying to tell students they should become transgender, or anything of the sort.
It's not just hatred towards transgenders though, and it's really not human nature to bully or treat others with hate. Humans aren't born with hate. They are born loving and innocent. They are taught to hate and bully by the ones they choose to associate with, or from families who bring them up that way.
I don't think most schools allow random strangers of any kind to the come to the school. In our district volunteers must be approved, have TB tests etc. If it is a special program that has to be approved by district administration who goes through a vetting process.
I don't know enough about her politics to really have a grasp on her position on this topic beyond what her personal experiences are. Having said that, I think that she should be free to speak about what she saw and experienced without facing threats and physical intimidation. Further she is relevant on this topic - so her opinions have some relevance. I really do not appreciate when either side tries to stifle the opinions of someone that is adverse to them.
This is only warranted if the person is expressing rhetoric against trans people for grifting opportunities and getting the Tucker bump to start a social media/political pundit career. Being an outraged conservative who's claiming their basic human rights are being violated is like a gold rush now and start ups in that business are very lucrative. As a brown person I considered starting YouTube channel about how evil Muslim immigration was to get some social media clout but then I realized I have basic shame.
The reality is that you could take a more extreme position on Islam - play up your military service - get a Trump hat and quite possibly end up well known. As for Riley Gaines, I have not followed everything she has said - but what she read concerning Title IX is certainly relevant, as she discussed her own personal experiences. When she starts to venture outside of that window - her opinion has less importance or influence IMO.
Twitter drawing a line. https://apnews.com/article/twitter-...eful-conduct-ae1b7285bb906e04b26ff9751ec0c2ce
I'd say at schools, outside of very rare circumstances in extremely liberal communities, it probably never happens. In the rare cases it does happen it will be at libraries or community centers or other civic association type places. I've seen a few Drag Queen Story Hours happen around where I live, and largely it's a non-event. They read typical children's books. Maybe learn some dances, sing songs, do some crafting, etc. It's pretty tame and wholesome. As for why Drag Queens? I have my own theories. I think it's a symbiotic relationship. Children aren't judgmental and are very accepting. This has to be uplifting for a trans person or drag artist. Also, Drag Queens are natural performers and entertainers. They do a really good job engaging kids with the stories and activities. Children think their loud makeup, clothing, hair etc is interesting. Like FB pointed out, whenever the topic of "why do you X" comes up, it's usually handled quite gracefully as "because it makes me feel good/because I like to"... and that's as far as it goes, which is perfectly fine. I do understand the 'social contagion' fear that some parents have (this is more of a concern for teen btw, not little kids), and some of the books that get written for kids about sex, gender, etc are completely inappropriate. But often times intolerant people equate trans people's mere existence with "indoctrination/grooming" which is just bigoted ******* nonsense. Lol. This is just a funny statement coming from someone who regularly throws around parenting credentials as a line of argument here. "Kids? Ew. They ****ing suck. Who on earth would want to spend time around someone else's kids?"
You misunderstood. As parents, we are protective of our children. We trust professionally trained educators to take care of them, in a controlled environment. Like teachers or professionals who work in kids clubs in hotels. We trust people whom we have gotten to know and vetted. E.g. babysitters/nannies...most parents would interview them and spend some time with them before leaving them alone with their children. We teach our children early on to not take anything from strangers. Most of the time, strangers would only ever be allowed close to our children as part of their professional obligations. And normal people would not pursue the idea of wanting to get close to other people's children - unless they have a self-interest in doing so. Unfortunately, that's why people working in organized religion (e.g. some Catholic priests) seek out these roles - they use that to pursue their fetish, because it puts them into a position of closeness to children, and into a position of power, and parents trust them. I've been thinking about this guy from Houston (I posted a thread about it) who was part of my "host family" (organized through UH) and when I googled him a few years ago, I found all these reports about him having molested young men. Unfortunately, I cannot say I was surprised. He had used UH's well-intended host family program for foreign exchange students - they told me back then that "the family" (but in reality, it was him) had specifically requested a young male German law student. Similarly, when you see all these men dressed in drag trying to get close to children, you have to wonder what their motivation is. I would not trust them to be close to my children. Clearly, they have some kind of fetish. Feel free to call me a bigot, but I can guarantee you that many/most parents would feel the same way.
Except as you note that many of the people out there who actually are molesters and groomers are priests, scout leaders and others who are in positions of authority. Many of these especially the religious leaders are the ones who rail the most against LGBTQ and in several cases they are actually the molesters. This is what is so disturbing about this issue. Being in a position of authority can grant access and enable the very behaviors that you are concerned of. Drag Queens and openly transgendered people are for the most part not in positions of authorities because of the stigma towards them. Yet they are the ones being looked at as being the threat to children. Even as there are many who exploit that bias themselves to get access to children.
I wouldn't leave my children alone with a dodgy male priest either. Doesn't change anything about not wanting a creepy dude dressed in drag around them.
And which one of those is more likely to get access to children? Your own description of “creepy” shows that the drag queen is already less likely to be in a position to actually have access to children. also this view that “drag queens” particularly want to molest children how is the being determined? I mean is there evidence of that supports that drag queens are statistically more likely to molest children than any other group?
They are trying - disguised as something innocent, "doing something for the children by reading to them", through the school (which the parents trust to protect their children). Parents might not even be aware of it, but ideologues in schools allow these men with a fetish to get access to their children. With priests, it's simple, can just not allow them to be alone with your children.
Yet you love Meatball Ron who :::checks notes::: lets veterans teach kids with no college degree. Yep. You REALLY care about "professionally trained educators".
Check this out. There is an entire market for this. A LOT of companies... https://churchexecutive.com/archives/child-sexual-abuse-insurance-the-landscape-continues-to-change
