To the Editor:
Re: Annette Sula's letter about Fillmore City Council's Proclamation to Honor & Recognize the Month of June as LGBTQIA+ Pride Month.
Annette, Pride Month exists to educate people who are ignorant about LGBTQIA+ people and the bigotry they face in society historically and today. No, LGBTQIA+ people are not mentally ill, they are not sexual deviants, they are not possessed by The Devil. All attributes they were once thought to have.
I'm not an expert, but I’ll try to answer your questions and make clarifications as best I can.
You seem to believe the flyer you received from the city about an opportunity to learn more about LGBTQIA+ people from the nonprofit group Coalition for Family Harmony is some kind of mandate. It's not. It's an offer you can choose to accept or reject. You are not required to do anything.
You were annoyed with the lack of explanation about the content of the classes being offered and not being told what the I, A, and + stand for in the LGBTQIA+ acronym. Maybe you missed it, but the bottom of the flyer provided the name, phone number, and email address of someone you could have contacted to get more info. I found the answers to your questions in just a few minutes using an internet search. FYI, I is for intersex, A is for asexual, and the plus is a catch-all to cover anyone not currently included in the acronym.
You question whether children being exposed to a pride resource fair is acceptable, and if Hollywood were to give the event a rating, what would that rating be. It's every parent's choice to take their children to the event. No one is forcing you or your children to go. In the same way no one is forcing you or your children to go watch Fillmore's annual Christmas parade. I went to the event, and I can report it was rated G.
You seem to be confused about LGBTQIA+ curriculum in public schools. Educating children about the fact that there are LGBTQIA+ people in the world is not social engineering. No one is forcing anyone to be gay or lesbian or anything they are not. To prevent bullying and physical harm coming to LGBTQIA+ students, education is making people aware there are many different gender identities including transgender, gender neutral, non-binary, etc. If you don't like what public school is teaching, homeschooling is always an option.
I’m no legal expert, but I think you're misunderstanding the scope of the Troxel vs Granville case. By my reading, the case seems to be fundamentally about visitation rights. I can't find anywhere where it talks about parents' rights to teach their children about sexuality. I may be wrong. If so, please provide the evidence.
You seem to be confused when you say "…our Constitution guarantees a Govt that is For the People and by the People. It does not say For the People by the Govt." In our democracy, the government is the people. The Govt is not a group of foreigners, not an authoritarian who remains in power, it consists of us, the people.
Similar to the negative behavior and attitudes towards minority groups in America, including Americans of African descent, Chinese descent, Irish descent, etc., LGBTQIA+ people continue to be treated badly by ignorant bigots. Pride Month is working to end this.
By the way, I’m in a minority group. I'm left-handed. Only about 10 percent of the population is left-handed, and over the millennia, society has thought and done horrible things to us. Treated us as if we were mentally ill, sexual deviants, and possessed by The Devil. All attributes we were once thought to have.
Scott Duckett,
Fillmore

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To the Editor:
Second Opinion.
Because it's out there and those who speak of it loudest seem to be cynical or misinformed Repo politicos, let's briefly take up Critical Race Theory (CRT). It's a theory studied in law schools since the 1970's that emerged from Critical Legal Studies (lawyers-to-be turning a critical eye on their chosen profession).
During the civil rights era, CRT studied how how racism affects the legal system. Instead of addressing laws which are overtly racist (separate water fountains), the CRT theory considers laws which, when applied, are covertly racist: funding of schools based upon property tax revenues (being poor and black often go together). Or the exclusion in our history of Black, Mexican and Asian people (we can take up women's disappearance from history another time).
CRT is an evolving theory (theories always are) which considers race the product of social thought and not biology. It posits that racism is such a central issue in our country that it has permeated systems and institutions, like the legal system, to reproduce racial inequality. Law students recognized back then, and now, that the law can be used to maintain an unjust social order.
In PA, Repo lawmakers have passed a law that CRT cannot be taught in schools. But it isn't. It's a legal theory misunderstood or misappropriated by a bunch of people who know better; Ted "Daddy" Cruz for one. Interestingly, discussion of both "racism" and "sexism" (two heads of the same shrouded fear) is now illegal because PA legislators consider them "uncomfortable subjects."
Racism is well-embedded in our history and the focus on this vote-getting but ginned-up concern proves it. For Republicans, making white people afraid of "others" is a vote-getting bonanza. CRT is on fire as a subject on Fox Noose because it it inflames anxiety and fear of unwanted or unpleasant ideas. Some parents are willing to trade the ignorance of our students, their children, for their own Preferred Version of the World, making it folly to claim to be the Greatest Nation on Earth.
As always, Fear and Personal Preference are the calling cards of the GOP. If Republicans successfully misrepresent CRT, and the PA laws are adopted elsewhere, the only students who will know anything will be people of color.