Books that include references to inclusion, rainbow families and differences in sexuality and gender are increasingly being challenged.
Recently in Los Angeles protestors targeted schools that celebrated Pride month. On June 2nd police officers had to attend Santicoy Elementary School in Los Angeles where protesters accused teachers of trying to “groom” children for pedophiles by reading a story about the different kinds of families.
The book that triggered the protests was The Great Big Book of Families by Mary Hoffman.
Days after the protest the local school board met for their regular meeting, and discussing the protests and parents’ concerns was on the agenda. The President of the School Board, 78-year-old Jackie Goldberg, didn’t hold back on sharing her thoughts.
Goldberg highlighted that the book had just one sentence that people were taking offence at; a line that proclaimed that families could have parents who are two mothers or two fathers.
The School Board President noted that the school had informed all parents of the content of the assembly session in advance, and they had also been given the option of removing their children if they disagreed with the content.
“I’ve been confronting this issue my entire life.” Golberg said. “I have been threatened, I have been harassed, I’ve been denied jobs, because of who I am, and who I love.”
Goldberg said those protesting had made a decision based on hearsay.
“They made a decision based on agitators, not from their community, but from outside their community who saw an opportunity to take advantage of the real fears of people.”
“Nobody has to accept me.” the educator said. “I’m not looking for your acceptance. But you better treat me the same way you treat everyone else. That’s how we live in this country.
“You don’t have to love me. You don’t have to like me. You can think I’m the devil incarnate – but you better treat me like a decent human being because that’s how I treat you, even though you don’t believe that I have the right to exist.
“I am very tired of having young people and adults in the LGBT community hear three days of yelling and screaming about this. What do you think that did to them!” Goldberg asked, her emotions rising.
“What do you think that did to every gay teacher, every gay custodian, every gay worker in this city, every gay kid?” Goldberg asked.
“What do you think that did to them – it made them afraid.” she said, answering her own question while slamming her hand down on the desk. “It made them afraid. How dare you make them afraid, because you are.”
Watch the powerful speech.
Goldberg’s speech gets underway at the 2:44:12
Goldberg was a teacher for 16 years in Los Angeles, before being elected to the School Board in the early 1980s. She went on to have a career in politics serving on the L.A City Council before being elected to the state assembly where she served for six years.
In 2019 she came out of retirement and ran once again for the school board, filling a special vacancy. The following year was re-elected for a four-year term, and in January this year became the board’s president.
In her speech, that has been viewed over a million times online, Goldberg calls on politicians, parents and the media to keep things in perspective describing the political firestorm as a manufactured crisis.
Goldberg argues that books about transgender people, drag queens, rainbow families, gender and sexuality are not a threat to children.
“We pose no risk,” she told The Washington Post, “and the folks that are trying to say that we pose a risk are trying to create fear and anxiety for political gain and for no other reason than that.”
OIP Staff
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