You know how the Left is always accusing conservatives of “weaponizing” things? We saw starting last fall that the Left was going to start weaponizing the burgeoning movement for parents’ rights. Last November, Fox News’ Juan Williams claimed that parents’ rights was just “code” for “white race politics.” We were assured that parents’ rights was “a centerpiece of a GOP that is increasingly hostile to public education AND democracy.” While addressing Virginia’s General Assembly this January, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said that “we will protect and reassert” the right of parents “to make decisions with regard to your child’s upbringing, education, and care.” Every Democrat sat silently while the Republicans applauded. So, yeah, “parents’ rights” is a bad thing.
And along comes The Bulwark with a new essay claiming that Youngkin believes in parents’ rights, but only for the “right” kind of parents.
Youngkin’s proposal is just the latest example of a Republican culture war that preaches “parents’ rights” for only certain kinds of parents. (Straight republican Fox News watchers)
Wonderful essay by superstar @AnsleySkipper https://t.co/Mc0wOjIeqj
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) October 19, 2022
Thanks Tim!
— Ansley Skipper (@AnsleySkipper) October 19, 2022
Ansley Skipper writes:
Youngkin’s proposal is just the latest example of a Republican culture war that preaches “parents’ rights” for some, but not for all.
From Alabama to Oklahoma to Tennessee, Republican-controlled states are enacting laws that restrict transgender students from using bathrooms which align with their gender identity. In even more states, trans students are banned from playing on sports teams that match their identity. It doesn’t matter what a trans student’s parents want. (It doesn’t even matter whether or not there are any trans athletes trying to join school sports teams.)
Even more extreme are efforts to ban or criminalize gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth. In such instances, parents can’t seek certain types of medical care for their transgender children because the state has already decided for them.
We don’t see the “straight Republican Fox News watchers” line in the piece, so that must have come from The Bulwark’s Tim Miller.
Superstar, lol.
— KetoMandy (@keto_mandy) October 19, 2022
Just an example of straw-manning by @AnsleySkipper and the Bulwark here.
First, they portray Youngkin's policies as quite literally preventing the parents of school children from choosing that child's nickname or pronoun.
— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) October 19, 2022
Example:
"Youngkin..seeks to prevent teachers..from referring to transgender students by…preferred names and pronouns. Which I guess means that neither the students, nor the parents…get to make decisions about important educational matters such as . . . nicknames."
/2
— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) October 19, 2022
Another example:
"So if the trans kid—or any kid—and the kid’s parents and the kid’s teacher all want to call the kid Sonny, or Red, or Lefty—well, they’re out of luck. Governor Youngkin has reserved that decision, value, and belief for himself."
/3
— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) October 19, 2022
Per Ms. Skipper "Youngkin’s proposal"–i.e. the "proposed new model education policies regarding transgender students" linked to below–"is just the latest example of a Republican culture war that preaches 'parents’ rights” for some, but not for all."
— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) October 19, 2022
Don’t tell us you’re one of those parents who makes a big deal out of the school “transitioning” your child without even telling you.
The problem is, THAT ISN'T WHAT THE POLICIES SAY AT ALL.
They, in fact, say the exact opposite, quite explicitly.
"Schools shall defer to parents to make the best decisions with respect to their children…" including pronouns.
/5
— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) October 19, 2022
The policies *explicitly* allow parents to choose pronouns/nicknames for kids: "Parents are in the best position…to determine (a) what names, nicknames, and/or pronouns, if any, shall be used for their child by teachers and school staff while their child is at school…"
/6
— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) October 19, 2022
The model school policies make state that if parents notify the school in writing "personnel shall refer to a student by a name other than one in the student’s official record, or by pronouns other than those appropriate to the sex appearing in the student’s official record.."
/7— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) October 19, 2022
In fact, the sole nods to anything even remotely "anti-trans parents" are (a) that schools "shall not compel [School Division] personnel or other students to address or refer to students in any manner that would violate their constitutionally protected rights…"
/8
— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) October 19, 2022
(b) the parents must notify the school in writing of their child's new nickname/gender, and (c) official school records must be kept in the legal name of the child.
/9
— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) October 19, 2022
Then when called on the very very basic factual inaccuracies in the piece, Ms. Skipper retorted that "The rhetoric doesn’t match the actual mechanics of the policies."
— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) October 19, 2022
Uh…what?
I responded asking if that was a joke, considering (a) the piece specifically used the policies to frame the piece; (b) made (false) statements about what was in the policies; and then (c) specifically said the policies were the latest salvo in the culture wars.
/11
— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) October 19, 2022
Moreover, the piece isn't about rhetoric, it's literally about things like "Republican-controlled states…enacting laws that restrict transgender students from using bathrooms which align with their gender identity."
/12
— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) October 19, 2022
The facts as stated in this article are simply wrong and no hand-waving about rhetoric can fix that.
/13
— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) October 19, 2022
Media lies about policy. Policy explained using, oddly, excerpts from the written policy. Media lies about it again. Day ending in "y" https://t.co/TyzRA7I1mC
— Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) October 19, 2022
That's not even remotely true. Anyone can look up the language of Youngkin's policy and see that you're lying about it. But I guess that's expected from The Bulwark. https://t.co/NAB7XcjL2x
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 19, 2022
Look, a direct link to the Department of Education’s policy.
If you have to lie about the policy to criticize it, you're an activist, not a journalist.
— fata4life (@elivenspire) October 19, 2022
https://twitter.com/Weezy_352/status/1582746659007520768
"The Conservative Case For Mandatory Toddler Transitioning"
— Siconik (@Siconik1) October 19, 2022
How dare those pesky parents get in the way of the blue-haired 20-something progressive trying to convince an 8 year old they are non-binary!
— ConservaBear (@Conserva_Bear) October 19, 2022
How dare parents get involved in their children's education? Thank you for warning us about this ominous and growing threat to governmental power.
— Chad Ragsdale (@caragsdale) October 19, 2022
https://twitter.com/seniordogzrule/status/1582755511790751744
Yes it’s easy to tear down a straw man when you blatantly lie about the basic facts of the policy. Maybe you all at The Bulwark can rediscover enough integrity to correct or remove this piece.
— Rightward Mike (@RightwardMike) October 19, 2022
The whole grifting Bulwark crew make me physically ill.
— Eurasian Princess (@LukeHandCool2) October 19, 2022
So we’re supposed to conserve conservatism by making schools the nurturing safe space for trans kids and assume parents are the enemy who won’t properly affirm their child’s new gender.
***
Related:
‘Two-faced TOOL’! David French FINALLY drawing the line after Newsom signs bill to revoke out-of-state parents’ rights over trans kids backfireshttps://t.co/worslL1Fqd
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 4, 2022
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