After the Loudon County Public School Board attempted to suspend teacher Bryon Tanner Cross for opposing gender policy rules and his views on Critical Race Theory, parents and public commentators either vocalized their support for him or criticized the school board itself. Many parents even asked the board where their respect for freedom of expression has gone.
Cross drew a lot of criticism last month when he refused to confirm that a biological boy can be a girl, adding that it’s against his religion and a lie from a child. Only when he was told not to come to the school’s premises did parents begin to speak up.
The draft policy 8040 would require Loudoun staff to use preferred pronouns and allow gender-expansive or transgender students to use their chosen name and gender pronouns that reflect their gender identity. The policy reads that the school staff, at the request of a student or parent, must address the student with the pronoun that corresponds to their gender identity. The policy states that in refusing to respect a student’s gender identity or using the wrong name and gender pronoun, the staff member is in violation of the policy.
“When I saw a teacher expressing an opinion and suspended for expressing my religious beliefs, I could no longer be silent. When did it become acceptable to be tolerant when someone expressed an opinion that we Agree? When is it appropriate to keep quiet for people who believe in Christian, biblical views just because you don’t?” Asked parent Rachel Pisani, a mother of three in Loudon County.
Another woman told the board that being threatened with termination for speaking one’s opinion creates a “culture of fear and silence” and doesn’t help anyone on any side of the aisle. Some teachers even expressed their concerns on gender and religion, including teacher Monica Gill who explained that she has conservative views on a liberal-based agenda. She said that the board’s suspension looks “more like totalitarianism, not a constitution.”
Another teacher, Jeremy Wright, left a copy of the First Amendment on the podium and told members that their assignment is to read the copy of the First Amendment attached. He called the school board “fascists” and said he hopes they will learn something from it.
But this is just the latest incident of many in Loudon County Public Schools. Parents also sued administrators over its “equity student ambassador” program, which restricts eligibility to non-White individuals and requires they hold certain views about social justice. The program is supposedly designed to “flag perceived micro-aggressions” or other “bias” between students.
When asked if a White student could serve in the equity program, the county said that this opportunity is specifically for students of color and that each school has the option to create affinity groups for students who all share a similar racial identity.
Parents explained that they were worried about the school systems seeing so much controversy over race and identity and said that they do not want students indoctrinated into a particular philosophy or theory.
Schoolteacher Lilit Vanetsyan said that parents should not be afraid to speak out for their kids because they are voiceless and that you should be afraid of them rooting for socialism by the time they get to middle school.
“Challenge the staff when you’re presented with a ludicrous statement and do not allow anybody to tell you that you cannot accomplish anything because of your skin color, or to hate yourself because of your skin color. Students, it is up to you to be the next generation of victims or victors. And finally, to the board, this isn’t over,” Vanetsyan said.
While the Loudon County school board said that they were not adopting Critical Race Theory or other diversity training, then-acting Superintendent Scott Ziegler said that they are trying to provide a “welcoming, inclusive, and affirming environment for all students.”
The Fight for Schools organization even drafted a Parents Bill of Rights to call on the school board to focus on transparency and scrap any CRT-related pieces of training or curriculum altogether.
The left wants to imprison children in their skin color and tell them not to read, write and do the math, but turn against one another. The radical left spends all their time talking about police reform when they really need teachers’ reform.
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