GOP states take an ugly new turn in the culture wars with 'forced outing'

[Nevilledog]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/24/forced-outing-lgbtq-rights-pen-america-transgender/

No paywall
https://archive.li/rSzMQ

Like all moral panics inevitably do, the right-wing movement seeking to reshape public education across the country has perpetually expanded its quest for new enemies to target. Libraries are purging books on increasingly flimsy grounds. Teachers are getting fired for absurdly trivial violations. State laws censoring ever more forms of classroom expression continue to pile up.

The mania has taken another disturbing turn: Republican state legislatures are increasingly pushing forward with proposals that, in effect, would require schools to report to parents when a student shows certain signs of LGBTQ+ self-identification.

This trend is documented in a new report from PEN America, which details that such bills have “exploded in popularity” and “become part of a concerted national campaign.” PEN America, like other critics, dubs them “forced outing bills.”

On the surface, the proposals sometimes appear innocuous, requiring schools to report to parents on students’ “well-being.” Obviously, parents must be kept apprised of serious developments implicating students’ welfare and, in some cases, that includes matters of sexuality and gender. Ideally, however, this occurs as part of a healthy process in which parents and teachers both have the good of students in mind and collaborate accordingly.

*snip*

[Biophilic]

1. But, unfortunately, none of this has "the good of the students in mind".

[viva la]

2. A dad I know said that he had to sign a form that said his daughter's name was Grace.

She's in first grade.
Then a day later he got a form from the teacher asking him to aver that she is allowed to be called "Gracie" in the classroom because that's what she calls herself.

Okay, so in addition to getting the kids acquainted with each other, teaching them to read and count, keeping them safe at recess, making sure they get to the bathroom, and so on... the teacher is supposed to police their nicknames? And for what? So that the government can force them to harass any kid who might be trans?

I'd say these people are nuts, but they're not. They're rotten to the core, hateful and spiteful.

[Boomerproud]

3. This is completely out of control.

nt

[Solly Mack]

4. They are grooming children to hate. They are grooming children to be afraid.

And they are doing so to force children to conform to, or at least pretend (out of fear) to conform to, how they think the world should be and the gender roles they have decided boys and girls fall into.

They are not the least bit concerned about the well-being of children. They are concerned with how they feel about living in a world that is more complex and more nuanced than the simple-minded black/white dynamic they feel most comfortable with.

They live in fear, so they act to control their environment and that does include the people within that environment.

Children are easier to influence, to groom, to indoctrinate/inculcate.

If they aren't getting it at home (right-wing thought) from their right-wing parents, then they are determined that children will get it at school, where peer pressure and the need to belong are huge factors in shaping a child's behavior. Parents who do not hold to the warped right-wing ideology will be fighting against just not those in power forcing these rules and regulations (re: beliefs and ideas) on others, but they will be fighting against the pressure kids put on each other to accept certain behaviors and attitudes.

If the kids won't conform then they will be ostracized and bullied by teachers, other adults, and children who have been suckled on hate since birth.

All in an attempt to control behavior and influence beliefs.

Much like the right shape politics at the grass roots by taking over school boards and such, they have set their sights on shaping society by going after children across the board.

They need the world to conform to their beliefs. They don't want to hear that the world is not like they believe it is.

Otherwise, they are wrong. Everything they believe is wrong. Everything they have based their life on is wrong. Their very core is based on a lie. And they would rather harm people than face up to the reality that they are wrong.

They are afraid and their fear makes them dangerous.