A teacher in Cobb County, Atlanta, was fired after a contentious 4-3 vote for reading a children's book that was deemed to "consider gender beyond binary."
When I was in fifth grade, I was on home instruction for a while in between being placed in a school (long story), and the teacher would meet me at a local library, where I'd have hours to spend just reading random stuff. I came across the famous, at least in the past, non-fiction work "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask)", and it was quite explicit, but in truth it was exploring concepts, not indoctrinating me, not influencing me. If we go down this road, of banning books, censoring information out of fear, even the seemingly rational fear of harm to kids (on balance, they lose and are already beginning to lose, just by seeing the backlash to what they thought was a new day of trans equality), we are not the great society we came in the ballpark of being, for a brief while.
There is a teacher shortage in this country. With the enactment of the copycat "Don't Say Gay" bill in NC yesterday, teachers here are expressing bewilderment about how to proceed. They are saying they did not sign up to be culture monitors with real penalties for missteps and are questioning whether it's worth it to be a teacher. The Florida law this is based on was just struck down.
One use of they/them pronouns in a book, oh no what a threat /s
As a non-binary person who uses they/them pronouns, it’s great to know my existence is a threat to Georgia’s youth and that I’d be unable to take a teaching job in several southern states
Katie Rinderle's story really highlights how the right wing is leveraging anti-trans bias to undermine trust in teachers & schools (and vice versa). I think there are lots of lawmakers and voters on the left who don't realize this - who care deeply about supporting schools but still think of trans rights as a 'fringe' issue that they don't have to prioritize. They need to understand that the far right has bound these issues together, for better or for worse, so the left needs to commit to fighting for both.
Also going on in Georgia: an out-of-session Senate committee meeting next week on a Don't Say Gay or Trans bill... and a judge's decision coming any day on a preliminary injunction for a gender-affirming care ban. If you have trans friends or allies in Georgia, send them some love!
It's a beautiful book. I grew up in a religious environment that restricted my access to books. Banning or burning it's all the same, they are afraid of what the written word can do. So let's just keep using it.
😒😓...didn’t a bunch of techy folks make a Minecraft world with a huge library for countries that were banning books a few years back? Has anyone done that with banned books for the US yet?
We left public schools in Florida to protect our child and now they are going after private schools. I feel like I’m going to lose my fucking mind. Look at what they are now attempting in Private Schools here.. if you don’t follow Anna Eskamani, Erin, definitely do so. 😭😭😭😭😭 I’m losing it.
The school culture wars are just intense these days, and in addition to students, teachers will also be hurt because they won’t be sure how to proceed and how to avoid getting ensnared in penalties. Also, took note of the school board’s 4-3 vote along party lines. Just one more example of how we are a deeply polarized country these days....seemingly everything is along party lines. Very sad.
They want to control teachers who are allies, and it's one of the more sickening dimensions of a generally sickening agenda. We will be damned if this is our future. There will be no mob rule. Liberty is hard fought, but we're ready to fight.
This is a beautiful book about inclusion and equality, which is the complete opposite of the strict hierarchy of cishet white male domination the far right seeks to maintain
The four people who voted to dismiss her. Is there any dirt in their personal lives that should be brought to light seeing as how they are self-appointed guardians of morality and holiness? That's how these people need to be fought.
It's so sad that kids won't be exposed to books that might help them discover who they are and help them feel like they matter and they're allowed to exist just because of some people who ban them because it's sensitive to the community.
It’s totally disgusting that those politicians and parents want to make sure that kids only get the education that adheres to their bigoted beliefs. Keep doing the good work.
Atlanta Georgia will be using tax money to settle this eventual lawsuit....really hurts your personal piggy bank to vote red. But hey, spend your money how you wish!
It’s interesting that nobody was trying to ban discussion about queer ppl when i was in school and the discussions in classrooms were always about how evil and immoral queerness is
i guess telling 7th graders that gay ppl are evil is “age appropriate” but telling 7th graders that gay people are just people who exist is beyond the pale
I can't believe that it literally says "Once. Use of They/Them pronouns" as justification for her firing.
When I was in fifth grade, I was on home instruction for a while in between being placed in a school (long story), and the teacher would meet me at a local library, where I'd have hours to spend just reading random stuff. I came across the famous, at least in the past, non-fiction work "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask)", and it was quite explicit, but in truth it was exploring concepts, not indoctrinating me, not influencing me. If we go down this road, of banning books, censoring information out of fear, even the seemingly rational fear of harm to kids (on balance, they lose and are already beginning to lose, just by seeing the backlash to what they thought was a new day of trans equality), we are not the great society we came in the ballpark of being, for a brief while.
There is a teacher shortage in this country. With the enactment of the copycat "Don't Say Gay" bill in NC yesterday, teachers here are expressing bewilderment about how to proceed. They are saying they did not sign up to be culture monitors with real penalties for missteps and are questioning whether it's worth it to be a teacher. The Florida law this is based on was just struck down.
This is utterly ridiculous and enraging
One use of they/them pronouns in a book, oh no what a threat /s
As a non-binary person who uses they/them pronouns, it’s great to know my existence is a threat to Georgia’s youth and that I’d be unable to take a teaching job in several southern states
I think I’ll buy this book for my kid
I’m really tired of living in this country bleh
They have a point though, you were constantly exposed to media with cisgendered characters and therefore you turned out cisgen- oh wait
😂
Update: I read this to my kid. The one “they” isn’t even super obvious, they don’t even use the word “pronoun”
The back of the book mentions “gender beyond the binary” ohh scary lol
Thank you so much for elevating this, Erin.
Here is a GoFundMe for the teacher: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-katie-rinderle
And if you're curious about the book, you can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDLvFOk7E2Q
Katie Rinderle's story really highlights how the right wing is leveraging anti-trans bias to undermine trust in teachers & schools (and vice versa). I think there are lots of lawmakers and voters on the left who don't realize this - who care deeply about supporting schools but still think of trans rights as a 'fringe' issue that they don't have to prioritize. They need to understand that the far right has bound these issues together, for better or for worse, so the left needs to commit to fighting for both.
Also going on in Georgia: an out-of-session Senate committee meeting next week on a Don't Say Gay or Trans bill... and a judge's decision coming any day on a preliminary injunction for a gender-affirming care ban. If you have trans friends or allies in Georgia, send them some love!
It's a beautiful book. I grew up in a religious environment that restricted my access to books. Banning or burning it's all the same, they are afraid of what the written word can do. So let's just keep using it.
😒😓...didn’t a bunch of techy folks make a Minecraft world with a huge library for countries that were banning books a few years back? Has anyone done that with banned books for the US yet?
That would be a good project to undertake
We need more queer books in our schools! GLSEN’s Rainbow Library grants can help: https://www.rainbowlibrary.org/#
We left public schools in Florida to protect our child and now they are going after private schools. I feel like I’m going to lose my fucking mind. Look at what they are now attempting in Private Schools here.. if you don’t follow Anna Eskamani, Erin, definitely do so. 😭😭😭😭😭 I’m losing it.
The school culture wars are just intense these days, and in addition to students, teachers will also be hurt because they won’t be sure how to proceed and how to avoid getting ensnared in penalties. Also, took note of the school board’s 4-3 vote along party lines. Just one more example of how we are a deeply polarized country these days....seemingly everything is along party lines. Very sad.
They want to control teachers who are allies, and it's one of the more sickening dimensions of a generally sickening agenda. We will be damned if this is our future. There will be no mob rule. Liberty is hard fought, but we're ready to fight.
This is a beautiful book about inclusion and equality, which is the complete opposite of the strict hierarchy of cishet white male domination the far right seeks to maintain
The four people who voted to dismiss her. Is there any dirt in their personal lives that should be brought to light seeing as how they are self-appointed guardians of morality and holiness? That's how these people need to be fought.
It's so sad that kids won't be exposed to books that might help them discover who they are and help them feel like they matter and they're allowed to exist just because of some people who ban them because it's sensitive to the community.
It’s totally disgusting that those politicians and parents want to make sure that kids only get the education that adheres to their bigoted beliefs. Keep doing the good work.
Atlanta Georgia will be using tax money to settle this eventual lawsuit....really hurts your personal piggy bank to vote red. But hey, spend your money how you wish!
It’s interesting that nobody was trying to ban discussion about queer ppl when i was in school and the discussions in classrooms were always about how evil and immoral queerness is
i guess telling 7th graders that gay ppl are evil is “age appropriate” but telling 7th graders that gay people are just people who exist is beyond the pale