While what has happened abroad is capturing the attention of most of America, it is essential to remember that what happens within our borders is incredibly important. More than that, what happens to one’s child is arguably the most important of all.
As a result, seeing other parents push back on what they see as morally wrong is beyond critical, as it shows that resistance is possible and that there is an effective way to push back and rally support for what we might like to see in public life.
Such is the message to be gleaned from a video, one which came out in spring of 2023 but is from October of 2022, that shows a mother sounding off during a school board meeting and demanding answers as to why the school was pushing drag shows on kids and describing those events as “family friendly.” The powerful incident occurred in the Encinitas Union School District of California.
Putting her question in its proper context from the start, the enraged mama bear asked, “I just wanna know what it is that makes a drag show “family-friendly.” Because, if you follow it to its logical conclusion, you can slap “family-friendly” titles on anything. You can have “family-friendly” gentlemen’s clubs, “family-friendly” strip shows, “family-friendly” Fifty Shades of Grey read aloud. Will you approve my flyer if I want to host an “All the sex secrets of the Kama Sutra for kids and families” IF it’s “family-friendly”? That’s my question.”
Continuing, she brought out even more detail to defend her opposition to the events for kids, saying, “What is it about a grown man, and I honestly, sincerely as a woman, mean this, what is it about a grown man costumed in a sparkly bra with augmented boobs busting out a leather mini skirt barely covering his twerking a** with tuck-tape on the front spreading his fish-netted legs as he writhes on the ground, grinding his groin NEXT TO A MINOR, that’s “family-friendly”?”
She used that to obliterate the board for what its policies were doing to kids, saying, “And while we have a culture that has a MASSIVE problem with child porn, with sex trafficking, you, a… school district full of adults made a decision to feature an event to hypersexualize young children.”
She added, “You all stepped out of line, you should be ashamed, there’s nothing loving, there’s nothing “let’s unite and include” because the logical conclusion of that is you end up in diabolical evil. There are boundaries and you don’t slap “family-friendly” titles on stuff to cover your a**!”
The background of the incident is that, in October of 2022, the school district announced the “queerest free Halloween party for youth and families,” Parents were outraged and quickly protested the event, which they saw as sexualizing kids.
Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner-Horvath, for her part, defended the party, saying, “Our communities here in Encinitas and La Costa overwhelmingly welcome and support our LGBTQIA+ members. This manufactured controversy stemmed from largely out-of-town, homophobic extremists intent on dividing us. They failed — if they had any shame, they’d be ashamed. While EUSD did not host this event, district staff and parents fully appreciate the need to create inclusive, supportive environments for all of our youth. We celebrate our diversity here in North County, especially because it is the family-friendly thing to do.”
