Ever notice how all those right wing groups of mothers are so concerned about keeping their little kids safe from seeing and hearing what they deem as perverse? As a baby boomer who has learned to be tolerant of differing lifestyles and personal tastes, I can ‘shake my head’ at what I call weird behavior. As one who supports the rights of others to maintain a gay or transgender lifestyle, I do have to make a face when I see some of the participants in gay pride festivities. Just as I felt the same way when, as a father of young boys, I shook my head at seeing NFL cheerleaders dress as provocatively as possible while simulating sexual bumps and grinds… sending what kind of a signal to youngsters? Whether it is a gay man dressing and acting like a red light district prostitute, or the aforementioned cheerleader showing lots of T&A on the boob tube, it is tasteless to say the least. Hey right wing ‘ Freedom and Liberty’ moms, go after the T& A cheerleaders with the same vigor as you go after gay folks.
The DeSantis regime here in Florida, and other right wing regimes in other states, will do anything to suppress teaching the history of American slavery in our schools. I recall one year ago when actual Texas state educators, people we trust to mentor our children, wanted to have the Texas schools refer to slavery as ‘ Involuntary Relocation’. Thank goodness the Texas Board of Education rejected this proposal. Did they fire those educators? Not at all. Yet, if a teacher dared to counteract the legal whims of men like DeSantis and Abbott and teach Critical Race Theory, they were fired! We gotta keep those students oblivious to what went on in our country during the slave days. All those ‘ Moms for Liberty’ probably would love to have the schools teach the new game in town: White Replacement Theory. This is to drown our students with the Kool-Aid that white Americans are under threat to be replaced in hierarchy by brown and black folks. THIS is the #1 reason why the immigration tango is being danced so much by the right wing. Of course, many businesses just love the fact of getting the undocumented ( AKA Illegal Aliens) to work for lower wages.
If one studies the Nazi era in Germany, one can see how gay and transgender people were persecuted. As far as needing cheap labor, what was better than having concentration camp inmates and forced laborers from conquered countries work for ‘ The Fatherland’? In the schools we already should realize how the propaganda filtered down from Goebbels and company. Perhaps not as harsh in intent, but the right wing American playbook of demonizing illegal immigrants and gays and trans people can mirror the German assault on Jews and gays. In the eyes of both extremist mindsets all this is and was done to ‘ Protect our children’…plain and simple!