As parents become more aware of what radical activists are teaching their kids in school, a group of House Republicans held a “Back-to-School Roundtable” on Capitol Hill aimed at protecting children from LGBT ideology.
“We have seen school boards, teachers unions, and even the Department of Justice attempt to hijack parental rights. But these people do not have our kids’ and grandkids’ best interests at heart,” Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., said in her opening remarks.
House Republicans’ Protect Kids Caucus hosted the meeting Thursday morning to bring together lawmakers, concerned parents, and members of the Independent Women’s Forum, a conservative group.
“Back-to-school season is now well underway. Parents expect to send their children to school to learn math, science, reading, and writing,” Lesko told participants. “Instead, they are finding that schools are becoming a center for sexualizing and indoctrinating their children.”
In an interview afterward, Lesko told The Daily Signal that she plans to draft legislation to counter LGBT ideology in schools if Republicans recapture the House majority following the midterm elections Nov. 8.
“I think when Republicans take back the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, we’re going to stop some of this insanity of having books in schools that have graphic pornography, sex, and oral sex between the same sex,” she said. “Republicans are opposed to the sexualization of young children in our schools.”
Lesko was joined at the roundtable by four other House Republicans: Reps. Mary Miller of Illinois, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, and Carol Miller of West Virginia.
West Virginia’s Miller, a certified teacher, said she is worried about teachers beginning to indoctrinate children with LGBT ideology rather than educate them.
“I’m of the generation where we had to fight for women’s rights,” she said. “Now they can’t even tell you what a woman is. We have the cart in front of the horse, and it’s time that we make a stand to protect our children.”
Brandon Michon, a parent and former congressional candidate from Loudoun County, Virginia, called on the assembled GOP lawmakers to force the issue in Congress because it is the most important problem facing the nation.
“You guys are the voice of the people; parents can’t always speak up,” Michon told the House Republicans on the panel. “Which one of you is willing to jump neck-deep into this filth to solve the problem? If you’re not willing to do it as our elected representatives, how can we expect parents to risk their livelihoods?”
A video of Michon, a father of four, went viral in January 2021 after he criticized members of the Loudoun County School Board during a public forum for continuing to keep schools closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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In an interview with The Daily Signal, Michon said, “There are so many issues going on within politics, whether it’s taxes, immigration, numerous things that were mentioned. This is the most important.”
He added: “Do I think members of Congress are doing enough? Truthful answer is no.”
Chris Elston, a father from Vancouver, British Columbia, also spoke as part of the panel.
Elston, better known by some as “Billboard Chris,” outlined how transgender ideology is having real, harmful impacts for children in America and Canada.
He described himself as a “canary in the coal mine,” warning Americans about how bad things could get if LGBT policy is allowed to spread unfettered.
Elston showed attendees videos that had been released and subsequently removed by Boston Children’s Hospital describing so-called gender-affirming procedures performed there.
After showing a video claiming that toddlers and infants could decide whether they are transgender, Elston said: “What an abusive thing to say to a child, that they might be born in the wrong body.”
“This is the biggest medical abuse scandal we have ever seen,” Elston said. “This transcends politics. We don’t want to look back at this period in time and say we did nothing.”
Elston later told The Daily Signal that he is thankful that Americans are willing to speak out about gender ideology, because his home country of Canada has been completely taken over by it.
“Gender identity ideology is being pushed more through schools throughout Canada and from our government corporations. They’re all captured by this,” Elston said. “I’m just thankful that people are willing to speak up about this and act proactively to try to put a stop to this, because no one’s willing to do so in Canada.”
Carrie Lukas, president of Independent Women’s Forum, told The Daily Signal that kids need to be sheltered from inappropriate content.
“We all know that when it comes to kids, you censor yourself because they’re children and they don’t need to see everything under the sun,” Lukas said.
Panelist Nicole Solas, a Rhode Island mom who was sued by the National Education Association for questioning the teaching of critical race theory, agreed.
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Solas told The Daily Signal that the problem stems from ideologues who are manipulating and threatening good people into believing lies.
“I think really good-hearted people have been manipulated and convinced that if you question gender ideology, you are as bad as someone who was against the civil rights movement,” she said.
“Schools, legislatures, and medical institutions will have you believe that this new pseudoscience of being born in the wrong body is simply a more evolved way of thinking about humanity. And we really need to start challenging all of these institutions.”
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