Feel the Hate, TV Distorts Reality – American Family Association of Indiana
Note: Senate Bill 12 – protecting school children from “matter harmful to minors” could use your support. Please call your State Representative in the Indiana House (317-232-9600) and ask them to support SB 12.
If the World Hates You, Know they Hated Me First
Last Wednesday I testified in support of House Bill 1608. For four hours the Senate Education Committee heard testimony on this bill which protects K-3 aged children from instruction on human sexuality. Testimony was limited to 3 minutes. There were two testimonies somewhat supportive and two in support. The rest of the time was dominated by leftists, LGBT activists, and liberal ministers.
I was the next to last to testify. I do not usually “poke the bear” when I speak. I try to persuade with reason and common ground. Maybe I should have recalled the words of Ben Shapiro who said, “You can’t hold political conversations with people that are calling you evil.”
I don’t usually share my comments, but here is my testimony for you to consider, (I hope I represented your values well), then I will reveal the reaction to it.
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of this Committee. I am Micah Clark Director of the American Family Association of Indiana.
I support House Bill 1608 because I believe that both God in Genesis 1:27, as well as science, say that people are either male or female. Such things cannot change, they are designated at birth as fixed biological traits that go far beyond feelings or appearances.
Anywhere in the world, where there is an archaeological dig or where human skeletal remains are found, scientists determine rather quickly that this person was a male or a female by their bones, regardless of the culture they lived in, in what era of history, or what that person thought, how they behaved, or how they dressed.
Now, that is just my view, but a 2021 national poll by Rasmussen Reports found that 75% of Americans believe there are only two genders, that people are either male or female. Almost 70% said that they did not want a school counseling their child on gender identity without their consent.
If even 50% of teachers feel this way, this is a very divisive issue in a school. There are people on both sides of this issue.
Passing HB 1608 takes this controversial issue, and other human sexuality issues, out of the classroom for very young children. By passing this bill you will be protecting teachers from angry parents on both sides of sexual topics.
If first grader Johnny says, “I am a girl and the teacher says no you are a boy, and here’s why,” or if the teacher says, “yes John, you are now Jane”, either response could upset parents. The BEST answer is “you can talk to your parents about this.”
Parents are free to talk to their children about human sexuality issues, but when a teacher or counselor, or guest speaker, does it, all that might do is cause heartache for the school administrators and the school board.
Passing HB 1608 will keep this issue between a child and his parents where it belongs, and it protects K-3 teachers from unnecessary controversies associated with these hot-button issues, no matter where parents stand. Since we don’t teach sex ed until 6th grade, I’d like this bill expanded from K-5.
Last year, the Nation’s Report card of NAEP scores found that only 33% of Indiana’s fourth-grade students were proficient in reading. Only 40% were proficient in math.
Elementary teachers clearly have more important things to focus on than sexuality when 60% of Hoosier children are not where they ought to be in reading or math.
I encourage you, regardless of your view on sexuality, to support HB 1608 so at least K-3 teachers can focus on real educational academic priorities. Thank you.”
After this, I left the Senate Chambers. In the hall were perhaps a hundred LGBT activists who had been yelling, screaming, and chanting. As I exited the chamber someone in that group yelled loudly, “Hey Micah, F— You.” Then the whole throng began chanting “F You, F You” over and over. I smiled, waved, then turned to one of the doormen and said, “I guess this is the voice of tolerance.”
These activists who claim to value “tolerance” “love” and “diversity” really do not. If we think that being nice and reasonable will persuade them, or even cause them to respect our 1st Amendment rights, this incident shows the unlikelihood of that. Also, people who would come to the statehouse to angrily scream and cuss about not teaching little children about sex and gender have an agenda.
As you may have read, the Nashville Christian school shooting tragedy was committed by a young transgender possibly upset by Tennessee’s recent ban on gender drugs and surgeries for minors. It is the third school shooting in recent years involving a young, mentally-ill transgender shooter. On Monday, the Indiana House passed a similar ban (SB480) on a 65-30 vote. The bill will go to the Governor soon. Eleven states have such laws. Twenty other state legislatures are considering such legislation.
House Bill 1608 passed the Committee 9-4.
If you would like to support the work of AFA of Indiana, click here.
A Distorted View of America
A new survey by a homosexual demands group has found that there are 596 LGBT characters now on television shows. That does not count all those we now see in television commercials.
Even generous numbers find that the LGBT community is only one-fourth of the number of Americans who regularly attend religious services. Yet, how often do you see a sitcom or show with characters who attend church? How often do you see a Christian or pastor or priest portrayed in a show? On those few occasions, how often is that character portrayed in a positive manner?
Such a distortion is a big reason why people vastly overestimate the size of the LGBT community and underestimate faith in America.
Harmful Campus Ideologies
Gary Bauer of the Campaign for Working Families recently pointed out a disturbing finding. He wrote:
A recent Wall Street Journal editorial takes aim at the growing “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) bureaucracy on college campuses. This bureaucracy exists to push critical race theory into every aspect of campus life.
The recent debacle at Stanford Law School, which saw the school’s DEI officer join a woke mob in shouting down a respected federal judge, only underscores how the entire DEI complex is designed to silence conservative thought and enforce neo-Marxist groupthink. So, in reality, it is the exact opposite of “diversity” and “inclusion.”
The DEI bureaucracy is growing much faster than most people realize.
According to the Heritage Foundation, the average university now has 45 personnel devoted to DEI functions. DEI staff on most universities were 4.2 times the number of staff dedicated to assisting students with disabilities and 1.4 times the number of history professors on campus.
Sadly, the Heritage Foundation also found evidence that many DEI staff express anti-Israel and anti-Semitic views, again totally contrary to “diversity” and “inclusion.”
In Their Own Words:
“Nothing says ‘we respect women’ like elbowing them out of their own awards to laud a man who makes a mockery of womanhood.” – Elle Purnell
There will be no Friday Video this week.
