Transgender Day of Visibility

TOWN HALL TRANSGENDER RIGHTS: At last night's Town Hall, one of the top focuses of the GOP was the Women's Athletics a/k/a anti-trans kids bill. It was the only area of questioning last night where my temper was tried and I kept the responses as milquetoast as possible to avoid escalating with them.

Today is Trans Visibility Day. And Axios published a data heavy article on anti-trans legislation. A key component to keep in mind is that this focus on Women's athletics is not a random choice of focus. Axios shows a majority of Americans support laws protecting Trans people, but a majority support requiring Trans kids to play on sports teams that reflect their gender assigned at birth. So anti-Trans efforts are focused on this narrow wedge issue, which as I explained last night, is used to put a definition into law that there are two genders and you can only be the one assigned at birth. Basically defining Trans kids out of existence in law. So it is important to always push back on this issue, but it needs to be done with finesse as it has been chosen by anti-Trans activists as it puts them on their strongest foot.

State of play: The legislative proposals come at a time when roughly eight in 10 Americans believe there's some discrimination against transgender people in our society, a 2022 Pew Research Center survey found.

• The survey also found that most Americans favor laws to protect trans people from discrimination.

• But the survey also gave a clue why conservative Christians and Republicans have focused on high school athletes in many bills: It said about six in 10 Americans favor requiring transgender athletes to compete on teams that match their sex at birth.

https://www.axios.com/.../31/anti-trans-bills-2023-america

Representative Bob Marshall

#transgenderdayofvisibility #transrights #transyouth

*This post is solely the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Douglas Co. Democratic Party.

Doug Co School Board Public Comment 3-28-23

I am a 30 year veteran of teaching middle school, I understand the importance of

#inclusion and #diversity to a child’s well-being and #education. I’ll start by pushing

back against 3 words that have been twisted in education. First, WOKE simply

means caring and recognizing injustice. CRT is an example of a lie told oft enough

becomes the truth. The Nazi architect of useful misinformation utilized this

strategy to turn Germans against Jews. Yes, Nazis. The shouted lie of CRT has the

sole purpose of diminishing Black History. And last, the ugliest of all dog whistles,

is calling teachers groomers. Let’s remember that more children are groomed and

assaulted by religious leaders and family members than teachers by a factor of

1000s.

The Hanover survey stated that respondents are concerned about #transparency in

school structure including our school board.

I don’t trust Mr. Peterson. And I had hoped for better from Superintendent Kane.

It appears that decisions are guided by huddling with organizations such as FAIR,

CPAN, and Moms for Liberty, groups that are opposed to public education. Mr.

Peterson, in particular, is clearly influenced by and steeped in harmful

misinformation from such groups. He has dismissed sound research regarding

child abuse and identity, turning instead to the inaccurate perceptions put forth

by small minds and smaller hearts. I ask you to become more WOKE. Get out of

your silo.

How do religious forces rate such an outsized influence in our district? Very few

Hanover survey respondents, indeed only 20%, consider religious belief as criteria

for school matters. 20%! Where are Mr. Peterson’s values regarding

representation? Shouldn’t ALL your constituents have a voice, not just those who

gave you obscene amounts of money and pressure you to follow their lead, no

matter how disrespectful to the families you represent?

My final concern... Wow, once again the DCSD has opened themselves to another

Civil Rights lawsuit. According to the Hanover website they assist the clients to

craft survey questions and responses. It appears some agency of the district

included responses asking about religious beliefs. School boards are a local

government entity and are expected to follow the law and separating matters of

church and state.Constitution.

Despite the loud, aggressive, uninformed voices trying to insist America is

a “Christian Nation,” recent surveys show 40% of Americans claim no

religious affiliation and almost 10% practice a faith other than Christianity.

Please stop inserting your Christian beliefs where it is both illegal and

unwelcome.

Katie Barrett, Castle Rock

*This is solely the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Douglas Co. Democratic Party.

Rep. Marshall Townhall Observations 3-30-23

I attended Rep. Marshall’s public town hall last night, and once again came away with a high degree of satisfaction that the work and money #DougCoDems put into his campaign were well spent.

Frankly, Rep. Marshall’s public demeanor is a breath of fresh air in the political arena. Tonight, he was assertive and respectful to each of his constituents, including those obviously sent by the opposition to confront him.

I don’t agree with all of his votes, but I’m never at a loss to understand why he is voting as he does, because he is 100% #transparent with his logic and decisions. And I also know that he is voting and supporting his legislative colleagues on our side. Recently, I testified on a bill before the House Judiciary Committee, and it was apparent members on both sides of the aisle respect Rep. Marshall’s thinking and opinions.

From my perspective, the moderate Democrats in the House deserve acknowledgement when they stand against the kind of legislative overreach that comes with a political supermajority. The primary reason Democrats have lost majorities at every level of government is the tendency to start costly programs and enact new laws that expand government too much. And this Legislative Session is no exception.

I live in HD39, represented by the opposition. My elected Representative recently held a so-called town hall meeting without notifying her constituents.

I’m not at all worried that Bob Marshall would pull such a stunt. Kudos to Rep Marshall. Keep up the good work. #RepBobMarshall #ColoHD43

#HighlandsRanch

Lloyd Guthrie, Precinct 105, Roxborough Park

*This is solely the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the opinion of the Douglas County Democratic Party as a whole.