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In 2018, Republican U.S. Representative Ron DeSantis narrowly defeated Democratic Mayor of Tallahassee Andrew Gillum for the governorship, in what some considered an upset.
Though the race to the Capital was not heavily grounded in issues, I did find DeSantis’ initial climate change plan solid. I was looking forward to it playing out and seeing how his common sense approach would affect Florida; rather than his not-so-under-the-radar due-dilligence for his 2024 campaign
He’s attempting to become a brilliant marketer as he continues to use the Sunshine State as his real-time, on-call voter lab. Trump set a new standard of marketing brilliance based upon the fact that he never cared what anyone thought of him or even thought he had to at least live up to the standards of decent people in the Republican Party. DeSantis is much brighter though.
THE REAL REASON IT’S FAST
As we watch this current legislative session in horror, it’s safe to say we have never seen anything in politics EVER move this fast. It allows the DeSantis think tank to test national responses and quickly modify if necessary to meet his present timetable for an announcement run.
I have written about almost every crazy topic within DeSantis’ dismemberment of Florida education. However, I missed one issue simply because I never thought it would become one. Let’s say it was dressed up, and I didn’t recognize it.
The sheer stupidity of even spending a moment on the connection of drag queens to our kids’ lives was laughable until it caused us to cry.
So as DeSantis has set the “stage” for the show called DeSantis versus the Drag Queens, we are sitting in our seats waiting for the curtain to rise on this silly, distracting issue and for it to “play” out.
THE REAL PUBLIC NUISANCE
Florida is one of many states with laws on the books protecting children from sexually explicit material. DeSantis appealed to existing legal precedents for his claim that such an assault on public morals constituted a “public nuisance.”
Civil rights attorney Alejandra Caraballo complained on Twitter, “They claim it’s (the drag queen issue) about ‘sexually explicit conduct’ or ‘obscene’ material in front of minors, but any parent can bring their kid to a movie like Jackass 4 and see a bunch of … graphic content.”
So as he attempts to set an example across the country by keeping students away from this “wanton depiction of sexual license,” others welcome it and are intelligent enough to find a creative way to encourage students to be themselves.
So as DeSantis is attempting to show the country how to shut it down, two brilliant teachers in Durham, NC are trying to show how to turn it on.
THAT’S REAL SMART
In middle school, it’s hard to be different. It’s even more complicated if a student identifies as LGBTQ. And as with all great thinkers, bringing smart ones to the table is what it’s all about.
These teachers created the Pride and Liberation Event as they enlisted the help of some local drag queens to celebrate the unique differences between the school’s students.
They saw the impact of bullying and other harmful behavior on students in their school who identify as LGBTQ. They said students were leaving the school because of some of their experiences.
Their idea was to remove barriers to success and to belonging and for students to thrive.
They called it a hard look at the roots of this bullying behavior and intentional actions to liberate the bullied from oppressive acts and the bully from the unjust root causes of their actions.
THE REAL DEAL
They pitched a school-wide event to help students understand what it means to be different. It worked. Talk about understanding the real purpose of education.
If schools are nervous about doing this type of work, I get it. But what to us seems untested ground to educators could be lifesaving to LGBTQ+ students.
Public school educators ultimately teach for liberation – and that’s not playing around.
This column is by Ritchie Lucas, Founder of The Student Success Project and Think Factory Consulting. He can be reached by email at ritchie@thinkfactory.com and on Facebook and You Tube as The Student Success Project.
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