At a recent public meeting, Los Angeles school board President Jackie Goldberg pulled out a copy of the acclaimed children’s book, “The Great Big Book of Families” and began to read.
Turning the meeting into story time, the reading became a clear statement to critics of LGBTQ+ education.
From the Los Angeles Times:
“In real life, families come in all sorts of shapes and sizes,” she read, as the text by British author Mary Hoffman explained. Some children live with “mummy and daddy,” or just their mummy or daddy.
Goldberg soon got to the line “Some children have two mommies or two daddies.”
“A great book,” she said after reading it from cover to cover. “I recommend it.”
Her statement set up the unanimous school board approval of a resolution listing all the ways the nation’s second largest school district intends to raise awareness about the LGBTQ+ community.
The reading and vote unfolded four days after more than 100 demonstrators marched outside Saticoy Elementary in Sun Valley in protest of a gay pride assembly. Some shouted slurs at counterprotesters and fights broke out before police quickly intervened.
You really must watch Goldberg’s statement following her reading. Ninety seconds I assure you are worth the watching.
Powerful lecture from Jackie Goldberg of the Los Angeles school board on protests against a children’s book with one sentence about families with two moms or dads. She says this is personal for her and really lets loose at the end. pic.twitter.com/R9xx0nrtzo
— David Heath (@davidhth) June 9, 2023