In 2017, the parent’s of 12-year-old Mallory Grossman met with their daughter’s school officials about incessant bullying of Mallory. But school officials failed to address the parents’ concerns about the ongoing bullying.
Hours after that meeting, Mallory took her own life at home.
Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican candidate for New Jersey Governor, promised potential supporters during a campaign appearance that if elected he would put a stop to the LGBTQ curriculum currently being taught in schools.
Ciattarelli made the remarks while visiting a gun range on June 26. Video of the comments were released on Tuesday, July 13, by The Gothamist.
“I feel lucky [our kids] are in their 20s and I don’t have to be dealing with what you’re dealing with right now. You won’t have to deal with it when I’m governor, but we’re not teaching gender ID and sexual orientation to kindergarteners. We’re not teaching sodomy in sixth grade. And we’re going to roll back the LGBTQ curriculum. It goes too far.”
First, kindergarteners are not being “taught” sexual orientation. A law recently passed in the state, Assembly Bill 4454, “requires school districts to include instruction on diversity and inclusion” beginning this fall for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
A second law, Senate Bill 1569, requires instructional materials “that accurately portray political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.”
“Sodomy” is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “anal or oral copulation with a member of the same or opposite sex.” But, it’s often used as ‘code’ to equate LGBTQ people with deviancy.
Ciattarelli was asked about his use of the word.
The candidate said in a statement that it had “absolutely nothing to do with someone’s sexual orientation and the inference that it does is purposefully misleading.” He added, “Read my statement. It has to do with mature content being taught to young children. That is a parent’s job, not the school district’s.”
I don’t think the Republican picked the word “sodomy” to reference all kinds of “mature content.” And I’m not alone.
Jack Ciattarelli, the GOP nominee for governor in New Jersey, is vowing to roll back school curricula that centers LGTBQ inclusivity, falsely claiming that “sexual orientation” is being taught to kindergarteners and sixth graders are learning “sodomy.” https://t.co/oMxmw3u32A
Christian Fuscarino, executive director of Garden State Equality, told The Gothamist that Ciattarelli’s use of the word sounded as if he was “speaking in code or virtue-signaling to a very specific group of people.”
“He goes on to say more bluntly that he wants to roll back some of the progress the LGTBQ community has made,” added Fuscarino. “We’ve seen enough of that at the federal level the last four years with the Trump administration.”
Ciattarelli’s hate does not represent Jersey. His offensive comments are out-of-touch with Jersey values – love, acceptance and compassion. Our state classrooms educate students about the pivotal contributions of LGBTQ people in history despite the persecution they faced.
Teaching LGBTQ inclusive lessons reduces the rates of bullying in schools and can save lives. At a time when suicide and bullying rates among LGBTQ youth are still at alarming levels, we deserve elected leaders who will prioritize inclusion, not pander to far-right ideologues.
Ciattarelli’s opponent in November will be the current governor, Democrat Phil Murphy. Murphy, a longtime ally to the LGBTQ community, has received support and endorsements from several LGTBQ advocates and leaders in the Garden State.
A U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier from Hudson County today admitted he discarded mail, including 99 general election ballots sent from the Essex County Board of Elections to West Orange, New Jersey, residents, from his assigned routes in Orange and West Orange, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
Nicholas Beauchene, 26, of Kearny, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of desertion of mails.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Beauchene admitted that on Sept. 28, Oct. 1, and Oct. 2, 2020, he discarded into dumpsters in North Arlington, New Jersey, and West Orange 1,875 pieces of mail that he was assigned to deliver to postal customers in West Orange and Orange, New Jersey.
This mail included 627 pieces of first-class mail, 873 pieces of standard class mail, two pieces of certified mail, 99 general election ballots destined for residents in West Orange, and 276 campaign flyers from local candidates for West Orange Town Council and Board of Education. Law enforcement recovered the mail on Oct. 2, 2020, and Oct. 5, 2020, and placed it back into the mail stream for delivery.
How “heavily Democratic” are those New Jersey suburbs? Heavy.com reports Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump by 9,298 votes to 421 in Orange in 2016, and by 16,757 to 5,201 in West Orange.
Beauchene faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. His sentencing has been scheduled for September 21, 2021.
• Edge Media: A new report published by the Washington Post suggests that President-elect Joe Biden may have won the 2020 election because of higher LGBTQ voter turnout.
• Pew Research: A new poll shows 60% of American adults say they will get vaccinated for the coronavirus, up from 51% in September.
• CNBC: Sidney Powell, who has already been booted from the Trump legal team, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to order Georgia officials to “preserve all data on the Dominion System” and allow “Republican Electors to audit” that system in 10 counties. Finding it has no jurisdiction to hear the appeal, the 11th Circuit Court sent the Kraken lawsuit back to its cage in the District Court.
Breaking: A federal appellate court has rejected Sidney Powell and Lin Wood’s appeal in the so-called Kraken case filed in Georgia. https://t.co/atqc5WIrNJ
• Nevada Independent: A Carson City District Court judge rejected a legal request to award the state’s six electoral votes to Donald Trump. Judge James Russell ruled that he found the evidence offered by the Trump campaign to have “little to no value,” and failed to provide under any standard of proof that the campaign’s long list of alleged fraud and vote irregularities could be backed up under any evidentiary standard.
• Detroit Free Press: Team Trump also lost in Michigan today as well. The court chastised the campaign for dragging its feet on the appeal, said the certification of Michigan’s election results by the Board of State Canvassers in the interim had made the lawsuit moot, and said that if the Trump campaign wanted to challenge the results it could have requested a recount, but it did not.
• WXKY Radio: New York Young Republicans hoped to keep the New Jersey location of their annual fundraiser a secret but were outed by folks tweeting from the party. Jersey City chief prosecutor Jake Hudnut responded to a tweet by an attendee taunting New York Gov. Cuomo to “come and get me” by tweeting “Gov. Cuomo may not be able to ‘come and get’ you, but I can.”
Some high school teachers in New Jersey are in hot water after sharp-eyed students noticed (and screen captured) a homophobic chat among educators left open on a science teacher’s desktop during a Zoom class.
In a group chat dated Wednesday, Dumont High School teachers appear to bash the sexual orientation and lifestyle of one of their co-workers.
“Why is that kid with the gay gym teacher?” asks one, according to a screenshot of the chat posted online.
“Is that her adopted kid? Who is gonna be all f—-d up growing up watching 2 chicks kissing and calling them both mom,” says another, according to the screenshot.
Dumont Mayor Andrew LaBruno said Wednesday the comments were made between Dumont High School teachers during a group chat while the Zoom class was taking place. Someone captured the chat and shared it with others, the mayor said.
In a statement posted to Facebook, LaBruno called the comments “disturbing and extremely appalling” and said he is calling on schools Superintendent Emanuele Triggiano to investigate the matter.
A petition at Change.org calling for the homophobic teachers’ resignations has more than 18,000 signatures at this writing.
CNN White House correspondent Boris Sanchez (screen capture)
Some news items you might have missed:
• Mainstream Media Crush: I can’t believe I’ve never noted how enjoyable CNN’s Boris Sanchez (above) makes watching the news. That is all. #EyeCandy
• Pink News: Last week, I reported how openly gay Mayor Dean Trantalis of Fort Lauderdale was verbally accosted at his polling station by a group of Trump supporters calling him homophobic slurs. Just thought I’d report he sailed to reelection with 58 percent of the vote.
• Out Music: Check out the latest music video from out recording artist mxmtoon, “ok on your own,” featuring pop star Carly Rae Jepsen.
The mid-tempo track explores the fallout of a breakup with the realization that sometimes it’s better to be “on your own” when a romance comes to an end. “I need some time to myself so I can comprehend/ I’m not so scared to admit I could use a friend.”
• USA Today: Nine legal experts say Trump’s lawsuit challenging election results in Pennsylvania is dead on arrival for a number of reasons: Courts are wary of invalidating legally cast ballots, and voting by mail, used in many states, is both common and constitutional.
• Statista: Following Pfizer’s announcement that its vaccine candidate was found to be 90 percent effective against COVID-19 in phase 3 trials, shares of travel industry stocks like hotels and airlines went soaring across the globe. Interestingly, the news also sent some shares tumbling for such “pandemic winners” as Zoom Video Communications, Peloton, and Netflix.
• Gothamist: Governor Phil Murphy is requiring indoor bars and restaurants in New Jersey to close by 10 p.m., one of several restrictions that he announced today to address a spike in COVID-19 cases. “There is more than anecdotal evidence that as the night wears on, probably for reasons that are obvious, people let their hair down,” Murphy said, while also sharing that the state’s positivity rate is at 7.52%.
• MSNBC: President-elect Joe Biden threw some 12th level shade Donald Trump’s way when asked about Trump refusing to concede the presidential race. “At the end of the day, you know, it’s all going to come to fruition on January 20.”
President-elect Biden on President Trump not conceding:
“I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly … At the end of the day, you know, it’s all going to come to fruition on Jan. 20.” pic.twitter.com/65wro0neIf
