Incremental Progress in Oregon Public Schools for LGBTQIA2S+ People and Allies: On Hiring Non-Binary Teacher in Medford, and Freedom of Speech in Newberg, OR

 On a day when high school students are protesting Virginia Gov. Youngkin's anti-transgender drive to restrict transgender student rights in terms of personal pronoun preference in public schools, with students disrupting schools today by leaving classes, I thought it would be good to counter this push back against LGBTQIA2S+ rights with small, incremental stories of progress in Oregon.

The first good news is in Medford, OR, in which a non-binary person has been hired to be a first-grade teacher. I wouldn't have thought that this would cause a stir, but it has. All the way to the school board, which had to listen to the stories of those who are uncomfortable with anything out of the binary "she-he" and "him-her." Some suggested it would be more age appropriate to have the non-binary teacher teach in a higher grade. Others said that having a non-binary teacher is too "vague" for young children. 

Thankfully, Gina DuQuenne, founder and president of Southern Oregon Pride, said in an interview the day after the meeting that ongoing discussions offered a “chance to educate.” After all, when is a good time or not a good time to teach about pronouns? Aren't we learning about them even before we go to school? As DuQuenne said, "We are coming out, we've been out, and we are not going away." 

For more on this issue, go to: https://www.advocate.com/news/2022/9/27/residents-protest-hiring-nonbinary-school-teacher-oregon

The second story of hope and change comes from Newberg, Oregon, in which the school board last year "outlawed" Black Lives Matter signage and rainbow dress of signs from public schools. Reporter Sami Edge for the Oregonian wrote: Teacher Chelsea Shotts, represented by the ACLU of Oregon and lawyers at Davis Wright Tremaine, sued the district and board members last year. A community member had complained under the policy about a sign in Shott’s window, featuring a rainbow and the words “be known.” Shott’s lawsuit asked the court to declare that the sign was protected by the Oregon Constitution’s provisions for free expression.

On Sept. 23, 2022, it was reported that Shotts won her case before the Yamhill County Circuit Court: "Shotts won the argument that the policy restricts free expression, protected by Oregon’s free speech provisions, which are stronger than those in the U.S. Constitution."

For more on this story, go to: https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2022/09/newberg-ban-on-political-symbols-is-unconstitutional-judge-rules.html

Here's my concern of late. There is a constant push back against LGBTQIA2S+ rights in this nation. It is tactical, and well-funded, and constant. While we will win some cases here and there, it is obvious many elected Republican officials are anti-LGBTQIA2S+

My other concern is the quiet from the religious institutions of our society. Our religious leaders tend to be quiet, or solely focused on the issues in religious institutions. There needs to be support from and by religious institutions for these pertinent issues in the public square.

So, the first course of action is report on the progress, which this blogspot just did. The next is to write and support the people who are making change. Finally, we have to find out in what ways we can be of support and/or be the change.

May it be so.



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