LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

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Since 2004

Tag: harassment

  • “She’s not going in the boys bathroom.” Ohio mom speaks out against trangender bathroom ban bill

    “She’s not going in the boys bathroom.” Ohio mom speaks out against trangender bathroom ban bill

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    The Ohio House recently passed a bill that would ban transgender people from using the bathroom and locker room that aligns with their gender identity.

    BY  – Ohio Capital Journal

    Bradie Anderson fears she will be physically harmed if she uses the boys bathroom at her Northeast Ohio high school.

    The 14-year-old sophomore is transgender and her mom Anne said she has never had any issues with using the girls restroom at school.

    “She’s not going in the boys bathroom,” Anne said. “If my daughter went into the boys bathroom, I would hate to think what would happen to her in there.”

    But the Ohio House recently passed a bill that would ban transgender people, like Bradie, from using the bathroom and locker room that aligns with their gender identity. The bill now heads to the Senate for concurrence, but the legislators are on break until after the election.

    ______

    Jean Schmidt (R) who represents Ohio House District 62 is a co-sponsor of HB 183.
    Jennifer Gross (R) who represents Ohio District 45 is a co-sponsor of HB 183.
    Thomas Hall (R) who represents Ohio District 46 is a co-sponsor of HB 183.

    Bill Seitz (R) who represents Ohio District 30 is a co-sponsor of HB 183.

    Adam C. Bird (R) who represents Ohio District 63 is a Primary Sponsor of HB 183.

    ______

    “The bathroom bill is going to get kids hurt and put them in harm’s way,” Anne said. “Why would anyone want to put any child, even if you don’t understand who they are, in harm’s way?”

    If the bathroom bill were to pass, Anne questions who is going to monitor the bathrooms.

    “If you don’t look feminine enough, if you don’t look masculine enough, are they going to be questioned?” Anne said. “Because cisgender people are also going to get pulled into this as well.”

    The American Medical Association opposes policies preventing transgender individuals from accessing basic human services and public facilities consistent with gender identity.

    Anti-transgender legislation in Ohio

    The bathroom bill is one of many anti-LGBTQ+ bills Ohio lawmakers have introduced in the General Assembly — including one that would ban gender affirming care and prevent transgender athletes from playing women’s sports and another that would force educators to out students to their parents.

    “These are our kids,” Anne said. “They’re not talking points. They’re real kids.”

    Bradie came out eight years ago and was kicked out of Catholic school for being transgender, forcing her to switch to public school where she started experiencing harassment from her middle school peers around the same time Ohio lawmakers started introducing anti-transgender legislation.

    “She had been threatened with physical harm, threatening to cut body parts off of her,” Anne said.

    The harassment has not stopped Bradie from advocating for herself and others. She has testified in committee meetings against the various anti-transgender bills and started speaking out at protests when she was 11, Anne said.

    But all of the anti-transgender legislation in Ohio is taking a toll on Bradie, who receives gender affirming care.

    “The last few weeks have been tough,” Anne said. “Bradie’s been crying. She’s been very upset. The combination of being harassed in our town that we live in and all of the anti-trans bills, especially the bathroom bill, gives her major anxiety.”

    Bradie loves playing soccer, but because of all the scrutiny around transgender athletes, she’s not sure if she’ll play this fall.

    “She’s so much more than being transgender,” Anne said. “She’s sick of the adult bullies coming for her in this town, and a lot of them don’t even have children in the school.”

    Despite all of these proposed anti-transgender bills in Ohio, Bradie doesn’t want to move away.

    “She shouldn’t have to,” Anne said. “I grew up here, and I’m not going to be run out of town because people are ignorant.”

    Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on Twitter.

    Megan Henry
    MEGAN HENRY

    Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.

    Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

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  • U.S. attorney general defends FBI probe of threats against school board members

    U.S. attorney general defends FBI probe of threats against school board members

    BY: ARIANA FIGUEROA and Ohio Capital News

    Washington, DC – U.S. Senate Republicans grilled Attorney General Merrick Garland for more than four hours on Wednesday about a Justice Department investigation into threats made to local school board members in multiple states.

    Garland at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing declined to revoke a memo he wrote asking the FBI to meet with local law enforcement to look into threats, intimidation and harassment directed at school officials, teachers, administrators and staff.

    He told the top Republican on the committee, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, that the Oct. 4 DOJ memo — which followed an appeal for help from the National School Boards Association — only responds to “concerns about violence, threats of violence, other criminal conduct.”

    “All it asks is for federal law enforcement to consult with, meet with local law enforcement to assess the circumstances, strategize about what may or may not be necessary to provide federal assistance,” he said.

    But Grassley and other senators during the oversight hearing repeatedly pressed Garland to renounce the memo and accused DOJ of relying on the school boards group to characterize parents as domestic terrorists, although his memo did not mention terrorism.

    “Mothers and fathers have a vested interest in how schools educate their children,” Grassley said in his opening statement. “They’re not, as the Biden Justice Department apparently believes them to be, national security threats.”

    Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley told Garland he should resign, and Utah Sen. Mike Lee said that there have been no “explicit death threats” cited by Garland or the national school boards group as a reason for the federal government to take action. Lee said that not every outburst “by neighbors among neighbors” deserves an investigation.

    Garland directed the FBI to coordinate with local law enforcement to investigate threats and harassment by conservative protestors and some parents, often provoked by mask requirements or discussions of race in schools. Many protests have centered around critical race theory, an academic subject which is not generally taught in K-12 schools.

    Garland’s move came after the National School Boards Association sent a letter to President Joe Biden citing harassment and disruption in school board meetings in Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Nevada. The organization has since apologized for the letter, although it did not ask that DOJ halt its probe.

    NSBA’s initial letter asking for aid has caused a firestorm among Republicans and conservatives because the group asked the Justice Department to determine if those threats violate a variety of laws, including the PATRIOT Act, which is aimed at deterring terrorism. NSBA affiliates in Ohio, Missouri and Pennsylvania have separated from the parent group, saying they were not consulted before the letter was sent.

    Republican lawmakers have argued that these are simply parents raising their concerns about masking requirements and discussions in public schools about race, which some school districts initiated after the massive Black Lives Matter protests following George Floyd’s murder last summer.

    But school board officials have documented how their personal cell phone numbers have been inundated with threatening messages, and how school board meetings have been derailed by protestors.

    For example, the Florida Phoenix reported that several school board members detailed the harassment they continue to face over masking requirements amid the pandemic.

    Garland pushed back against Republicans’ charges that the Justice Department was infringing on parental rights to free speech.

    “The Justice Department protects that kind of debate,” he said. “The only thing we are concerned about, Senator, is violence and threats of violence against school officials, school teachers, school staff.”

    The committee’s Democratic chairman, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, defended Garland’s move and cited his home state as an example where he is also seeing this pattern.

    “Free speech does not involve threats and violence,” Durbin said. “Those who argue that school board meetings across America are not more dangerous and not more violent than the past are ignoring reality. We are seeing violence at these school board meetings in an unprecedented number.”

    “This memorandum is not about parents being able to object to their school boards. They are protected by the First Amendment. As long as there are no threats of violence, they are completely protected.”

    – U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland

    In his opening statement, Garland did not give an update on the agency’s investigations into local school board threats. He outlined the Justice Department’s work on combating cyber crimes, violent crimes, the persecution of those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, civil rights enforcement and increasing accountability in law enforcement with the extended use of body cameras by federal officers.

    Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, said that she was not only concerned about the threats to school officials but also to election officials.

    “I just want to have a functioning democracy,” she said.

    Klobuchar asked what actions the Justice Department was taking to protect those election officials and what kind of threats they face.

    Garland said he virtually met with numerous election administrators and secretaries of state to listen to their accounts of violence and threats of violence. He said it led him to create a task force to coordinate with federal agencies and state and local law enforcement.

    But most of the hearing, ostensibly for general oversight of DOJ, was taken up by a string of Republicans continuing to press Garland about the federal government getting involved in local school board incidents.

    Lee argued the move will “have a natural tendency to chill free speech.”

    “The memo is aimed only at violence and threats of violence,” Garland said. “It states on its face that vigorous debate is protected. That is what this is about and that is all this is about.”

    Lee asked if harassment and intimidation were federal crimes, which Garland said they were.

    Lee, Grassley and Hawley all asked if Garland would rescind his memo in light of the NSBA apology letter, although school board officials didn’t make that request.

    Garland said he would not because there were news reports of threats of violence at school board meetings from media reports regardless of NSBA’s letter.

    NSBA “apologizes for language in the letter, but it continues its concern about the safety of local officials and school staff,” he said.

    Garland added that the federal government’s role is mostly to help aid local law enforcement.

    “I’m hopeful that many areas of local law enforcement will be well able to handle this on their own, which is what the Justice Department does every day,” he said. “We consult with our local and state partners and see whether assistance is necessary.”

    Hawley asked if “a parent makes a phone call to a school board member that she has elected, that that school board member deems annoying, should (she) be prosecuted?”

    Garland said no, and said that “the Supreme Court has made quite clear that the word intimidation, with respect to the constitutional protection, is one that directs a threat to a person with the intent of placing the victim in fear of bodily harm or death.”

    “I wish, if senators were concerned with this, they would quote my words,” Garland said. “This memorandum is not about parents being able to object to their school boards. They are protected by the First Amendment. As long as there are no threats of violence, they are completely protected.”

    Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, asked if Garland was “just a vessel” for NSBA.

    “The White House is the prophet here, you’re the vessel, isn’t that correct?” asked Kennedy.

    Garland said he did not speak with anyone from the White House when he wrote his memo.

    “This memorandum reflects my views that we need to protect public officials from violence and threats of violence, while at the same time protecting parents’ ability to object to policies they disagree with,” Garland said.

  • Ohio School Boards Association ends affiliation with national group over request to probe threats

    Ohio School Boards Association ends affiliation with national group over request to probe threats

    National group has now apologized for requesting investigation of threats against local officials

    BY: ARIANA FIGUERO and Ohio Capital Journal

    The National School Boards Association is walking back its letter to President Joe Biden asking for federal help for school board members who have been harassed and threatened over masking requirements and discussions of race in public schools.

    The shift came after Republican members of Congress led by Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley raised strong objections to a Department of Justice investigation that was launched in response to the association’s letter. The Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) announced Tuesday it would end its affiliation with the national group, saying it had no input into the original letter.

    GOP senators said that the government was trying to police the speech of parents, and it was “entirely inappropriate” for the association to ask for a review of whether crimes are being committed by parents or others under various statutes including the PATRIOT Act, which is aimed at deterring terrorism.

    Some conservative groups and local school boards also sharply criticized the DOJ investigation and the national association.

    “(The Ohio School Boards Association’s) decision to terminate membership and affiliation with the NSBA Association is a direct result of the letter sent by you to President Joe Biden late last month,” the Ohio board informed the national group in a letter Monday. “The letter purported to be sent on behalf of state associations and school board members across the nation. This assertion could not be further from the truth. OSBA was not notified of the letter, nor were we asked for our thoughts on the matter. If we had been consulted, we would have strongly disagreed with NSBA’s decision to request federal intervention as well as your claims of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”

    In a memorandum dated Friday and provided to States Newsroom, NSBA’s Board of Directors wrote to its members that “we regret and apologize for the letter.” NSBA did not answer questions about the specific language the organization regretted.

    “As we’ve reiterated since the letter was sent, we deeply value not only the work of local school boards that make important contributions within our communities, but also the voices of parents, who should and must continue to be heard when it comes to decisions about their children’s education, health, and safety,” according to the memo.

    According to its website, NSBA’s Board of Directors includes John Halkias of the Plain Local School District in Ohio, Donald Hubler of Macomb Intermediate School District in Michigan, Steven Chapman of Tolleson Union High School District in Arizona, Kathy Gebhardt of Boulder Valley School District in Colorado, Kathryn Green of Austin Public Schools ISD 492 in Minnesota, Ronald Hopkins of Jefferson City Schools in Georgia and Beverly Slough of St. Johns County School District in Florida, among others.

    The six-page Sept. 29 NSBA letter to Biden asked for federal assistance and detailed, at length, threats and harassment that school board officials and teachers across the country are facing. It was signed by Viola M. Garcia, association president, and Chip Slaven, the interim executive director and CEO.

    “As these acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes,” the letter said.

    The vitriol stems from controversy surrounding teaching about the history of racism as well as requirements for students and staff to wear masks to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19.

    In the last year, conservative activists and some parents have targeted school board meetings, protesting “critical race theory,” which generally is not taught at the K-12 level and is instead an academic theory of the intersection of race and U.S. law that is studied in college.

    U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the FBI earlier this month to meet with local law enforcement officials to strategize how to deal with the threats.

    Garland is also set to appear before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday during a hearing about the oversight of the Justice Department, where he will likely be asked questions about the DOJ and FBI’s handling of threats to school board officials.

    The memo from NSBA did not ask the Justice Department to end its investigation into threats.

    The OSBA said in a news release Tuesday morning that the association believes in the value of parental and community discussion at school board meetings, and “there is tremendous value in allowing and encouraging the public to have meaningful input into the decision-making process.”

    “However, that participation should not come at the expense of interfering with the board’s ability to conduct its business or subjecting individual board members to threats of violence, abuse, or harassment,” said OSBA Chief Executive Officer Rick Lewis. “But dealing with such interference should be dealt with at the local level, not by federal officials.”

    The NSBA had praised the decision to begin the investigation in an Oct. 4 press release. “The U.S. Department of Justice’s swift action in response to NSBA’s request is a strong message to individuals with violent intent who are focused on causing chaos, disrupting our public schools, and driving wedges between school boards and the parents, students, and communities they serve,” the association said in a statement.

    But Republicans in Congress criticized Garland’s decision to have the FBI look into the threats and called the move an attack on parents for exercising their right to free speech.

    “Violence and true threats of violence should have no place in our civic discourse, but parents should absolutely be involved in public debates over what and how our public schools teach their children, even if those discussions get heated,” according to a letter led by Grassley, the top Republican on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

    NSBA in its original letter cited disruptions at school board meetings in Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Nevada.

    For example, in Florida, the Florida Phoenix reported that several school board members detailed threatening text messages, vandalism and harassment they continue to face over masking requirements amid the pandemic.

    “When these behaviors are ignored, when there’s no accountability for these actions, they become normalized and acceptable, and they get reinforced,” Brevard County School Board member Jennifer Jenkins said during a Monday Zoom conference, the Phoenix reported.

    Jenkins also detailed in a Washington Post opinion piece how someone outlined the letters “FU” in weedkiller on her front lawn and she said that someone falsified a report accusing her of abusing her child.

    “My 5-year-old daughter was on a play date last month when an investigator from the Florida Department of Children and Families sat at my kitchen table to question me about how I disciplined her, then accompanied me to the play date to check for nonexistent burn marks beneath her clothes,” Jenkins wrote.

    “Someone had falsely reported that I abused my child. The report was quickly dismissed, but this was the low point in the short time I have been a Brevard County School Board member.”

    The NSBA said in its  Friday memo that it would “do better going forward” and review its policies and procedures.

    “To be clear, the safety of school board members, other public school officials and educators, and students is our top priority, and there remains important work to be done on this issue. However, there was no justification for some of the language included in the letter. We should have had a better process in place to allow for consultation on a communication of this significance. We apologize also for the strain and stress this situation has caused you and your organizations,” the memo said.