No More Sugarcoating.

It's past time to be done with this toxic mess.

Hey there, joyful warriors! How’s your week? Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably been exposed to what’s happened in Chicago last week. And no, it’s not that the Cubs are now in second-to-last place in the MLB NL Central Division, thank you very much. It’s the Democratic National Convention (DNC), and I gotta tell you, it was kinda dope. 

I wasn’t sure the DNC would be able to pull off such a joyful event, especially after the Paris Olympics left most people feeling joyous, and left evangelical weirdos feeling persecuted. 

I’d say the best thing to come out of the Olympics was the fact that we haven’t been subjected to JK Rowling’s transphobic tweets in over two weeks because she’s facing prison time for wrongly identifying Olympic Gold Medalist, Imane Khelif, as trans. 

I don’t know if the organizers of the event wanted to carry all that Snoop Dogg and Flavor Flav energy from the City of Lights to the Windy City or what, but so far, they’ve delivered pure, unadulterated joy. 

The Republican National Convention (RNC) took place last month, and the difference couldn’t be more stark. 

I’m starting to think that through years or maybe even decades of endless feeds of fear, rage, and mis/disinformation, coupled with a patriarchal society that insists on perpetuating the unhealthy and abusive notion of toxic masculinity, well you’ve got yourself a stew. 

The nightly messages coming from the DNC were focused on our shared future, while the RNC focused on our separate (and unequal) past. These non-AI-generated crowds at the DNC have been so diverse. It’s a downright celebration of diversity. It’s also triggering for many people. I’ve seen people divided into two camps: those who are excitedly recognizing this major broadcast of joy and remembering how it feels to be joyful, and those who have been so conditioned to abhor joy that they lash out at the very mention of it.

I won’t share them here, but I saw posts questioning President Obama’s citizenship (yes, again), disparaging former First Lady Obama’s looks (yes, again), complaining about the Prince cover performed by John Legend and Sheila E (!!!), and then…they picked on Tim Walz’s neurodivergent son, Gus. He’s 17. He was referred to as “stupid” and the r-word. 

People with “God first” in their profiles follow these hate-accounts and repost their garbage, so I don’t know what god they’re worshiping, but he sounds like a real d!ck. 

I can’t imagine witnessing the unbridled joy of a neurodivergent individual who is also diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, and a non-verbal learning disorder and mocking him. But watching this delightful young man expressing joy somehow brought out the worst in far too many people. 

Some of these same people sit in elected positions, and are voting for the rap/c/ist who normalized punching down on our most marginalized citizens.

So whenever I see a school board member who supports this kind of bullying through their presidential pick, I know they’re incapable of serving all students in their district. I’m sure a whole bunch of them went to the westside last week to see their head-bigot-in-chief share the stage with head-transphobe-in-chief, Riley Gaines. 

School board members who flock to venues to support these types of people let everyone of their constituents know that they are not there to serve their communities. Recently, a board member in Queen Creek let everyone know about the racist and misogynistic views he holds by blasting it all over his social media. 

Unfortunately, folks like these will continue to run for office, but it’s up to us to expose them. 

For the first time in recent memory, joy is driving the narrative. Suddenly, a dark cloud seems to have been lifted, and the aLpHa MaLe crowd (and their wifely minions) are losing it. Their cyclone of hate has transported them to such dark places, they no longer recognize joy, and even openly reject it.

It’s weird.

They will say things like, “that’s my opinion,” “agree to disagree,” or worse, “the bible says…” 

when they attack queer kids, ban life-saving abortion healthcare, or bully kids with disabilities, but all I see is someone afraid of losing their own self-serving privilege. This is why many of us no longer speak to some family members. 

When I see school board members who spew hate speech online sitting at a school board dais, I immediately know that they’re not there to serve our public schools. They’re there to destroy them. They should be treated as such, and largely ignored. Calling them out, however, does not work. Pointing out their hypocrisy does not work, but focusing on all the good happening in the community seems to make them mad. 

They rely on attacking and “other-ing” anyone who disagrees with them, but they become dumbfounded when people focus on all the good in their communities. 

So as you can imagine, the DNC has been hella triggering for these ghouls. 

Showcasing joy and our shared humanity seems to really bother them, so let’s keep it up!

Remember how Deer Valley (DVUSD) board member, Kim Fisher opposes charity and accuses people with cancer diagnoses of lying? She’s so far gone from our shared humanity, she posts videos that show how confusing she finds the concept. 

Could ridiculing a young neurodivergent kid with special needs be the bottom that pushes these rats to abandon ship? 

I’m not holding my breath. 

I’m not joking, Secular Fam, when I saw the attacks on this kid, my justice hackles were standing at full attention. As a public school teacher, who at one point, had THIRTY-FIVE students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) in her classroom in ONE SEMESTER, I wanted to point out the vile words of Ann Coulter and Dinesh D’Souza, but that doesn’t work. 

At this point, we must understand the assignment.

Like, yeah, we can go to our keyboards and make jokes dismantling their hateful vitriol, but they’ll still be out in our neighborhoods, telling folks whatever they think they need to hear in order to get their vote. 

One of the tell-tale signs about these “safety/kids/parents first” candidates is that they do not support their district bond and override initiatives. 

BUT! They refuse to answer questions about their support or lack thereof. Remember in May of this year, when Peoria (PUSD) board member, Heather Rooks, “abstained” from the vote? 

Currently, in online forums and in direct emails, constituents are openly asking school board candidates if they support bond and/or override initiatives in the districts where they hope to serve. These pArEnTaL RiGhTs candidates refuse to answer or dance around the question. 

They’re quick to blame public schools for all the world’s problems while actively supporting measures designed to destroy our public schools. Without much context of the decades-long privatization movement, they encourage parents to pull their kids out of the public schools they’re supposed to be supporting and use vouchers.  

Do the candidates in your district support school district bonds and/or overrides? If they say no, or refuse to give a straight answer, chances are they’re running to further dismantle their public schools and school districts, and have no interest in serving their communities. 

Be critical, Secular Fam! It’s important to do your research on ALL down-ballot races, and our local school board is the HEART of our democracy. 

Do your part! Show up, speak out, share your joy, and support Secular AZ and the work that we do today!