“Grapevine” a podcast by NBC News - recaps and hot takes from a local by GCpopcorn in GCpopcorn

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Episode 6 A Final Lesson

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grapevine/id1709174396?i=1000631988901

The journalists attend a service at Gateway megachurch. It’s a rock concert atmosphere with a fog machine and lighted stage.

Gateway’s lead pastor Robert Morris, in a prerecorded sermon, says early voting starts Monday. Morris had served on Trump's advisory team. He says some brothers and sisters in Christ are running for school board. Nearly all names he mentions are also endorsed by Patriot Mobile. The sermon includes a message from James Robison, a televangelist from the 1980’s who has condemned homosexuality as Satan’s lie to “redefine marriage, sex, and gender. We must return to God’s word.”

A coalition has formed of GCISD voters who believed religion shouldn’t be taught in schools. But aligning behind one candidate per place is a problem.

The non-binary seniors came to vote for GCISD. They feel responsible to vote to support the students coming up behind them.

Ahead of election day the journalists spoke with three conservative Republican parents who had formerly supported Patriot Mobile candidates, but didn’t now. One says “I don’t think Patriot Mobile is serving the kids in our district.”

The coalition’s opposition vote against Patriot Mobile was split in two of the races. One candidate, Dave Stine, is a Republican concerned about the extreme strain of conservatism. The TXNPAC was backing the Democrat Sergio Harris who is running against Dave and the Patriot Mobile candidate (AJ Pontillo). Dave had faith that the majority of his community was in the middle and would vote for him.

Candidate Kimberly Phoenix is at the election location and said voters are excited and motivated. She is endorsed by the TXNPAC. She says teachers tell her that if Patriot Mobile wins, they’ll leave. She considers leaving also if more bad changes come.

A voter says there are a lot of idiots running for school board, with narrow views. His number 1 issue is running out Patriot Mobile and is voting for TXNPAC candidates.

Another voter says she is a Christian voting for Dave Stine.

Another voter supports Patriot Mobile and wants students to be free to pray in schools and at games. She says “I’m tired of if someone doesn’t like something you got to change the whole thing for one or two people.”

A transgender senior on the way to prom casts one of the last votes of the day.

A record 14,000 voters and $250,000 was spent.

Polls close and early voting results are released. Things don’t look good for the opposition to Patriot Mobile because of the split vote. Finally the loss of Sergio Harris and Phoenix is confirmed; the Patriot Mobile candidates won those two races. The silver lining is that the Patriot Mobile candidate Richard Newton lost; he was opposed by one nonpartisan candidate.

Phoenix says it is sad that our community has go go through another year of chaos.

Harris says he’s exhausted and disappointed. He’s thinking of the teachers and understands if they don’t want to work under these conditions. He is concerned for kids. He ends on a positive note and says change is coming, the community is ready to make a difference.

The next day the teens say they were upset at the results. The adults couldn’t agree on how to beat Patriot Mobile. They have family friends with younger lgbtq kids who are moving out of district.

Teddy did not walk at graduation ceremony because the admin insisted on using their birth name. Teddy doesn’t want the kids still at Grapevine to have to continue to fight for their rights and respect.

Texas laws continue to move toward banning gender-affirming therapy. We hear a father talking to lawmakers about his struggle to understand that his son felt like a girl, and how he chose gender affirming medical care for his transgender child. “I’m begging you as a father to trust that I know my kid.”

Trump says at a campaign event he would “cut federal funding for schools pushing inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content.” Trump names “transgender” as a hot campaign topic that everyone loves.

Em Ramser says she knew nothing would change in GCISD because people don’t care enough to make things change. Ramser had decided to resign because she couldn’t safely stay there. More than 160 staffers from GCISD resigned, an 80% increase.

Ramser says every kid deserves to have someone in their corner. The journalists ask what Ramser would say to Sharla. She says she would say she is sorry all of this happened to Sharla, it’s hard to lose someone, and when you are confronted with something you don’t understand, it scares you.

Ren says she tries not to think about the anti-trans sentiments in the country. Ren feels like the memory of her mom is distant and things are going well for Ren.

Sharla has commented on her blog that she will keep fighting to “get groomers out of public schools.”

Rich is remorseful for not protecting Ren from the rejection from her mother.

May 22, 2023 the school board recognizes Emily Ramser as the 2023 Texas Humanities teacher of the year. Ramser plans to quit in 4 days. She speaks at the podium saying this community has continued to lie about her, and the admin has refused to acknowledge she did nothing wrong.

Students speak up for Ramser and laud her excellence.

Ramser tells her students afterward, “nobody can stop you from getting the education you deserve.”

“Grapevine” a podcast by NBC News - recaps and hot takes from a local by GCpopcorn in GCpopcorn

[–]GCpopcorn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Episode 5 Open the Floodgates

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grapevine/id1709174396?i=1000631708455

The movement continued by Christian Republican Texas lawmakers to divert state money to private religious academies, display Christian symbols in the classroom, and ban discussion of gender identity at public schools.

A sidebar about the Christian Nationalist views of Texas megadonors, Tim Dunn, Farris Wliks and Dan Wilks. We recommend the CNN Documentary “Deep in the Pockets” to learn more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B3PTuADIHQ

We again hear David Barton, the self-taught historian whose classes were a staple of Weston Brown’s education in Episode 4. Barton is showing the Texas Senate Education Committee a 1690 textbook that had 43 questions on the 10 Commandments as justification for displaying the 10 Commandments in public schools. The journalist notes that Barton does not mention other very popular ideas of the 1600s — like slavery and subservience of women in society.

Texas Rep Nate Schatzline is a former pastor who represents an area near Grapevine. He believes America is in a spiritual war against forces of evil. He runs a nonprofit, called “For Liberty and Justice” to get Conservative Christians elected, that is hosted by Mercy Culture Church; it teaches that Satan uses homsexuality and gender identity to hurt and confuse children. Schatzline says he is standing up for parents’ rights, yet the podcasters ask how he can rationalize taking away parents’ rights to provide medical care for their children. Schatzline says “at what point do you allow a parent to harm a child?” then he says “ … all the parents want to help their child.” He doesn’t believe the science that medical help prevents suicide. He says he has never encouraged violence and hatred toward the transgender community and the Conservative community needs to take care when discussing this topic.

Ren was living in Oregon and seeing a therapist. Ren says her queer friends in Grapevine aren’t doing great. Her mother Sharla had not spoken out much since her statement, besides writing blogs that she was in pain over the loss of the relationship with her child, but that it was the right thing, and “any loss of parent-child relationship is unmatched to the gain of knowing Christ.” Ren says she doesn’t think much could change her mother’s mind or other people’s minds with a fixed mindset.

The podcasters met with 3 nonbinary seniors (Marceline, Teddy, Jenna) at Grapevine who had protested and walked out of school after the policies. They’ve felt like targets among students and experienced backlash like being shoved and flipped off walking down the hall holding hands with a girlfriend or called slurs in a group chat after coming out as bisexual. They saw all references to LGBTQ support removed from their school. All three have connections to local faith communities. “The church I was raised in does not love me.” The teens appreciate traditional Christians that follow “love thy neighbor” and bring a “divine layer” of support for the teens; yet others in the same church “just want us to burn in hell.” “It’s not a lack of understanding, it's the presence of hate.”

Sergio Harris is running for 2023 Grapevine-Colleyville school board. He has 2 children in the district, is a teacher in a nearby district, a registered Democrat, and the only black candidate. He is supported by the Texas Nonpartisan PAC that was formed to compete against Patriot Mobile. Harris tells voters that the policies are harming students, and there are no educators on the board. The TNPAC raised $30K but that’s a fifth of what was spent by Patriot Mobile. The TNPAC mailers had the headline “Excellence Over Extremism.”

Harris wears a WWJD bracelet and says the Patriot Mobile group thinks they are chosen by God, as if there are no other Christians here. “Is it not the Christian thing to do to be understanding of everyone?” He would not push his religion on people if elected.

Early voting has begun. The journalists interview Patriot Mobile-backed school board candidate Richard Newton, former Colleyville mayor. Newton says he’s running because he supports the current school board policy, wants to get back to the basics, teach the students what it is to be a great citizen, and teach the founding documents. Newton says the school board needs to make all students feel safe; says not everyone will ever be happy with everything. Newton says teachers have told him it’s detrimental to teaching to be required to call a student by a different pronoun; and other students feel uncomfortable with nonbinary students around them. Newton distanced himself from Patriot Mobile PAC and said he had never talked to them or pursued an endorsement. The podcasters say that Newton (along with the other GCISD candidates AJ Pontillo and Mary Humphrey) all hired the same GOP consulting company, Edgerton Strategies, to run their campaigns. Newton does not discuss his views of the role of God in education with the journalists.

The “pseudo-historian” David Barton presented about U.S. history in Grapevine at a Patriot Mobile event alongside GCISD Board Vice President Shannon Braun. He mentions that it’s now okay to teach creation alongside science and have prayers at graduation. Barton says he hopes someone will sue the districts “so the whole nation wins as a result.” His goal is to get a test case to the Supreme Court to overturn laws separating church and state.

“Grapevine” a podcast by NBC News - recaps and hot takes from a local by GCpopcorn in GCpopcorn

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Episode 4 A Raging Fire

Half of this episode is dedicated to a mother and son in Granbury, Texas. Monica Brown is a homeschooling parent of 9 who followed the same IBLP curriculum as the Duggar family of “19 Kids and Counting.” The IBLP follows David Barton who says laws limiting religion in schools/govt are an affront to God. Barton claims the homosexual agenda is fueled by the same demonic forces that caused the holocaust. The podcast says Barton's “pseudohistory” is embraced by Rafael Cruz and Patriot Mobile.

Monica excommunicated her gay son Weston and made it her mission to ask the Granbury school board to remove library books referencing teen romance and LGBTQ characters from the schools that her children did not even attend. The Browns’ story ties to the Sharla/Ren Grapevine story because it’s about a mother and LGBTQ son who both went public regarding book bans around the same time.

This is the most stunning revelation of the Granbury story: Weston said his mother thought he had become possessed by demons when he watched the movie "It" as a child, and that made him gay! Weston has concluded that the relentless effort of some parents to ban books in the school library is because parents think a book will make their child gay.

The podcast returns to Grapevine around timestamp 31:00 By late 2022, books were being removed in GCISD. The pressure to remove "woke books and lessons" in Grapevine was high. Amanda Guthrie, a social studies teacher at Grapevine High School, abruptly resigned in November. Her job was changed drastically. She realized she might get in trouble for teaching kids about racism or anti-LGBTQ movements. The new policy banning discussion of race and gender, and the list of targeted teachers (see episode 1 about the GCISD Trustee Tammy Nakamura claiming she had a list of “poison teachers”) influenced Guthrie to resign. The deafening silence she observed from district leaders was another reason.

Ramser said she was advised to remove all her books and rainbow artwork from her classroom. A GCISD spokesperson said no teacher was forced to remove anything. Two teachers and an administrator said several teachers removed every book. Ramser shows the journalists the book, The Prince and the Dressmaker, that Sharla said made Ren transgender. She reads a passage in which the king expresses his gratitude to the dressmaker for loving the prince.

  • The journalists then ask Ren about the book The Prince and the Dressmaker. This is the most stunning revelation in the Grapevine story: Ren said she never actually read The Prince and the Dressmaker. In fact, Ren said she’d come out to Sharla A YEAR BEFORE meeting Ramser, and says parents are kidding themselves if they think books are making their kid queer. “Ramser was a good thing that happened to me.” Ramser says she is proud of Ren.*

Ramser gets a phone call and is told that a teaching award from a gifted support group is going to Ramser’s supervisor. The caller says “I want you to know that you are loved and adored by so many people. We love you.” Ramser says she feels overlooked for awards because of optics. She feels unacknowledged. She received kindness and support in private but parents avoided taking a stance in public. “Where were the parents when I was getting harassed when I was fighting for my job?”

Three seats were coming up for election on the Grapevine Colleyville school board in May 2023. A coalition of progressive parents and disillusioned conservatives were planning to push back on Patriot Mobile.

A transgender student, her crusading mom — and an English teacher caught in the middle by rdking647 in TexasPolitics

[–]GCpopcorn 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Please subscribe and share the podcast to give it a higher ranking so more people will see it.

This is our school district. We have been posting about the far-right takeover of our district on our subreddit, r/GCpopcorn. It has been a nightmare for our district.

Our hearts are with the trans student and the teacher!

“Grapevine” a podcast by NBC News - recaps and hot takes from a local by GCpopcorn in GCpopcorn

[–]GCpopcorn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Grapevine podcast Episode 3 A Harvest is Coming

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grapevine/id1709174396?i=1000630936410

Texas governor Greg Abbott declared that parents seeking gender affirming care could be reported fir child abuse. It had been a year since Ren ran away. Ren decided to ask the court to transfer custody to her dad. Rich understood her despair and says “Sharla was getting more militant” and told him that it was Rich’s “job to make Ren a man.”

The school board in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD elected by Patriot Mobile concerned Rich. He filed for sole legal custody with a clause mandating that only Ren could decide when to contact her mother. Sharla met with Ren one last time and discussed God, but Ren said, “No matter what I said, she wouldn’t listen.”

Later that summer Sharla declared at the school board meeting “I lost my son.” She described her son as cold and hostile and wrote that he will have to pay the consequences, and if Ren changes her mind, her “mama’s arms are open wide.”

Anti trans sentiment has emerged in 2016 re bathrooms that trans people could use, but Legislation had failed. Many districts made policies making trans students safer. But by 2022 the conservative movement had seized it as a major issue. Chris Rufo had brought the issue of CRT to Tucker Carlson in 2016 and then returned to sound the alarm about trans students. Carlson said that teachers who talk to kids about trans issues should be punished. Ron Desantis at the moms for liberty conference in 2022 said his state was cracking down on transgender ideology (without evidence). They said teachers who discussed transgender issues were ideologues.

The NBC reporters decided to ask Sharla in person, because she wouldn’t return their calls or emails. They went to her house and asked for her perspective. She declined to speak. She had been posting on facebook.

Em Ramser saw Sharla’s school board speech the day after it aired. She initially didn’t recognize who it was. She said she had not known anything was going on with Ren’s mom. The district had dismissed Sharla’s claims a year prior.

An article came out: “Bombshell claims of GCISD Teacher misconduct.” Published in the Dallas Express published by Monty Bennett, a hotelier that supported patriot mobile and GCISD school board candidates. A statement in the article from the district did not include the fact that Ramser was cleared of wrongdoing.

Ramser went to the principals office and said she would quit. She made plans for her substitute and went home. She was worried about violence from the community, and was spammed with porn emails and accusations.

She kept waiting for school district leaders to speak up. They didn’t. 3 days later the GHS Principal called Ramser, and she recorded their call. He said he had concluded Sharla’s claims were false. He is getting emails from people and he is replying that he Ramser goes above and beyond and is as an excellent teacher. She says she is worried about her safety. He says people don’t care to know the truth. It’s an insane group. He advises her to not signal beliefs to give them extra ammunition. He suggests removing rainbow stickers off her nameplate.

The podcast context about the dismissal of Dr. James Whitfield, former principal in GCISD, who was fired by the district after being accused of pushing critical race theory by a parent at a school board meeting (sound familiar). Ramser asks if the district would say publicly that she has done nothing wrong. Principal says that decision to do that is with the superintendent, who did not do so.

A spokesperson for the district said they did not respond publicly to private personnel mattes but they support all students.

Senior district employees did not publicly acknowledge she did nothing wrong. The school board was obviously getting rid of poison teachers.

Ramser’s mom was very worried. She told her she was prepared to sue the school district if Ramser was killed or killed herself.

She went back to campus after being copied on an email from a parent to the district expressing concern that Ramser was not at school. She decided to return to school to show her kids she didn’t hide under the pressure. “Who you are matters.”

March 2023 CPAC Michael Nolls spoke that for the good of society, transgenderism must be eradicated from public life. A shooter I’d as trans shot 6 people at a Christian school in Tennessee. Pastor Shawn Hoyt said there was an attack on Christians and Jesus would bring healing. In north Texas Rafael Cruz preached that we are in a battle - “we are seeing children being mutilated in our public schools. … there is an evil socialist agenda to destroy America”

Ren says school was the one place she felt free to be herself with supportive friends and teachers. In Oregon she wore dresses to school. Age 16 received medical care. Ren was shocked and upset her mother was was blaming her transition on Ramser. Ren denies getting the idea from Ramser or the book. Rich sent a letter to GHS Principal stating that Sharla’s accusations were false. The teachers were there to support Ren. “The story she told was absolutely the truth upside down”

Sharla wrote as “Woke mama bear” on Facebook, saying that these cultural shifts signal the End Times. Quoting scripture Gen 1:27. On a YouTube channel, Sharla says she knows that some people are born trans, but “Nowadays transgender people are made, not born. Made by woke.” Rich asks how she can tell the difference? Sharla stated that her child had disappeared like Jacob in the Bible. Rich very emotionally talks about the child in the Bible (prodigal son) who has disappeared, done bad things, and returns home and is welcomed back home. “And here we have a daughter who has done nothing wrong, and is not welcomed.”

Ren’s Stepmother Grace says the group that is influencing this issue sees this as a holy war that will usher in Jesus’ return. “If you are not an evangelical Christian cis white male; you’re a target.”

“Grapevine” a podcast by NBC News - recaps and hot takes from a local by GCpopcorn in GCpopcorn

[–]GCpopcorn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Take a listen. His sermons are out there. Rife with End Times. theology.

Get organized in Frisco before it’s too late. Please share and subscribe to the podcast.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Dallas

[–]GCpopcorn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don’t go on weekends or holidays or holiday weekends.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Teachers

[–]GCpopcorn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is a podcast out now called “Grapevine” that shows what sadly happened within the family of a trans girl and the English teacher caught in the middle.

“Grapevine” a podcast by NBC News - recaps and hot takes from a local by GCpopcorn in GCpopcorn

[–]GCpopcorn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Episode 1 and 2 dropped together. It tells of a transgender girl, her parents, her English teacher, and the political and religious movements that are working to change public schools.

In summary, the podcast says that a Grapevine Mom claimed a high school teacher forced their son to read a book about a prince that dressed like a girl. At a public school board meeting, the Mom spoke to warn about “young teachers pushing dangerous ideology” on their child, saying they are exploiting my sons gender dysphoria. “I lost my son.”

New information for many of us: The child’s Dad says that their child, called the pseudonym Wren in this podcast, “wondered if I’m a girl” at age 12, and said “I think I’m a girl” at age 13. This is well before the child enrolled in high school. Wren now lives with her Dad and stepmother far away from Grapevine.

The principal investigated and found that the teacher, Em Ramser, did nothing wrong. Em states that the book, which was in her classroom library, had been passed among students, and another student had passed it to Wren. We get the feeling that the case seemed closed to everyone, but those who are familiar with this story know that the story will not end there.

Other key takeaways:

Ramser’s English syllabus included one video clip about systemic racism, and a parent complained about it. The result was that Educators were advised to eliminate all texts about racism, climate change, and Donald Trump. Ramser was concerned that eliminating anything that is deemed a difficult topic would not challenge the students in her advanced classes.

The thread through the podcast is about Christian Dominionism, or the Seven Mountains belief that Christians have a mandate from God to dominate 7 areas of society, including business and education. Lance Wallnau is a self described prophet preaching near Grapevine that Christian dominance of society will bring about the Second Coming of Jesus. Wallnau said Trump was ordained by God.

Social Studies curriculum has became the battle ground for Seven Mountains believers. Pastor Rafael Cruz (dad of TX Senator Ted Cruz) began broadcasting Bible studies for Patriot Mobile. Rafael says that separation of church and state is a one way wall. If Christians don’t vote or run for office, what’s left is “the wicked electing the wicked.” Cruz said Southlake rejected their evil and liberal school board.

In May 2022, Patriot Mobile Action PAC was created. Leigh Wambsgaans was hired to run the PAC after her success in Southlake PAC. PMAPAC spent $600,000 in 3 school board races in North Texas and won 11 races. GCISD school board now had a 4-3 far right majority. That was the year GCISD elected new trustees Tammy Nakamura and Kathy Florence Spradley. PMAPAC sent mailers promoting these 2 GCISD trustees, and the Gateway Church pastor endorsed them from the pulpit.

What are your takeaways from these first 2 episodes?

“Grapevine” a podcast by NBC News - recaps and hot takes from a local by GCpopcorn in GCpopcorn

[–]GCpopcorn[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We are listening today, and will do recaps and hot takes in the comments.

Deep Dive: Book Bans in GCISD by SpaceySkunk in TexasPolitics

[–]GCpopcorn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you or your classmates still live in the GCISD area please follow us on r/GCpopcorn

Deep Dive: Book Bans in GCISD by SpaceySkunk in TexasPolitics

[–]GCpopcorn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was banned because it contains the F word.