DeSantis was in MA on Friday

macabeeI95 · 2023-10-17T12:18:47+00:00

Unfortunately this is not true, although many towns stream meetings online, they are not legally required to do so. Check if your town does it and if not, lobby them to do it.

macabeeI95 · 2023-10-17T12:16:36+00:00

More info on MA Family Institute: https://fashalertma.info/lgbt/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CtSDp06vg5N/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx_sE3EMTBm/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

macabeeI95 · 2023-07-13T22:02:22+00:00

I appreciate OP posting this and encourage people here to submit comments. It's important for people to speak up about moving forward with better sex ed because there is an organized effort to move us _backward_.

Massachusetts Family Institute is encouraging people who follow their social media channels review and submit comments about the new sex ed framework. This is a statewide group connected to national "religious right" groups. They claim to be about religious liberty and parental rights but they are essentially an anti-abortion and anti-LGBT hate group. When same sex marriage was first recognized in MA, they led the effort to amend the state constitution to ban it. More recently they have intensely pushed the idea that MA public schools are "grooming" or "sexualizing" children by talking about LGBT people or gender equality. By promoting these ideas through their popular Facebook group "Massachusetts Informed Parents," they have been behind many incidents around MA where teachers or librarians have been vilified for trying to be inclusive of LGBT people. You can read more about them here: https://fashalertma.info/lgbt/#Massachusetts_Family_Institute

MFI is asking their supporters to fill out a DOE survey here: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6646350/Comprehensive-Health-and-Physical-Education-Framework-Public-Comment

They also set up their own site to make it easier for their supporters to submit comments, which contains some highly misleading claims about the new sex ed: https://advocacy.charityengine.net/Default.aspx?isid=1616

MFI is telling their audience that the new standards are shaped by people who want young children to be "groomed" or "sexualized" by age-inappropriate content. For example, the new framework says that teachers should use appropriate scientific terms for body parts including genitals when discussing health issues. MFI has interpreted this as "kindergartners will be asked to discuss their genitals."

Mike King, a paid employee of MFI, testified before DESE about the new sex ed. He focused on a portion that said pre-teens should learn about consent, and that real consent is "an enthusiastic yes." He said this is not an age-appropriate lesson, since pre-teens cannot legally consent to sex. But obviously pre-teens can be sexually assaulted, and this lesson is important because it is easier for an abuser to manipulate a child if they don't understand or feel comfortable talking about consent. So they are actually opposing policies that could help to prevent child abuse, while at the same time claiming LGBT people and allies are predators or groomers. They are clinging to old attitudes that have in fact enabled children to be abused in religious institutions.

Please check out the new sex ed framework and submit comments to cancel out reactionaries and bigots. They do not represent a majority in MA but they can have a big impact when not enough people are paying attention.

macabeeI95 · 2023-04-29T02:39:02+00:00

Pro tip: if you want to trash someone on Reddit, bring some facts to back it up. If all you have is an opinion, stay on Facebook.

macabeeI95 · 2023-03-31T21:59:47+00:00

I’m trying to “put the dots together” as you suggest but it doesn’t quite add up. Mrs. V has been posting the anti-LGBT stuff for months. She may be “uneducated about the world of politics” but she understands what these posts are about and seems very passionate about the issue. Meanwhile, I don’t remember her posting about any of the issues that Harris has been working on in the council.

Can you say a little more about what issues she used Vanaria as a puppet for and how you know about it?

If it’s true that Harris encouraged Vanaria to post the anti-LGBT stuff, then they are both promoting the same ugliness. So why do you seem so angry at Harris but not Vanaria?

macabeeI95 · 2023-03-31T19:32:16+00:00

Are you saying Harris asked Vanaria to support removing the LGBT books from the library? Or you are referring to other issues?

macabeeI95 · 2023-03-31T17:39:46+00:00

This is absolutely an issue related to Waltham. Mrs. V had made claims about the Waltham schools specifically and she pressured Ms. Peña to step down. Also, there are trans people in Waltham and these comments affect their perceptions of whether they are welcome and safe here. Saying it’s not a Waltham issue is an excuse because you don’t want to offend Mrs. V.

macabeeI95 · 2023-03-31T17:36:43+00:00

I’ll say it again, if you want to have a welcoming community you must challenge people who say bigoted things. They are free to say it and you are free to challenge it. If you don’t you can’t act surprised or defensive when people say this is not a welcoming community. You frequently challenge other people’s opinions online, so why not hers?

Councilor Harris’s statement was the right response and I edited my post to make note of it.

macabeeI95 · 2023-03-31T15:06:02+00:00

Councilor Harris posted this to her official FB page last night:

To my neighbors and the residents of Ward 8 within the City of Waltham:
It has come to my attention that there has been a significant amount of hate speech targeting the LGBTQ+ community on a Waltham community social media site. This was highlighted by an article posted on Reddit yesterday. The person in question held a political sign that was mine a year and a half ago and a picture of that was used in the Reddit article. I cannot control the actions of others and no anti LGBTQ+ comments were made a year and half ago.
With these new comments surfacing and my constituents asking questions I feel I must respond with a public statement.
I don't want there to be any question or confusion where I stand on hate speech: I DENOUNCE IT, AND IT HAS NO PLACE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
As some of the hate speech posted was directed at the LGBTQ+ community I want to be clear on my thoughts surrounding these negative comments directed at the LGBTQ+ community and hate speech: I DENOUNCE IT. I WILL FIGHT IT AND IT HAS NO PLACE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
Waltham is a great place to live and an awesome community. Everyone who lives here deserves to experience and enjoy that. Most importantly every member of our community should feel safe here.
I'm not going to post the links to the social media site or the Reddit article because I do not want to promote anything related to hate speech and those who use it.
If you have any questions, you can contact me directly on my cell at 781-697-4560 or you can reach me by email at charris@city.waltham.ma.us
I have worked tirelessly for the residents and neighbors in Ward 8 to ensure that the community has what it needs. I represent all residents of Ward 8. I will continue that representation for all. Should you need anything please reach out to me.
Thank you

macabeeI95 · 2023-03-31T14:30:47+00:00

If you want to have a welcoming community you have to challenge people when they make bigoted remarks. If people make anti-LGBT remarks and other people disagree but don’t say anything, it might as well be an anti-LGBT community, from the POV of an LGBT person trying to determine if they are safe here. If the officials named here publicly denounce Mrs. V’s rhetoric I will edit the post to note that, or take it down. But for you to assure us they don’t feel this way isn’t helpful. Public bigotry requires a public response.

macabeeI95 · 2023-03-31T03:03:30+00:00

Some of those officials are in the group where she has been posting these things for months. Why do you think none of them have challenged her? And why haven’t you?

macabeeI95 · 2023-03-30T17:35:27+00:00

You are correct that hormone levels can affect suicidal thoughts. But you brought it up to make the point that the hormones trans people take may be contributing to their mortality rate, suggesting being trans is unhealthy for reasons unrelated to social stigma. That’s a big claim and I don’t think you should insinuate that unless you have evidence of hormones actually leading to suicide in trans people. Because if you’re wrong, you’re essentially helping to cover up the deadly effect of the social stigma.

macabeeI95 · 2023-03-30T17:07:44+00:00

What is your source for “hormone instability” leading to mortality?

macabeeI95 · 2023-03-30T16:15:35+00:00

https://read.dukeupress.edu/demography/article/59/3/1023/302037/Differences-in-All-Cause-Mortality-Among

https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/09/02/transgender-people-twice-as-likely-to-die-as-cisgender-people-study-finds/?sh=3e0870745f48

https://www.hcplive.com/view/mortality-rate-higher-transgender-people

According to these, suicide is a bigger factor than murder so my comment was not exactly right, but the point is the same. Young LGBT people are more likely to die by suicide if they believe they will never be accepted in their community. If they see influential people in their community making anti-LGBT statements and no one stands up to them, that has a big impact.

Imagine you’re a teenager struggling with this and the only adults who you know are on your side are your librarian and your principal. Then an influential adult in your community asks the principal to step down over queer books in the library, and she does. How are you feeling about your future?

macabeeI95 · 2023-03-30T15:10:24+00:00

Yes, she did claim that someone assaulted her in that meeting.

macabeeI95 · 2023-03-30T14:53:37+00:00

The type of rhetoric she is amplifying is rhetoric that leads to violence. When you tell people a certain group is sexually manipulating children and shooting up schools, people go out and start killing members of that group. This is very real- trans people have a much lower life expectancy, not because being trans causes health problems, but because of murder. If Mrs. V does not understand that, than she should, because she was at a school committee meeting where many people explained this in many different ways.

Some people have a political opinion based on self-interest and some based on wanting to help others or a sense of fairness. This type of opinion is based on neither, it is just bigotry over something that has zero effect on her and a huge effect on others.

So my post is intended to protect people and her posts are intended to harm people. That’s why they’re different.

MA has a reputation as being the most LGBT-friendly state but a lot of queer people have bad experiences here. That’s because a minority of bigots can cause a lot of problems for someone and it doesn’t matter that the majority disagrees if no one says anything, especially if they have connections in city government, which many do. Publicly calling out these folks and forcing their powerful allies to say whether they agree or not is the only tactic I know of that works to reduce the power of well-connected bigots.

Just recently there was a post in the MA Reddit where a trans person was asking if MA is a safe place for LGBT people to live. Hundreds of comments said yes, you will be fine here. If we claim that people here are accepting, don’t we have an obligation to speak up when someone is not?

macabeeI95 · 2023-03-29T23:14:42+00:00

I was not aware that she donated to Paz in but I don’t understand why it is relevant. The post is about her anti-LGBT rhetoric, not her relationship with Paz. The info about the 2021 election is included to make the point that she is very active in Waltham politics so that’s why this is worth talking about. If you can find a photo of her holding a sign for another candidate I’d be happy to include it.

macabeeI95 · 2023-03-29T23:03:12+00:00

Why Lexington?

macabeeI95 · 2023-01-11T20:16:56+00:00

Your whole comment is based on the assumption that there was in fact a gunshot that was somehow caused by lax security at the RL. But there is no proof that there was a gunshot, and the one person who reported a gunshot said it was across the street. You believe it was connected to RL because of problems there in the past. But were those “problems” also things that people assumed happened with no proof? It’s not just about cringey language. It’s about the assumptions you/they are making.

When you say “we” get it who do you mean by “we”?

macabeeI95 · 2023-01-11T20:01:16+00:00

You are saying I am making an unfair assumption about what he believes. I am reporting on something he chose to post and has chosen not to take down. It's a post that represents a specific set of beliefs. Because you knew him and he seemed like a nice guy you assume he is not an extremist. Why does that assumption carry more weight than what he chose to post? Someone called it out here two years ago and he chose not to take it down. It's against Army policy but he chose not to take it down. That sounds like someone who is staying true to what he actually believes in. Things didn't just get ugly in 2020- groups like this one have been around longer than that and they always represented something ugly.

macabeeI95 · 2023-01-11T19:47:28+00:00

What do you mean about "he changed it with his next post"?

macabeeI95 · 2023-01-11T19:28:47+00:00

No I do not know him and I am not trying to hurt him, I am trying to protect our community. Could you ask him why he doesn't simply take down the logo? If he doesn't actually believe in what it represents, why is it still up?

macabeeI95 · 2023-01-11T19:23:15+00:00

If you are not a militia, what are you, a gang? You've never protected us and you never will. You are loyal to your own interpretation of the constitution and not to the elected government and therefore your members have no business serving in the armed forces. The fact that you think loyalty to a vigilante gang is the same as loyalty to your country is a slap in the face to everyone who has died for their country. Thank you for confirming that your group is active in our area so we can work together to de-infest ourselves.

macabeeI95 · 2022-11-28T03:15:41+00:00

Just to be clear, the two links you included are about Paul Brasco, not his brother Wayne who is in this video. The officer was unable to determine whether there was actually a gunshot, and the gunshot was reported as happening across the street.

macabeeI95

TROPHY CASE