Update: Colo. School Story Sparks Backlash by LGBT Activists
10/17/2013
Florence, Colo.—A story broken last week by Pacific Justice Institute and picked up by media outlets around the world has inspired near-panic among transgender advocates who have now begun their own counter-campaign in an attempt to divert attention away from the story.
PJI sent a legal demand letter to Florence High School, near Colorado Springs, raising serious questions and concerns about the school’s decision to allow a boy who sometimes identifies as female to have full access to female bathrooms on campus. PJI represents students and their families whose privacy rights are being violated by the school’s decision.
PJI urged school officials to immediately identify any factual allegations they considered to be disputed. School officials have yet to respond to this invitation, but Superintendent Rhonda Vendetti instead gave an interview to a transgender activist in which she was defensive of the school’s actions and dismissive of some of the allegations. This interview was seized upon by advocates, who claimed it somehow proved the story to be a fabrication. Under intense pressure, several news sites took down or retracted their stories rather than investigating further. Not so fast, say PJI attorneys.
“Transgender activists are in full damage control mode because they know how explosive and damaging to their cause this story is,” noted Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute. “The central issue in this case—a high school’s decision to give a biological teenage boy full access to teenage girls’ bathrooms is both disturbing and not seriously disputed. It is very revealing that the Superintendent is seeking sympathy from transgender activists instead of addressing the serious concerns raised in our letter.”
PJI has requested a detailed response from school officials by the end of this week.
- See more at: http://www.pacificjustice.org/1/post/2013/10/update-colo-school-story-sparks-backlash-by-lgbt-activists.html#sthash.4SZrtHHN.dpuf
Colo. School Spooks Families With Police Surveillance for Asserting Privacy Rights
10/22/2013
Florence, Colo.—In a twist of irony, school officials who have been under fire for disregarding student privacy rights are now warning complaining families that law enforcement will be monitoring social media discussions about their concerns.
In a report released late yesterday, Superintendent Rhonda Vendetti again waved off parents’ and students’ concerns about the district’s decision to allow a teenage boy at Florence High School who identifies as a girl to freely enter girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms. The district was responding to a letter from Pacific Justice Institute raising serious concerns about the privacy rights of PJI clients who are teenage girls at the school. The Superintendent’s conclusions were not surprising, since she had already sought sympathy from and given an exclusive interview to a transgender activist. What was surprising to PJI attorneys, though, was the report’s failure to address threats by the athletic department against some of the girls’ continued participation in school sports after they asserted their rights. Even more troubling was the Superintendent’s warning that the complaining families were now subject to having their social media monitored by police.
“Since we first broke this story, it has been shocking to see the lengths to which school officials and LGBT activists have gone to suppress the truth,” stated Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute. “We have now received a large and growing stack of hate mail from supposedly tolerant LGBT supporters, most of which is based on unquestioning faith in school officials who have proved to be untrustworthy. It is increasingly apparent that school officials and LGBT activists are on an all-out mission to discredit our clients rather than deal with the serious problems they have identified with a biologically teenage boy sharing bathrooms with their teenage daughters. These new developments only stiffen our resolve and renew our focus to seek a balanced solution that honors the rights and needs of all students.”
- See more at: http://www.pacificjustice.org/1/post/2013/10/colo-school-spooks-families-with-police-surveillance-for-asserting-privacy-rights.html#sthash.CoNlWsmB.dpuf