Hate On A Saturday Morning

“That is not appropriate for any of our children. Now my religious rites tells me what I can and cannot do. I don't teach my children to be racist. I don't teach my children to be hateful. I teach them to be loving and caring and sharing. Now, where is this coming from that? I'm going to all of a sudden teach my children to hate gay people or Lesbian people. No. Leave your gender, leave your sexuality to yourself, to your bedroom. Don't bring it to our children. The more you attack our children, the more we gonna come after you guys and protest and say [inaudible].

Mother Fuckers.”

– Public comment of Manuk Grigoryan

Last June, a group claiming to be “parents” from Saticoy Elementary School (but also comprised of Proud Boys, participants in the January 6th insurrection, Glendale-based hate groups, and other radicalized right-wing Christian Nationalists) protested a program for Pride Month that included the reading of The Great Big Book of Families for daring to state that “Some children have two mummies or two daddies.” Despite having the right to opt their own children out of the assembly, these “parents” declared that in the name of “parental rights,” no child should have access to this type of material. In a futile attempt to stop the assembly from occurring, they violently protested in front of the school, assaulting those who supported diversity, hurling bigoted epithets, and forcing the need for children to be escorted into the school like they were Ruby Bridges integrating an elementary school in the South.

In response to the events of that day, and others that followed, the Northridge East Neighborhood Council’s (NENC) Education Committee recommended that the Governing Board pass a resolution urging “the City of Los Angeles to support the LAUSD's efforts at promoting inclusion and diversity.” The Governing Board voted unanimously to pass this motion and an email was sent to Eunisses Hernandez, Chair of the Neighborhoods and Community Enrichment Committee. To date, Hernandez nor any of the other Committee members have bothered to respond.

Eight months after this email was sent, a group of activists opposed to diversity and inclusion descended upon the Education Committee’s March meeting, some reportedly making the 70-mile trip from Riverside. What made this action particularly strange was the fact that the published agenda for the meeting specifically stated that it would be held virtually. Instead of calling into Zoom from the comfort of their own homes, they gathered at a hall that is rented out for when the Northridge East Neighborhood Council holds one of its Wednesday night monthly meetings in person.

The members of the group refused to accept that it was their error that had caused them to needlessly make the trip. Through online comments on the Zoom app, they complained bitterly that they were not able to confront the committee in person. One also took issue with the time of the meeting even though it is regularly scheduled on Saturday mornings to accommodate the fact that I, as a member of the Committee, work the Swing Shift.

A chief complaint of protestors who called in during public comment was that the letter had referred to them as “bigots,” a claim that was not accurate. While the letter did refer to the homophobic, misogynistic, and anti-Semetic slurs that had been hurled during the protests at Saticoy and made the accusation that the “two protests in Glendale…were also based on hate and bigotry,” it did not place that label on any specific person. However, if the shoe fits…

As if to prove that the “bigot” label was appropriate, speaker after speaker described those supporters of inclusion and diversity as “groomers.” At a minimum this label is offensive, implying that efforts to promote tolerance are based on the goal of exploiting minors and using them for sexual activity. The term also implies that unless someone is heterosexual, they are automatically a sexual deviant looking to recruit others, especially children.

Promoting a fear about members of the LBGTQ+ communities based on an imagined danger they pose to children is also not supported by the facts as “scientific research does not provide any evidence that gay men or lesbians are any more likely than heterosexuals to molest children.” According to the data, the real danger to children seems to be families as it is “a family member abuses 30-40% of victims” and researchers in one study “found that a child’s risk of being molested by his or her relative’s heterosexual partner was over 100 times greater than their being molested by someone who identifies as being homosexual, lesbian or bisexual (0.7% of the cases).”

Finally, the misuse of the “groomer” label does real damage as it normalizes vile behavior. This has a “boy who cried wolf” effect that endangers children by minimizing the actions of criminals who are engaging in the actual act of grooming.

One of the speakers was Raquel Villalta, who recently ran for the LAUSD School Board seat currently held by Scott Schmerelson. Villalta accused me of promoting hate through my coverage of her group’s violent protests and said that the NENC’s letter amounted to “a persecution of faith.” After claiming that her group was “loving…kind and…respect[s] the beliefs and the values of others” she went on to say that homosexuality is “contrary to God [and] contrary in nature.” Later she stated that “we refuse to believe that this is appropriate, and we don't want our children being taught that. That is contrary to nature, it is contrary to our faith [and] contrary to God.” If that is tolerance, it is scary to imagine what intolerance looks like.

Villalta also seemed to think that because she described her views as faith-based, her School Board campaign should have been exempted from criticism saying that she was “personally…attacked because of [her] views and because of [her] beliefs.” For a democracy to function, the beliefs and viewpoints of someone seeking public office should be thoroughly evaluated, especially when those views threaten the safety and emotional health of students who are members of LGBTQ+ families.

While the group of speakers demanded that their religious rights should be respected by allowing them to discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community, they showed little tolerance towards other viewpoints. One speaker claimed that “being a homosexual and a Christian at the same time. I wanna say, that's an oxymoron. That's like saying you're a believer and an atheist.”

Speaking as an individual and not the Chair of the NENC Education Committee, the behavior of these speakers proved the necessity of the NENC’s resolution last July. The hate and misinformation spread by this group endanger the safety, health, and well-being of members of the LGBTQ+ community. We must all stand up to this hate and bigotry and let our fellow citizens know that they have allies and they will never again be forced back into the closet.

“oh, my God! I'm ashamed to you people! And Carl, stop shoving your pie hole. Stop shoving your pie hole, Carl. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

– Eric Ario

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Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, who serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him “a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles.” For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.