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setho212 t1_ivt5crm wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Can anyone explain how people are voting for BOE? by freecain

She supported policies that would have prohibited even mentioning the existence of LGBTQ people in classes below the high school level and even then she supported giving parents the right to pull their kids out of any class that discussed LGBTQ issues. Her opinions on book banning also went beyond just that one example. She supported overriding decisions made by educators and librarians to allow banning books that have “sexually explicitly content”. What exactly is considered sexually explicit remained to be seen, but given the postings on Facebook by her most ardent supporters, it is clear that it if she were in power there would be attempts to ban books more innocuous than the example you provided. That language she used in her campaign, specifically the phrases neighborhood schools and parents rights while sounding innocent enough are code words used by far right groups pushing agendas far right agendas.

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[deleted] t1_ivt69j1 wrote

[deleted]

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setho212 t1_ivt93h5 wrote

Let’s just start off with the fact that I did not downvote you so don’t jump to conclusions.

Adler was very good at putting on a nice face and saying things that sound ok at first but weren’t quite what they seemed when you looked deeper, so I didn’t trust her to restrict her position on books to just be “pedophilia dick-sucking.” Her positions on LGBTQ issues is a good example of this. She frequently said that she supported all students and that students should feel welcome and accepted in schools, but then supported policies that treated LGBTQ students like pariahs. Banning even the mention of anything relating to LGBTQ people from middle and elementary schools is absurd and detrimental to LGBTQ youth and kids with LGBTQ families. How do you think a kid in elementary school with 2 male or 2 female parents would feel if in a discussion of families they were not permitted to talk about their family? It’s potentially even worse for middle schoolers given their greater awareness. It’s hard to believe an 8th grader struggling with conflicted feelings about their sexual orientation wouldn’t feel some sort of shame about their feelings if presented with a policy that does not permit the mention of LGBTQ people or that they wouldn’t offended by the reduction of their own parents to inappropriate sexual beings rather than loving parents.

All one has to do is look to the groups pushing the Adler candidacy to see what a change in book policies in schools would have lead to. She was heavily supported by people from two Facebook groups, Howard County Neighbors United and Families Unite Howard County (yes, FUHC). These groups had many postings vilifying LGBTQ people and decrying the “indoctrination of students.” Their complaints went far beyond the example we’re talking about to anything LGBTQ related. To these people anything LGBTQ is sexually explicitly and needs to be banned. It seemed clear to me, given Adler’s position on even talking about LGBTQ issues that she would be sympathetic to this claim at the very least if not an outright supporter of it.

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[deleted] t1_ivtb02p wrote

[deleted]

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setho212 t1_ivtc306 wrote

https://www.cary-hoco.org/adler

Look at questions 4 and 5.

Also, at a recent BOE candidate forum, a gay father asked Adler (and Chen) why they don’t support his child feeling accepted in school. Adler’s response was that there are parents who aren’t comfortable yet. Others may disagree, but I don’t feel as though people that do not accept gay people in this day and age should dictate school policy. We do not accept racism as a valid reason for making school policy and we should not accept anti-LGBTQ beliefs as a valid reason.

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