Heated discourse broke out in an Alaska school board meeting after members attempted to dismiss a father’s qualms over a book that provides tips to kids on how to send naked pictures to their peers.
Jay McDonald spoke up about library books with a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) agenda during the Anchorage School Board meeting on February 7, reading from one book recently added to school libraries to get his point across.
After being awarded the floor, the father – who now homeschools his kids because of increasingly woke lesson plans – read a passage from the book, which includes advice on watching porn, anal sex and how to edit nude selfies as to not be identified later.
Called Let’s Talk About It by Erica Moen, the book refers to the selfies as ‘naughty masterpieces’, and is billed as a self-help book for teens.
Taking issue with the book’s contents, McDonald read a portion of the book he felt illustrated the dangers of DEI – but was quickly silenced by the board vice president, Carl Jacobs, halfway through his allotted speaking time, spurring a fierce debate between board members about whether the ruling was justified.
Scroll down for video:
Jay McDonald spoke up about library books with a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) agenda during the Anchorage School Board meeting on February 7, reading from one book recently added to school libraries to get his point across.
McDonald read a portion of the book he felt illustrated the dangers of DEI – but was silenced by board vice president Carl Jacobs (pictured) halfway through his allotted speaking time
The heated interaction was streamed in real-time, and provided some new insight on the disputes currently swirling across the county over some of the explicit materials that are being admitted into school libraries.
In the clip, McDonald, dressed in a suit and tie, began by introducing himself, before telling members of the board that he was there to speak about his concerns over the diversity effort – which he called one of the ‘main objectives of the school district.’
‘Evening, so I’m Jay McDonald. I’m here to talk about diversity inclusion and equity,’ McDonald says in the footage, which was viewed more than 1,400 in the span of a week.
The dad continued: ‘ So, We don’t often see specific examples of what diversity, inclusion and equity looks like, though. So, today I brought an excellent representation.’
The father – who added his daughter learned about gender identity when she was in kindergarten – went on to call Moen’s book ‘the archetype of diversity, inclusion, equity material,’ adding that it was one several hundred books recently purchased for public school libraries.
The book, called Let’s Talk About It by Erica Moen and Matthew Nolan, includes advice on watching porn, anal sex, and how to edit nude selfies – referred to as naughty masterpieces’ – as to not identify yourself. Released in 2021, is billed as a self-help book for teens
McDonald then opened the 240-page book which directs ‘kinks, fantasies, and porn’ to readers aged 14 to 17 to a chapter about sexting, in which the authors instruct teens on how to naked selfies and not get caught.
Getting into the nitty gritty of the book’s contents, McDonald reiterates: ‘This is a book for kids.’
The passage McDonald read aloud went as follows: ‘Before you start sending your naughty masterpieces around the world take some time to get friendly with photo editing software and apps.
‘Digital photos are permanent and impossible to retract once they’re out there so keep your recognizable features out of them before you share them.’
The interaction sparked debate between board members about whether the ruling was justified, with board member Dave Donley stepping into to argue on behalf of the father
Met with audible silence as he read the passage, the dad continued to read from the book to get his point across.
‘Don’t forget to crop out your face, hide your birthmarks and scars, and edit out your your piercings and tattoos – and don’t forget to tell your sweetie how hot they look. Let them know you appreciate the little gift they’ve sent you.’
At this point in the footage, Jacob interjects, before ultimately electing to silence the father and ‘defer’ his concerns to the board’s superintendent, to be aired at a later date.
‘Mr McDonald?’ Jacobs asks in the clip, as McDonald looked poised to continue.
‘Yes?’ McDonald’s replied, looking up from the place he had been in the children’s book.
The dad told Fox News that he now homeschools his children because of the type of literature and lessons they were being exposed to while enrolled in public school
Jacobs proceeded to explain: ‘Yeah, I’m going to interrupt you at this point. [It] sounds like you have a concern about a book.’
The district official then added: ‘I’d be glad to get connected to the superintendent on our team to go through the appropriate process.’
The assertion, however, appeared to aggravated McDonald, who seemed bewildered that his time on the podium had inexplicably been cut short.
‘I’d appreciate if you don’t interrupt my time,’ the dad replied.
Jacobs went on to insist that the dad could no longer speak about the book, and that allowing him to continue would go against a precedent set at previous board meetings.
‘We have a procedure and a process and a team ready to assist you if you’d like,’ the board vice president then said.
But one of Jacob’s colleagues, Dave Donley, seemed to disagree with his contemporary’s assessment, spurring him to step in and argue on behalf of the father and insist he had the right to continue his speech.
The interruption seemingly incensed Jacobs, who would fire back that Donley had the right to appeal his decision if he pleased.
Donley told Jacobs: ‘Mr President I don’t think he’s violated any rules. I mean he hasn’t used pornography, I mean he hasn’t shown any pornography, he hasn’t shown any bad words.’
Jacobs replied: ‘Mr Donnelly, you can overrule the ruling of the chair if you’d like. It’s my determination that we should ask Mr McDonald to go through the appropriate process.’
School board members Jacobs (secondfrom top left), Pat Higgins (top left), Margo Bellamy, Kelly Lessen and Dora Wilson voted to silence the father. Donley (top left) and Andy Holleman (top right) voted against the decision
‘I understand suggesting that to him I think that’s fine, but I don’t think he said anything that would cause us to cut off his testimony at this point,’ Donley responded.
The two proceeded to go back and forth in a heated exchange that culminated with Donley appealing the ruling, leading the seven-person board to engage in a vote.
Ultimately, Donley and one other board member Andy Holleman voted in favor of letting the father speak, resulting in lopsided 5-2 decision in Jacob’s favor.
On Thursday, more than a week after incident, the dad decried the board’s behavior, telling Fox that he has pulled his school-aged kids from the district’s schools, and now homeschools them.
He said he hopes the interaction alerts parents about the kind of materials being made available to their children.
While the contents of Moen’s book were particularly jarring, he said it was just a small example of the hundreds of titles now being allowed in Anchorage schools as part of the nationwide DEI campaign, which has faced backlash from GOP leaders like Ron DeSantis.
‘It’s not about one book or two books or ten books. This is a much larger push. They’re pushing critical gender theory on kids starting in elementary school,’ he said.
‘They’re encouraging them to get what they call ‘gender creative,’ and they’re transitioning them in the public schools, and they’re doing it without prior notification or consent from the parents. And in some cases they never tell the parents.
‘So I’m encouraging people, like if you’re not able to homeschool, please just sit down with your kids and talk to them about what they hear in school.’
Read the full article here
Discussion about this post