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PERK’s Amy Bohn: Newsom ‘using children in this political game’ of gender identity in schools

PERK’s Amy Bohn: Newsom ‘using children in this political game’ of gender identity in schools

Amy Bohn is the president and co-founder of California-based PERK (Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids). The organization advocates for parental rights at the local and state level, and has been a constant thorn in the side of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Bohn sat down with Fox News Digital to discuss California’s recently passed legislation, AB 1955, which would prohibit educators from informing parents when their children change their pronouns, name, or gender identity at school. NEWSOM’S SCHOOL GENDER IDENTITY LAW MANDATES ‘TEACHERS MUST LIE TO PARENTS,’ PARENTAL RIGHTS GROUPS SAY Bohn argues that the legislation is a usurpation of parental rights. “So California’s AB 1955 is, I think, one of the worst bills we’ve seen thus far, that prohibits parents from being notified or informed about their child, changing their gender identity or anything like that at school,” she said. “So it completely prohibits educators, teachers and the school from letting parents know about any kind of change with their child. It also promotes secrecy… removing all of this information from parents, and creates a file on parents at the school level as well, a secret file.” Supporters of the legislation suggest that students are entitled to privacy. The bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Chris Ward, a Democrat who represents a San Diego-based district, argues that it affords students “the dignity of deciding when they’re ready to share some of the most private information about themselves.” Minors, Bohn said, do not have the legal standing to consent to making such decisions. “I would say that the issue in this is that a child does not have the capacity to consent. So every minor has to grow up and is developing, and a brain is not fully developed until they’re 25 years old. That’s science. So to even think that children have some kind of capacity to consent to something like this without their parents… that’s why there are consent laws in place,” she said. “And parents are there to guide, to protect, to make sure that their children are not exploited or taken advantage of. I think what he’s saying is honestly utter nonsense.” CALIFORNIA GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM SIGNS BILL BANNING SCHOOLS FROM NOTIFYING PARENTS OF CHILD’S GENDER IDENTITY Bohn said she believes that the legislation enjoys the backing of Newsom for reasons of political expediency. “I think he wants it to go into law because I think it’s a political move, to be honest. And that’s also one of the problems with this bill is they’re using children in this political game, this political agenda,” she said. “I don’t think he’s concerned or cares about the children. And I think that we have seen as PERK, in California, Newsom is eroding parental rights.” While AB 1955 has been a major issue for PERK this year, the organization has also been active in other public policy battles, particularly related to educational policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bohn has been vocal against vaccine mandates in school districts. WALZ’S ‘FREEDOM’ MESSAGE CLASHES WITH RECORD ON COVID SCHOOL CLOSURES, INDOOR MASK MANDATES “I do not believe schools should be able to mandate vaccines, because that’s a medical treatment. That’s something that parents and doctors should be the stewards of,” she said. “We’ve actually seen mandates across the state of California on vaccines, including the COVID mandate, and it was illegal for them to do that. They were bypassing the legislative process and the [state] Health Department.” PERK was involved in litigation challenging such policies. “We pushed back against that. We filed lawsuits. We won those lawsuits, by the way,” Bohn said. “I just don’t think mandates belong anywhere in our society, because if we’re supposed to be free, which we are, then mandates are completely [the] opposite of what the Constitution stands for.” Bohn and PERK also fought Newsom and the teachers unions over COVID lockdowns.  “So from the very beginning, when we heard Gov. Newsom say it was going to be two weeks to slow the spread and schools closed, we looked at each other and [we knew] this is going to be a year or longer,” she said. “Immediately, within two weeks, we sent a letter to Gov. Newsom and to the legislators saying, ‘This is bad policy. We can already tell you how this is going to harm children.’” Bohn added: “You shouldn’t be implementing these kinds of lockdown measures, especially on the kids. So we started to push back immediately at the highest level. Then, we informed parents, ‘This is what’s going on. This is how it’s going to hurt your families, your kids and their education and academic learning and the academic loss we were anticipating,’ and got parents involved to push back.” PERK was credited with driving local protests and activism at school board meetings in the wake of the lengthy closures. “So we actually brought lots of parents and people to school board meetings to encourage the schools to open back up as quickly as possible. We put out surveys. We filed lawsuits. We did a lot in the space to try to help get the schools opened back up,” Bohn said. “And we’re very active in representing hundreds of thousands of families and kids that needed those schools open.” Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Critics say CNN’s Bash used ‘kid gloves’ with Harris and Walz, while Vance ‘grilled’

Critics say CNN’s Bash used ‘kid gloves’ with Harris and Walz, while Vance ‘grilled’

Vice President Kamala Harris sat down for her first media interview Thursday since ascending the Democratic presidential ticket, with some critics arguing the CNN interviewer should have taken a tougher approach similar to an interview just weeks before with former President Trump’s running mate. CNN’s Dana Bash interviewed Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, for a total of roughly 26 pretaped minutes, which aired Thursday night. Harris was asked about inconsistencies in her political record, Trump’s personal attacks and what she would accomplish on day one in the Oval Office.  Walz was asked about comments he made on the campaign trail related to his military service — that he once carried weapons in war, though he was never deployed to a war zone.  Some critics say they wish Bash had pressed the pair in the way she grilled GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance in a one-on-one interview just weeks before.  KAMALA HARRIS OFFERS VAGUE ‘DAY 1’ OVAL OFFICE PLAN IN CNN INTERVIEW: ‘A NUMBER OF THINGS’ “Mixed marks for Bash, who pushed on some necessary subjects, but missed glaring follow-ups,” Fox News contributor Guy Benson posted on X.  More specifically, Vanessa Santos, president of Renegade PR, told Fox News Digital on Friday, “Dana was fired up when she grilled JD about his ‘cat lady’ comments. If she would’ve brought even half of that energy to the Harris-Walz interview, voters might have learned something last night.”  “Instead, she let their nonsensical answers go unchecked and unchallenged,” she said.  Bash asked Walz during the interview, “You said that you carried weapons in war, but you have never actually deployed in a war zone. A campaign official said that you misspoke. Did you?”  Walz replied, “I’m incredibly proud. I’ve done 24 years of wearing the uniform of this country, equally proud of my service in a public-school classroom, whether it’s Congress or the governor. My record speaks for itself, but I think people are coming to get to know me. I speak like they do. I speak candidly. I wear my emotions on my sleeves. And I speak especially passionately about our children being shot in schools and around guns. So, I think people know me. They know who I am. They know where my heart is. And again, my record has been out there for over 40 years to speak for itself.” “And the idea that you said that you were in war, did you misspeak as the campaign has said?” Bash pressed.  “Yeah. I said we were talking about, in this case, this was after a school shooting, the idea of carrying these weapons of war. And, my wife, the English teacher, she told me my grammar is not always correct,” he said. In contrast, during her interview earlier this month with Vance, Bash pressed the Ohio senator for roughly six minutes about his leading the charge on criticizing Walz’s characterization of his military record, challenging his criticisms three separate times during the segment.  She also pressed him multiple times on his “childless cat ladies” comments from an interview a few years ago.  ON DODGING THE MEDIA, KAMALA HARRIS ‘OWES RESPONSES’ TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, SAYS CAMPAIGN ADVISER But critics argued that Bash didn’t ask the hard-hitting questions Americans wanted to hear during her interview of Harris and Walz on Thursday. In one light exchange, Bash questioned Harris about a viral photo of Harris’ young niece watching her speech at the Democratic National Convention.  “You didn’t explicitly talk about gender or race in your speech. But it obviously means a lot to a lot of people. And that viral picture really says it. What does it mean to you?” Bash asked. Harris replied, “I am running because I believe that I am the best person to do this job at this moment for all Americans, regardless of race and gender. But I did see that photograph, and I was deeply touched by it.” To which Bash followed up, “Did she talk to you about it afterwards?” “Oh, she had a lot to talk about. She had a lot. She listened to everything. And she listens to everything,” Harris replied. “Did she give you your hot takes?” Bash asked. “Oh, yeah, definitely,” Harris said. Michael Knowles, host of the conservative talk radio show “The Michael Knowles Show,” commented, “Dana Bash only did a bad job if you consider her to be a serious journalist.” “In reality, her job was not to ask tough questions, as she did of JD Vance, but rather to allow Kamala Harris to check the box of having endured an uneventful interview,” he told Fox News Digital.  Link Lauren, a TikTok influencer and former senior campaign adviser for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., told Fox News Digital, “It was as if Dana Bash was leading the witness.”  “She would give options for Kamala to choose from — as if this was the SAT multiple-choice section,” said Lauren.  “Bash is clearly capable of conducting a hardcore interview in the peak of a critical election cycle. It’s unfortunate she didn’t deploy those skills with Harris and Walz and instead put on kid gloves,” said Santos.  Santos added that Bash “allowing Walz to blame ‘bad grammar’ for lying about his military record seems like a politically motivated tactic, and is a disservice to Americans.” ‘WHATEVER’: DEMOCRATS REACT TO KAMALA HARRIS’ LACK OF INTERVIEWS Conversely, some critics say Bash leaned too far into “right-wing talking points” and should have had a more original line of questioning with Harris and Walz. Sami Sage, co-founder of Betches Media, posted on X, “the CNN interview summarized: Dana Bash: why did you [right wing talking point]? Harris/Walz: because [answer they’ve given 5+ times] Dana Bash: but is it because [right wing talking point]? have you changed your mind on [right wing talking point]?” Democratic pollster and strategist Matt McDermott commented, “Kamala Harris and Tim Walz gave a perfectly thoughtful, insightful interview. But the press continues to be plagued by an inability to

Harris tells African church conference ‘we are not going back’ as its leaders voted to ban gay marriage

Harris tells African church conference ‘we are not going back’ as its leaders voted to ban gay marriage

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, thanked leaders of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church for their support this week and told them she is determined to move the country forward for them, but the church’s leaders don’t seem to want that when it comes to gay marriage. Leaders of the AME church voted Wednesday at its 52nd quadrennial conference held in Columbus, Ohio, to strike down a bill that would have ended the AME church’s ban on same-sex marriage.  In an address to attendees of the conference the same day, Harris slammed Republicans for trying to pull the country backward.  “We face a choice between two very different visions for the future of our nation. One, ours, that is focused on the future. The other focused on the past,” Harris told those in attendance. “But we are not going back.”  HARRIS CAMP HIRES ACTIVIST REVEREND WHO CLAIMS CHRISTIANITY HAS BEEN ‘HIJACKED’ BY WHITE SUPREMACY  Gay marriage was legalized by the federal government in 2015.  The AME church is a predominantly Black church based in the U.S. It originated due to racial animosity between Black and White congregants in the Methodist church during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Today, 92% of the AME church’s congregants identify as Democrats, according to the polling firm Pew Research Center.  Leaders of the AME church have been credited with helping play a key role in getting President Biden elected in 2020 and this year have campaigned with prominent Democratic candidates. Although the church boasts a vast network of Democratic congregants, its position on same-sex marriage remains out of step with the official stance of the Democratic Party. In 2004, the church’s leaders released a statement indicating gay marriage was contradictory to how they interpret the Bible, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a pro-LGBTQ nonprofit.   More recently, there has been internal disagreement on the matter, illustrated by Wednesday’s vote to strike down the church’s gay marriage ban, which received 896 nays and 722 yeas.  While Harris seems unconcerned with the AME church’s stance on gay marriage, she has had some harsh words for Republicans on other “anti-equality” measures. She previously referred to GOP lawmakers who have sought to keep biological males out of girls’ bathrooms, limit public drag shows open to minors and restrict transgender care to only adults as “extremists.”  “These so-called leaders have proposed and passed more than 75 new anti-equality bills across our country,” Harris said at a Pride Month event last year. Republicans, meanwhile, have derided Harris as a “political chameleon” who shifts her policy positions for political purposes. ‘EVANGELICALS FOR HARRIS’ COURTS ‘POLITICALLY HOMELESS’ CHRISTIANS TO BACK DEMOCRAT IN NOVEMBER The Harris campaign did not respond to questions on whether the vice president was aware of the AME church’s stance on gay marriage prior to filming her message that was played at the conference or if she still supports the rights of same-sex couples to get married. The AME church hung up the phone when Fox News Digital tried to reach out.  “This is the most consequential election of our lifetime,” Harris told the congregants Wednesday, thanking them “deeply” for their support and get-out-the-vote efforts. Harris made no mention of LGBTQ issues during her short message but did touch on economic, health and religious liberty issues. She also implored the congregants to “do all we can to move our nation forward.” “As the Gospel of Luke tells us, faith has the power to shine a light on those living in darkness and to guide our feet in the path of peace. In moments such as this, faith guides us forward. Faith in the promise of America: freedom, opportunity and justice – not for some, but for all.”