If you guys follow the LGBT news, you are aware California passed a law allowing transgender students to use gender-segregated bathrooms appropriate for their gender identity.
Not one week later, this press release began floating around the internet, became an international story which was later picked up by Daily Mail, Free Republic, Examiner, National Review, Christian Broadcast Network, Fox News, Liberty News, Infowars, Charisma News, and cross-posted across hundreds of smaller news outlets and blogs:
Pacific Justice Institute sent a following letter to Florence High School:
That's a pretty serious claim, but did anyone do fact-checking before publishing this story to a worldwide audience? Of course not. TransAdvocate contacted Superintendent Rhonda Vendetti for a statement. Shockingly enough, the complaint did not come from students at the school, but from a parent:
By why did the parent raise a complaint to the school about the policy? A person claiming to be student of the school wrote the following:
So, a parent of a student complained about a Florence Highschool trans student after they were publicly outed on Facebook. The parent's complaint was not prompted by any actual instance of harassment, but that the student is allowed to use girls restrooms.
This parent complained to the school about their trans-inclusive policy, didn't get the response they wanted, raised the issue to Pacific Justice Institute. PJI sent a threatening letter to the school on Oct 10, the story about trans students harassing girls in bathrooms went viral on Oct 13. But as of today, following investigations by the school and law enforcement, no witnesses or victims have been identified, no claims of harassment were raised to the school, none of the claims purported by PJI could be independently substantiated.
Consequently, Examiner printed a retraction, Daily Mail pulled their article from the site, and numerous other news sites have published retractions of the story. Christian Broadcast Network and FoxNews, against the grain, allowed the story to stand without a retraction.
Pacific Justice Institute defends their story:
Read that again. PJI published a "legal demand" -- which the school is not obligated to respond to -- raising "serious questions" about a trans student using girls restrooms. PJI alludes to the claim that "rights were violated", but the very important word "harassment" is missing from their statement.
Last week PJI was talking about a student sexually harassing girls in bathrooms. But now the "central issue" is that school's trans-inclusive policy is not "seriously disputed" (whatever that means). Ok, so what is the meaning of PJI's press release? What is their actual complaint against the school? Cathy Brennan, an attorney speaking for PJI, clarifies the nature of this harassment:
There you have it: in absence of any students actually raising complaints about harassment, in absence of the trans student actually making sexually harassing comments to girls in the bathroom, the mere presence of a transgender student in a bathroom is "inherent intimidating". The PJI stands by its false claims against the trans student because the school did not respond to its letter to their satisfaction.
The student's sexual harassment, the victims, the witnesses were completely fabricated by Pacific Justice Institute. They deliberately perpetrated a hoax in order to single out a student and humiliate a transgender student in high school.
This entire affair is unfolding like a train wreck in slow motion.
Not one week later, this press release began floating around the internet, became an international story which was later picked up by Daily Mail, Free Republic, Examiner, National Review, Christian Broadcast Network, Fox News, Liberty News, Infowars, Charisma News, and cross-posted across hundreds of smaller news outlets and blogs:
Quote:
Pacific Justice Institute Press Release: Teen Boy Harasses Girls in Their Bathroom, Colo. School Tells Girls They Have No Rights Parents at the school, located near Colorado Springs, became irate when they learned that a teenage boy was entering girls’ bathrooms and, according to some students, even making sexually harassing comments toward girls he was encountering. When the parents confronted school officials, they were stunned to be told the boy’s rights as a self-proclaimed transgender trumped their daughters’ privacy rights. As the controversy grew, some students were threatened by school authorities with being kicked off school athletic teams or charged with hate crimes if they continued to voice concerns. The parents became aware of PJI’s Notice of Reasonable Expectation of Privacy and contacted PJI for help. The letter sent today by PJI explains that the non-transgender students retain significant privacy rights that are being ignored by the school. The letter also points out that Florence High has not taken minimal precautions such as requiring the student to continuously and exclusively identify with one gender. According to student witnesses, he sometimes uses girls’ bathrooms and other times uses boys’ facilities. “We’re not going to stand by and let 99.7% of our students lose their privacy and free speech rights just because .3% of the population are gender-confused,” stated Brad Dacus, the president of Pacific Justice Institute. “LGBT activists are sacrificing the safety and sanity of our schools to push an extreme political agenda. This battle is no longer confined to California or Colorado; it is spreading to every part of the nation. It is crucial that we act now to prevent a crippling blow to our constitutional freedoms.” |
Pacific Justice Institute sent a following letter to Florence High School:
Quote:
It is our understanding that the current conflict erupted after students - including freshman girls - encountered a biologically male student in a female restroom. This student does not consistently identify with either gender and has allegedly made sexually harassing comments toward the girls with whom he seeks to share a restroom. It is our further understanding that, instead of investing the serious concern that this type of sexual harassment is taking place in campus bathrooms, you met yesterday with some of the students who have raised these concerns and proposed that they avoid using the girls' locker room and limit themselves to a staff bathroom that is far from their classes and is not open during after-school sports in which they participate. [ . . . ] The parents we reprsent have been alarmed by the dismissive attitude of FHS and District leadership toward their students' sacrosanct constitutional privacy rights. [ . . . ] They and we are also greatly concerned by reports that FHS staff have threatened students with penalties ranging from charges of hate crimes to dismissal from school sports for even vocalizing their resonable expectations of privacy. |
That's a pretty serious claim, but did anyone do fact-checking before publishing this story to a worldwide audience? Of course not. TransAdvocate contacted Superintendent Rhonda Vendetti for a statement. Shockingly enough, the complaint did not come from students at the school, but from a parent:
Quote:
VENDETTI: Nothing has actually been verified with us. This is one parent basically bringing their viewpoint about this situation to the media because they weren't getting the responses that they hoped they would get from the district, from parents of students at the high school, or from the board and myself. So I think it's just an attempt to elevate the situation to a point where maybe some more attention can be drawn to that in the hope of having a different outcome. But to our knowledge and based on our investigation, none of those things have actually happened. We do have a transgender student at the high school and she has been using the women's restroom. There has not been a situation. |
By why did the parent raise a complaint to the school about the policy? A person claiming to be student of the school wrote the following:
So, a parent of a student complained about a Florence Highschool trans student after they were publicly outed on Facebook. The parent's complaint was not prompted by any actual instance of harassment, but that the student is allowed to use girls restrooms.
This parent complained to the school about their trans-inclusive policy, didn't get the response they wanted, raised the issue to Pacific Justice Institute. PJI sent a threatening letter to the school on Oct 10, the story about trans students harassing girls in bathrooms went viral on Oct 13. But as of today, following investigations by the school and law enforcement, no witnesses or victims have been identified, no claims of harassment were raised to the school, none of the claims purported by PJI could be independently substantiated.
Consequently, Examiner printed a retraction, Daily Mail pulled their article from the site, and numerous other news sites have published retractions of the story. Christian Broadcast Network and FoxNews, against the grain, allowed the story to stand without a retraction.
Pacific Justice Institute defends their story:
Quote:
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 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.” |
Read that again. PJI published a "legal demand" -- which the school is not obligated to respond to -- raising "serious questions" about a trans student using girls restrooms. PJI alludes to the claim that "rights were violated", but the very important word "harassment" is missing from their statement.
Last week PJI was talking about a student sexually harassing girls in bathrooms. But now the "central issue" is that school's trans-inclusive policy is not "seriously disputed" (whatever that means). Ok, so what is the meaning of PJI's press release? What is their actual complaint against the school? Cathy Brennan, an attorney speaking for PJI, clarifies the nature of this harassment:
Quote:
We’ve seen similar claims. It is our position that the intrusion of a biological male into a restroom for teenage girls is inherently intimidating and harassing. We have received additional reports of particular incidents of harassment, and we are working to corroborate those reports. In our letter, we specifically asked the school to notify us immediately if they disputed any of the factual allegations. To date, they have not done so. The core of this story — that the school is elevating the rights of one self-proclaimed transgender student while minimizing the privacy rights of all the biologically female students, has not been seriously controverted. We encourage journalists to continue their important work of investigating the details of this story independently and not simply accepting the statements of either side, and certainly not pulling their stories simply because activists demand this story be silenced. |
There you have it: in absence of any students actually raising complaints about harassment, in absence of the trans student actually making sexually harassing comments to girls in the bathroom, the mere presence of a transgender student in a bathroom is "inherent intimidating". The PJI stands by its false claims against the trans student because the school did not respond to its letter to their satisfaction.
The student's sexual harassment, the victims, the witnesses were completely fabricated by Pacific Justice Institute. They deliberately perpetrated a hoax in order to single out a student and humiliate a transgender student in high school.
This entire affair is unfolding like a train wreck in slow motion.
via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=267136&goto=newpost
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