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Tag: Parental Rights

Supreme Court case claims Colorado’s conversion therapy ban erases gay identity, silences counselors
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Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Supreme Court case claims Colorado’s conversion therapy ban erases gay identity, silences counselors

By Mia Cathell | Washington Examiner A controversial Supreme Court case challenging a ban on so-called conversion therapy, as it pertains to treating transgender children, is attracting unlikely allies. At issue in Chiles v. Salazar, soon to be argued before the Supreme Court, is whether a Colorado law prohibiting “conversion therapy” for pediatric patients unconstitutionally restricts a counselor’s free speech rights, via viewpoint discrimination, when that therapist wants to counsel children experiencing gender dysphoria toward embracing their biological sex. A number of traditionally progressive third parties are siding with the plaintiff, Kaley Chiles, a licensed Christian counselor who nudges clients to “live consistently with God’s design.”...
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“This is too important to improvise”: D49 superintendent says sports lawsuit seeks clarity
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

“This is too important to improvise”: D49 superintendent says sports lawsuit seeks clarity

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Superintendent Peter Hilts says protecting girls' athletic opportunity—and preventing boys from lifelong regret—is only part of the story. It's also about fixing incoherent policies and standing in the gap as adults. Colorado Springs’ School District 49 made headlines in May when it filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s anti-discrimination law and CHSAA’s transgender athlete policy. “We wanted to get in front of the coming legal conflict,” he explained in an interview with RMV. “We think this is too important to improvise.” The district’s enacted policy separates sports, locker rooms and team travel by biological sex—a direct clash with the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) and Colorado High School Activities Association (C...
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Worried about what your child is reading at school? You’re not alone
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Worried about what your child is reading at school? You’re not alone

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Substack Worried about your school requiring books that might conflict with your values? I am signed on to the Independence Institute’s newsletter. One installment last week had the following blurb written by Pam Benigno of their education policy center, quoted here at length and with links left intact:“Last week, I spoke at a women’s club about how Colorado’s Social Studies Academic Standards have been hijacked by those trying to shape young children’s hearts and minds by exposing young children to literature intended to “disrupt” their understanding of gender identity. Bringing some good news, I explained how Mahmoud v. Taylor, a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, requires elementary schools to provide n...
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Classroom or campaign: NEA handbook sparks questions in Mesa County
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The Business Times, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Classroom or campaign: NEA handbook sparks questions in Mesa County

By Austin DeWitt | Commentary, The Business Times In the last two months, the National Education Association (NEA) released its 2025 Handbook, the document that sets the goals and priorities for the nation’s largest teachers’ union for the coming year. And then, just as quickly, it was gone. Within 24 hours, the handbook was quietly removed from its website. Why? What was so controversial that it had to be scrubbed from public view? Fortunately, a copy was preserved before it disappeared, and what it contains should give every educator, parent and taxpayer pause. What the NEA Is Promoting The handbook calls for “racial quotas over merit” – a direct rejection of merit-based advancement – and instructs that “all educators must acknowledge the existence of white supremacy culture ...
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The dangerous gentleman enters the race: Victor Marx launches gubernatorial bid
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The dangerous gentleman enters the race: Victor Marx launches gubernatorial bid

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The crowd inside Phil Long Music Hall stood and cheered as Victor Marx made it official. On Oct. 1, the Marine veteran and founder of All Things Possible Ministries announced his run for Colorado governor, joined by local pastors, veterans and elected officials—backing his call to restore justice and public safety. Supporters throughout the night echoed a recurring phrase—“dangerous gentleman”—a term used to describe Marx’s combination of restraint, conviction and action. Platform rooted in personal experience A survivor of childhood abuse and a Marine Corps veteran, Marx has spent the last two decades leading international rescue missions through his nonprofit. “I’ve spent my life fighting battles most politicians wouldn’t dare face,” he ...
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“They don’t care”: Unleashed podcast spotlights Durango parents’ loss of trust
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

“They don’t care”: Unleashed podcast spotlights Durango parents’ loss of trust

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Hunter Opilla didn’t expect to speak at a school board meeting when his family moved to Durango two years ago. But after learning about the district’s gender bathroom policy—and the board’s decision to reverse a superintendent directive—he says he felt he had no choice. “Just blank stares,” Opilla recalled on a recent episode of Heidi Ganahl’s Unleashed podcast. “The board never responded to my emails.” Ganahl’s latest podcast brings together a concerned father and a charter school founder to unpack what they call a pattern of political overreach and parental exclusion in Durango Schools. The conversation echoes issues previously covered by Rocky Mountain Voice in its Dirty Dozen series and recent reporting on board transparency and trust. Th...
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Beyond the rhetoric: Schools, unions, and the battle for objective truth in education
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Beyond the rhetoric: Schools, unions, and the battle for objective truth in education

By Laureen Boll | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In Part One, Laureen Boll examined how literacy challenges, COVID-era policies, and parental authority define Colorado’s education debate. In this second installment, she shifts focus to the role of schools, the influence of teachers’ unions, and the clash over objective truth — issues she argues will shape the outcome of this November’s school board elections. The Role of Schools DCSD recently voted in favor of requiring parental consent, or “opt-in,” for students to participate in the upcoming Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, also known as HKCS. HKCS is an anonymous survey that is offered to all school districts in the state every-other-year, and much of the information that’s collected from middle and high school students is...
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Freedom, Our Forgotten Birthright: Dogged Vaccine Rejection Should Stimulate Curiosity
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Substack, Approved, Commentary, National

Freedom, Our Forgotten Birthright: Dogged Vaccine Rejection Should Stimulate Curiosity

By Brianna Ladapo | Commentary, Embracing the Light Substack Wednesday marked a momentous event that will undoubtedly change the course of history. When Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s courageous and brilliant Surgeon General (and yes, my wonderful husband) announced Florida’s intention to end all vaccine mandates, it was a pivotal and long-awaited victory for health freedom. At the moment of announcement, the crowd erupted with a liberated jubilance that only manifests when souls have finally broken free of their bondage after years of desperation, determination, and defiance. The wild cheering and applause was deafening, matched only by the sobs of relief and gratitude. It was a truly beautiful moment of divinity, and a welcome harbinger of things to come. However, not everyone is hap...
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Beyond the Rhetoric: Choosing Reason Over Ideology in Colorado’s School Elections
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Beyond the Rhetoric: Choosing Reason Over Ideology in Colorado’s School Elections

By Laureen Boll | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice If you’re reading this article with ease, consider yourself lucky. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 28% of adults in the US have low literacy skills, struggling with tasks like understanding complex texts or making inferences. Sadly, that’s a more favorable statistic than what we see in Colorado’s youth. Per the latest Colorado Department of Education statistics, 42% of 11th grade students have low literacy skills.  Our public education system is failing too many kids. School board elections in Colorado are happening November 4th, which begs the question: should we continue to fight for public education and its mission to prepare students for active citizenship, economic self-sufficiency, and pers...
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Texas parents pressured by activist group to block conservative TPUSA chapter
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The Post Millennial, Approved, National

Texas parents pressured by activist group to block conservative TPUSA chapter

By Thomas Stevenson | The Post Millennial "Please please please send emails to two teachers who are rumored to have agreed to sponsoring a club that will sow division and hate among our students." The vice president of a local Democrat club in Texas Adults attempted to rally adults in a private Facebook group to pressure teachers at Stratford High School in Texas to refuse to sponsor a Turning Point USA chapter (known as Club America at the high school level) at the school. Details of the chat were leaked by adults into a private Facebook group page. They also spread falsehoods about the identity of the killer of Charlie Kirk, who founded TPUSA. Andrew Kolvet, spokesman for Turning Point USA and close friend to the late Charlie Kirk, said on X, "Some grown adults in...
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