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Alaskan School Board Attempts to Silence Dad Shining Light on Sexually Graphic Books

February 20, 2023

A father who was shut down by the Anchorage, Alaska school board February 7 when he attempted to read from a sexually graphic book available to students in the school district said parents are not being informed about the nature of material available to students.

Appearing on “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” Friday, Jay McDonald said when he tells people about the material “it makes you sound crazy because [it] is so extreme that people don’t want to believe that it’s true.”

McDonald, who has appeared before the school board on multiple occasions with similar concerns, argued, “The books are just tools to show people that this is real and how extreme the problem is.”

Jody Hice, “Washington Watch” guest host, commended Campbell “for taking a stand and for taking this awareness to the public and for taking it straight to the school board.” Hice noted McDonald was speaking out against a “culture of critical gender theory” that is affecting school districts.

During a public comment period February 3 before the Anchorage school board period, McDonald begin reading from a chapter in “Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being Human” that lays out, among other things, guidelines on how to best text nude photos of oneself to others.

“So, before you start sending your naughty masterpieces around the world, take some time to get friendly with photo editing software and apps,” he read. “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 acting chairperson of the school board called on McDonald to stop reading from the book, telling him there was a process in place to address concerns about books with the superintendent’s office. McDonald, who heeded the request, said the books were being targeted specifically to children, telling board members: “You are happy to give these books to kids. It seems like you are terrified to give them to parents.”

FRC’s Hice agreed, saying, “It’s too embarrassing to even repeat some of this stuff in a public forum with adults, let alone enabling children to have access to these things.”

McDonald said he refrains from editorializing when he reads a book before the school board. “I'm just reading the book in context without editing or changing it,” he continued, noting initially people denied the books were that bad. “So I started reading the books to show that this material does exist, and this is what it looks like,” he explained.

These books are not only in school libraries, McDonald said, “.. .some of these books that are just as graphic and disturbing ... are on the reading list for English classes."

“They are pushing the gender stuff on kids in elementary school,” he continued. “They get them confused and they encourage the kids to experiment and to change their gender identity." McDonald also pointed out that the push is hidden from parents — an assertion he indicated he can prove given the material he has discovered with multiple Freedom of Information Act requests.

Hice bemoaned the fact that “we are really seemingly coming into an era where some of these school boards believe they know better than parents themselves.”

“If this is happening in Alaska, then it’s everywhere,” he added.

Meg Kilgannon, senior fellow for Education Studies at Family Research Council, also appeared on the program. She decried school boards that are turning a blind eye to parents’ concerns about that which their children are being exposed.

“I wish that I was shocked,” Kilgannon said of McDonald’s treatment by the Anchorage school board. “I am horrified,” she added.

“This is exactly the sort of thing that’s been going on all across the country. Parents go to school board meetings. They question material that’s in the library, for example, or material that’s actually assigned reading in a curriculum that they feel is not age appropriate for not just their child, but really for all the children in the class,” Kilgannon said, “and the school board officials and the administration are oftentimes just not interested in accommodating those concerns.”

Kilgannon indicated she was pleased to see a “sustained and continuous push back on these things.” She said the issue is starting to get media coverage, which is a “positive step forward.”

Efforts by citizens to shine a light on the inappropriate material being made available to their children is “an absolute battle between good and evil,” Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) said at a gathering hosted by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins in Baton Rouge, Louisiana February 17.

The attorney general said the most effective way to address this issue is an informed and engaged citizenry. “We live in a great representative republic,” Landry said, “And I believe if you arm people and you educate them, they will absolutely do the right thing.”

K.D. Hastings and his family live in the beautiful hills of Middle Tennessee. He has been engaged in the evangelical world as a communicator since 1994.



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