School board president faces backlash for calling Harvey Milk a ‘pedophile’

The president of the Temecula schoolhouse committee successful California is facing a backlash from educators, parents and authorities officials aft calling cheery rights activistic Harvey Milk a “pedophile”.

At the schoolhouse board’s 16 May meeting, the committee president, Joseph Komrosky, objected to an simple societal subject program that included Milk, the archetypal openly cheery antheral to beryllium elected to nationalist bureau successful California, successful its supplemental materials. “My question is, wherefore adjacent notation a pedophile?” Komrosky said, echoing a conspiracy theory that falsely accuses cheery radical of molesting children astatine higher rates than heterosexual people. When gathering attendees protested that Milk was not a pedophile, Komrosky said: “I beg to differ.”

Komrosky and 2 different schoolhouse committee members past struck down the societal subject program successful a 3-2 ballot that leaves the territory without a textbook for the coming year.

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, sought to differentiate betwixt California and much blimpish states successful a 3 June tweet that took purpose astatine Komrosky.

“An violative connection from an ignorant person. This isn’t Texas oregon Florida,” Newsom wrote. “In the Golden State, our kids person the state to learn. Congrats Mr Komrosky you person our attention. Stay tuned.”

Komrosky, Jen Wiersma and Danny Gonzalez, the 3 schoolhouse committee members who opposed the curriculum, were each backed by the Inland Empire Family governmental enactment committee. The Pac says its extremity is to “support blimpish candidates who volition basal for parental rights”.

Komrosky did not instantly respond to a petition for comment. At the meeting, helium called Milk’s inclusion successful the acquisition materials a “form of activism”. Some of the committee members raised concerns that parents had not received capable accusation astir the program oregon capable clip to reappraisal it and supply feedback.

The One Temecula Valley governmental enactment committee, which says its extremity is to beforehand “stable, liable candidates”, started a petition calling for Komrosky and Wiersma to resign from the schoolhouse committee and for Gonzalez to beryllium censured. The petition was created up of the 16 May meeting, but continues to stitchery signatures.

The societal subject program that the committee rejected had been piloted by 47 teachers successful the district’s simple schools this past year. The Temecula Valley Educators Association said that the curriculum was “accurate, property appropriate, unbiased and politically neutral”. It scheduled 2 rallies successful June to impulse the committee to o.k. a textbook for the coming schoolhouse year.

The territory presently uses a textbook that was archetypal published successful 2006 and is present retired of print. After past month’s meeting, the Temecula Valley unified schoolhouse territory extended the model for parents to presumption and supply feedback connected textbook materials.

The quality comes arsenic controversies implicit however to thatch astir LGBTQ+ issues person shaken overmuch of the US. Florida’s committee of acquisition voted earlier this year to prohibition discussions of intersexual predisposition and sex individuality crossed each people levels, expanding what critics person called the “don’t accidental gay” law. Last week, a protest implicit a planned Pride period assembly astatine a Los Angeles simple schoolhouse turned violent. And connected Tuesday, anti-LGBTQ+ protesters held a volatile protest extracurricular a schoolhouse territory gathering successful Glendale, California.