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LGBTQ group rolls out ‘Rainbow Ribbon’ program with curriculum requirements in Maryland school district
FIRST ON FOX—Defending Education has uncovered ties between a Maryland school district and a local LGBTQ+ advocacy group looking to reward schools for meeting certain requirements regarding curriculum and affinity groups.
Community Allies of Rainbow Youth (CARY), a group based in Ellicott City, Md., has introduced the “Rainbow Ribbon Schools” (RRS) certification to the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS). In order to receive the certification, schools are required to meet seven universal criteria and two additional benchmarks of their choosing.
The schools are required to show that their curriculum and instruction “affirms LGBTQIA+ identities and contributions across grade levels and subjects, using respectful language.”
Elementary and secondary schools seeking Rainbow Ribbon certification must submit documentation showing LGBTQ+-inclusive instruction, including six lesson plans across subjects, one of which must be a health lesson, under the first criterion. They must also submit samples of student work and proof that the curriculum was implemented without “omitting required content inclusive of LGBTQIA+.”
Other mandatory criteria include the designation of a “Rainbow Representative,” something that HCPSS already has, according to its website. The HCPSS website states that every school in the district “has at least one staff member who serves as a Rainbow Representative.”
Schools are also required to have policies against LGBTQ+ bullying, “identifiable allies” and professional learning for at least 65% of school staff, such as “participation in an LGBTQIA+ book study.” The schools are also required to show that at least 5% of media purchases for the school year include LGBTQ+-themed sections.
They also need to hold focus groups with their LGBTQ+ affinity group, with the goal of getting student feedback on the school environment. Students are invited to anonymously participate in the focus group and the school’s administrators are asked to report on what actions they have taken to address any concerns that arise, according to CARY’s literature on the RRS program.
There are several optional benchmarks for schools to choose from, including a schoolwide anti-bullying campaign, visual affirmations celebrating LGBTQ+ identities, student awareness of interacting with LGBTQ+ peers, an all-gender restroom and a school-wide celebration of LGBTQ+ pride. The schools are required to choose two of the additional criteria in order to receive the certification.
In response to a request for comment, CARY referred Fox News Digital to its website and said that it is a “community partner of the Howard County Public School System.”
“This ‘Rainbow Ribbon Certification’ is a prime example of why parents need to know what their rights are when it comes to their child’s education,” Paul Runko, senior director of strategic initiatives, K-12 programs for Defending Education, said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
“Last year, the Supreme Court affirmed parents’ right to opt their child out of LBGTQ+ material in schools if it violates their sincerely held religious beliefs and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) gives parents the right to review and opt out of surveys that include ‘pronouns’ and other ‘sexual behavior’ related questions,” Runko added.
The program highlights growing tensions between school districts and parental rights advocacy groups over the introduction and use of LGBTQ+-related content in classrooms.
HCPSS Director of Communications and Engagement Brian Bassett told Fox News Digital that the district has a “formal partnership with CARY,” but “participation in their Rainbow Ribbon program is school-led.”
“One of our primary core values is for all students to feel the sense of belonging that we intend. Valuable community partnerships with organizations like CARY, and the programs they support, have gone a long way to help us achieve that value,” Bassett told Fox News Digital.
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HCPSS outlines its “Gender-Inclusive Guidelines” on its website, stating that “all HCPSS students should feel comfortable expressing their gender identity.” The district allows students to use restrooms in accordance with their “gender identity” and does not require parental consent to participate in “clubs with a gender inclusive focus.” Additionally, the district allows students to access restrooms “in accordance with the student’s gender identity.”
The district also states that, while “parent consent is preferred” it is “not required for schools to affirm student name and pronoun requests.”
Bassett told Fox News Digital that the district’s “goal is that parents/guardians are always part of the process when students want to be addressed by a different name or pronoun.” He also clarified that parents “have complete access to names and pronouns in our student data systems,” such as report cards. According to Bassett, “official student records are not adjusted without parental consent.”
HCPSS appears to have mixed policies on whether staff or students can be penalized for not using a student’s preferred name and/or pronouns. While staff are not required to address the student as they wish, the district’s anti-discrimination policy, which is quoted in its “Gender-Inclusive Guidelines for Supporting Students,” seems to indicate that there can be “disciplinary action or consequences” even if the behavior does not meet the federal or state legal standard for discrimination.
“When our students feel a sense of belonging at school, they are more available for instruction. The solution to belonging is not to ignore the challenges they are facing. The solution is to ensure that we understand our students’ needs and that support is in place that is responsive to their specific needs. We know from research that respecting pronouns significantly reduces suicide risk,” Bassett told Fox News Digital.
There’s a lot out there that can really be disturbing. A friend calls with some scary medical news; I start wondering about my own health. I check the stock market and become obsessed about money — will we ever have enough for retirement? I read a news story and see only suffering in the world. My whole sense of well-being gets out of whack.
What I need to remind myself — what is right there in the celebration of Easter — “Give it some time. Give it three days.” Change is happening. Good things can come after complete horror. Give it three days.
Let me circle back to an old story, surely apocryphal, but sweet and helpful.
A woman goes to church on Easter Monday and as she leaves, she pauses to chat with a disheveled woman sitting on the steps selling corsages and boutonnieres — a meager means of making a living. And yet, despite her appearance, the old lady is full of smiles.
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“How is that even possible?” the woman coming out of the church wonders. She stops and talks with the lady.
No denying it. The flower seller has suffered. She reveals that. But Easter has just happened. What comfort there is in that. The pain and horror of Good Friday were turned into the power and mystery of the Resurrection. The magic of three days. “Whatever has happened to you,” she says, “just wait three days.”
As has often been pointed out, it’s the women in the Bible who witnessed the horror first-hand; Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, Mary the mother of Jesus, other women. It depends on which gospel account you’re reading. None of Jesus’s disciples are depicted as witnessing the crucifixion. It’s the women who stick it out, as awful as it must have been.
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But then, who are the first ones to witness the empty tomb, as they go there on the first day of the week, bringing spices to anoint the body, and find that the huge stone guarding it has been rolled away? It’s the women. An angel tells them that Jesus was raised from the dead. They were supposed to go tell the men. As the Gospel of Mark puts it, “They went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them…”
(In the Gospel of John’s account, Mary Magdalene, sitting there weeping, actually sees the risen Jesus, but doesn’t recognize him until he says her name, “Mary.” Wow, isn’t that powerful? We know who Jesus is when he calls us by name.)
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Every year our church does a three-hour service on Good Friday. Ugh. I go and hear the gospel story. Sometimes fellow parishioners act out the passion story. It is all so sad. Must we retell it, re-live it, year after year?
And yet, in all of this, there is a helpful lesson. Yes, we do go through pain. We do witness terrible suffering. It’s important not to run away from it and hide. Recognize it. Take it in. Deal with it. See if and what it might be teaching you. As the wonderful priest and teacher Richard Rohr puts it, we learn from two things: love and suffering.
Note to self: Be aware of your own suffering and the world’s suffering. For there is something profound on the other side. You will see truth in all its wonder and beauty. What do you have to do? Just wait. Go for a walk. Sit in quiet meditation. Put away the phone for a while. Talk to a caring friend. Pick up a book. Put it down. Whatever. Wait a few days.
Wait three days. No telling what you will see.
There is an old joke that scientists switched from lab rats to lawyers because you do not get as attached to lawyers. President Donald Trump has shown the same tendency to avoid becoming attached to either private or government counsel. Attorney General Pam Bondi is only the latest in a long line of lawyers let go by a president who was made famous with the tagline “You’re fired.”
There is no evidence of bad blood between President Trump and Bondi. The attorney general has been attacked over her loyalty to the president and has been by his side in some of the most precarious moments, from impeachment to criminal defense. As his “apprentices” learned, this is not personal. It’s business.
Jeff Sessions. Rex Tillerson. Bill Barr. Mark Esper. Kristi Noem. Trump’s Cabinet picks are known more for shelving than storage.
Indeed, being a cabinet member in a Trump administration is about as secure as being a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns.
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Trump has always viewed terminations as a way to spur higher performance levels.
There is a reason why Trump may have wanted to move now in swapping out attorneys general. There are growing predictions that the Democrats will lose the House and could now lose the Senate.
Democrats are running on pledges to unleash a new spasm of investigations and impeachments, targeting not just President Trump but anyone who supports him.
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Figures like Susan Rice, top policy adviser to both Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, have promised “revenge” against all those who pushed Democrats out of power and warned that “it’s not going to end well for them.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., pledged that, as soon as they regain power, they will start throwing Trump people in jail when they retake Congress.
Democratic strategist James Carville previously threatened that “collaborators” may be treated in the same way as they were after World War II.
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Trump’s ability to secure confirmation of a successor will become far more challenging as he approaches the midterm elections.
Trump has to decide who will be the best hand on the wheel in those choppy waters ahead.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has the street cred that Trump values. An accomplished litigator and former prosecutor, Blanche is neither flashy nor gregarious. He is a lethal litigator who can gut you like a trout without breaking a sweat. He has been at the president’s side in and out of court. While he will be a lightning rod for Democrats who have attacked him for his role in the release of the Epstein files, his firmness in dealing with a hostile media likely appealed to the president.
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Blanche offers a seamless transition for the department. He literally only has to walk down the hallway to take the reins from Bondi.
Another name reportedly under consideration is EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, who would likely be the easiest to confirm and the most popular with members of Congress. Zeldin transformed the EPA in short order, including clearing away barriers to increasing energy production. Almost elected governor of New York, Zeldin has cross-over appeal in Washington as someone who cut his teeth in this town.
Other candidates include state attorneys general, as well as wild cards like U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a former judge with a tough-as-nails reputation in Washington, D.C. It is a deep bench.
There will be no shortage of applicants for the job. The office of the attorney general in the Trump administration has everything that one could want in Washington. Everything, that is, except job security.
1. What B-52 bombers bring to the Iran fight
2. Acting AG addresses reports Pam Bondi ousted over botched Epstein files
3. Iran gives chilling retaliation warning after US airstrikes collapse key bridge
UNDER OATH — Nancy Guthrie sheriff to get dragged to hot seat as stalled case stirs up past scandals. Continue reading …
DANGER ALERT — Americans warned of potential attacks in vacation spot as border crossing fee doubles. Continue reading …
‘SIT THIS ONE OUT’ — Kamala Harris’ latest attempt to criticize President Trump sends internet into a frenzy. Continue reading …
UNSUNG HERO — 911 audio reveals surprising twist in moments following Tiger Woods’ crash. Continue reading …
COURTROOM DRAMA — Blake Lively suffers major legal blow in sexual harassment case against Justin Baldoni. Continue reading …
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MAD SCIENCE — NIH accused of defying President Trump by funding transgender mice research. Continue reading …
STRATEGIC SHIFT — Hegseth fires Army chief of staff in sweeping military purge operation. Continue reading …
AMERICA FIRST AID — Trump unveils 100% tariff plan on imported drugs unless firms shift production. Continue reading …
LEGAL SHOWDOWN — Top Democrats sue President Trump over executive order targeting mail-in voting. Continue reading …
FAILING GRADE — American students’ lack of basic civics knowledge alarms education advocates. Continue reading …
FAKE NEWS FURY — White House press secretary blasts Politico report previewing Trump address on Iran. Continue reading …
‘ON OUR SIDE’ — Chuck Schumer defends DHS shutdown strategy, claiming critics are ‘not fair.’ Continue reading …
SILICON SQUEEZE — Tech companies put on notice as Meta caves to Florida’s under-14 social media ban. Continue reading …
BRETT VELICOVICH — ‘Mystery’ drones are no mystery, they are a dangerous threat to national security. Continue reading …
DOUG SCHOEN — Democratic battle pits moderates vs. progressives for soul of the party. Continue reading …
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PERFECT TIMING — Alamo cannonball unearthed just one day before 190th anniversary of historic battle. Continue reading …
CRUSHED DREAMS — Tiger Woods was ‘hoping to’ play in Masters before shocking DUI arrest, bodycam footage shows. Continue reading …
DIGITAL’S NEWS QUIZ — What happened to Tiger Woods and who faced an investigation over military helicopters? Take the quiz here …
BALANCED BUZZ — United Airlines checked bag fees climbs $10-50 as fuel prices nearly double since Iran war. Continue reading …
NEW TARGET — RFK Jr. releases national microplastics mission. See video …
TOM HOMAN — Airports are critical infrastructure — it’s necessary for ICE to step in. See video …
GREG BOVINO — The asylum policy under Biden was a scam. See video …
Tune in as we explore Good Friday traditions and the surprising rise in religious interest among younger Americans. Check it out …
What’s it looking like in your neighborhood? Continue reading…
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