DeSantis officials blast Axios for boosting claim that parental rights protections parallel Nazi persecution



Florida and other red states have enacted laws and policies protecting children from irreversible genital mutilations and sterilizing drugs as well as from sexualizing and racist propaganda in the classroom.

Axios boosted the bad faith suggestion Tuesday that these popular Republican efforts, Florida's in particular, are Nazi-esque.

Axios joined Jake Newsome, a self-described historian and California-based gay activist, in conflating protections for parents and children with antipathies for non-straight persons. The liberal publication further entertained Newsome's notion that Nazi Germany serves as a valuable analogue for the present moment in Florida.

"In 1920s Germany, a burgeoning Nazi Party looking to unite the political right targeted a group that party leaders knew was a common enemy: queer people," wrote Axios' Kathryn Varn. "They ramped up a propaganda campaign, banning publications by and about LGBTQ+ people and telling Germans the 'homosexual lifestyle' posed a danger to their children and the country's values."

"Sound familiar?" wrote Varn, quoting Newsome, who gave a recent talk to a crowd at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Newsome has been trying to project this Nazi parallel for years, possibly because it could move product. After all, the activist has been peddling a book for two years about the identitarian socialists' persecution of gays and lesbians.

"In today's era of the Republican Party's 'Don't Say Gay' bills," Newsome said last week, "we need the pink triangle more than ever."

What Newsome and other radicals call the "Don't Say Gay" bill is in reality Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act. Contrary to activists' claims, the law merely prohibits teachers from giving "classroom instruction" on so-called gender identity and sexual orientation, straight or otherwise. Kids and students remain free to discuss their sexual preferences.

After striking the parallel between early 20th-century Germany and contemporary Florida, Axios proceeded to provide statistics on the numbers of gays persecuted by the Nazi regime.

The article also cited smears along similar lines advanced by other critics of Florida's parental rights legislation, including Wilton Manors city commissioner Chris Caputo, geriatric singer Cyndi Lauper, and the LGBT activist who refers to himself as Alyssa MacKenzie.

Officials from the DeSantis administration slapped back Tuesday, blasting Varn as a "journo-activist" for the Axios piece.

Bryan Griffin, communications director for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), responded on X, "Journo-activists continue to repeat the lies about the Parental Rights in Education bill that — just last week — the media had to admit were all fabricated when the settlement was reached that dismisses the case against the law."

"Today, Axios actually published a story amplifying and pushing the perspective of an activist who compared removing sexual content and radical gender identity from K-3rd grade public school classrooms with Nazi Germany," continued Griffin. "Dishonest media activism at its very worst."

DeSantis' press secretary Jeremy Redfern similarly blasted Varn, writing, "This isn't news. This is propaganda, and it has nothing to do with the Parental Rights in Education Act. Equating parental rights with the Holocaust is absurd and disrespectful."

— (@)

Christina Pushaw, also part of the DeSantis team, wrote to Varn, "So, if you're against porn in elementary schools ... you are a Nazi? Good to know."

Pushaw added in a separate tweet, "It is beyond absurd to equate Florida's parental rights law, which prohibits instruction in gender ideology and age-inappropriate materials, to the Holocaust. Any historian who makes such claims makes a mockery of his profession.

While touting himself as a historian, a cursory look at Newsome's recent social media posts indicates he may be more interested in advancing a strategically advantageous narrative than in presenting facts — and not just when it comes to Republican laws protecting children.

For instance, last month, Newsome rushed to judgment in the case of Oklahoma student Dagny Benedict's Feb. 8 suicide.

Benedict picked a fight with some girls in a bathroom, later suggesting to police it had been over comments wholly unrelated to her sexuality or identity. The next day she died, not of trauma — as the liberal media and LGBT activists had suggested — but from an overdose, according to the chief medical examiner in Oklahoma.

Just as Newsome has drawn an untenable connection between Florida policies and those exterminationist initiatives engaged in by the identitarian socialists of yesteryear, he claimed late last month that Bendict's death was "the result of the Republicans' years-long coordinated attack on the LGBTQ+ community."

Not only did the Axios-boosted activist implicate Republicans in the girl's suicide, he smeared the teenage girls Benedict attacked in the bathroom.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Florida's Parental Rights in Education law survives LGBT activists' legal challenges, will remain in effect



Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) ratified House Bill 1557 in March 2022, making the Parental Rights in Education Act the law of the land despite sustained opposition and mischaracterizations by woke corporations, the liberal media, and radical leftists in the Biden administration.

After the bill's passage, critics' hopes centered on a legal challenge brought against Florida by a band of LGBT activists keen on nullifying the law. The challengers' desperate two-year effort to scale back parental rights and ensure that sexualizing propaganda could thrive in the classroom did not ultimately have the impact they likely hoped for.

The DeSantis administration and the LGBT challengers filed a settlement Monday, bringing the legal battle to an end.

While touted as a win by the LGBT challengers, the parental rights law won't actually change — the Sunshine State need only provide school districts with greater clarity about how the law ought to be implemented.

"We fought hard to ensure this law couldn't be maligned in court, as it was in the public arena by the media and large corporate actors," stated Ryan Newman, general counsel for the DeSantis administration. "We are victorious, and Florida's classrooms will remain a safe place under the Parental Rights in Education Act."

The law

The Parental Rights in Education law

  • prohibits teachers from taking up issues of sexual orientation or gender identity in K-3 classrooms;
  • ejects age-inappropriate content at higher grade levels; and
  • notifies parents about forthcoming healthcare services offered at school at the beginning of every school year, affording them the opportunity to opt their kids out.

When DeSantis ratified the law, Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez (R) said that the law had been "maliciously maligned by those who prefer slogans and sound bites over substance and common sense."

"Fortunately, Governor DeSantis and I believe that parents should have a say," continued Nuñez. "We will not back down to woke corporation and their same tired tactics that are steeped in hypocrisy. As a mother of three, I am committed to protecting the rights of parents."

The challenge

The affirmation of parents' natural rights along with the protection of children from both sexualizing content and non-straight propaganda proved too much for some LGBT activists to bear.

A group including Equality Florida, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, and Family Equality originally sued DeSantis and the Florida State Board of Education the day after the law's passage, claiming the Parental Rights in Education Act amounted to "an effort by the state to use its power over public schools to demean and deny the existence of people whom the Supreme Court has repeatedly held to be protected."

The complainants also claimed the law was too vague, alleging "nobody knows exactly what the statutory language covers."

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division, tossed the activists' complaint in September 2022 for lack of legal standing. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor noted that the "principal problem is that most of plaintiffs' alleged harm is not plausibly tied to the law's enforcement so much as the law's very existence."

The complainants were given an opportunity to amend their complaint and did so in October 2022.

Florida sought dismissal of the amended complaint in late November 2022 because it apparently suffered the same mistaken view that sunk the previous attempt. Evidently, Winsor agreed.

Winsor reportedly tossed the suit again in February 2023.

"Plaintiffs have shown a strident disagreement with the new law, and they have alleged facts to show its very existence causes them deep hurt and disappointment," wrote the judge. "But to invoke a federal court's jurisdiction, they must allege more. Their failure to do so requires dismissal."

The settlement

The complainants and the state filed an agreement Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which serves to clear up the LGBT activists' apparent confusion about the letter of the law.

While the law will remain in place, Politico reported the Florida Department of Education is required to reiterate what the law actually entails.

For instance, the FDOE must inform school districts that the law bars "classroom instruction" on so-called gender identity and sexual orientation. That also means a neutral approach must be taken on matters of sexuality, such that it is impermissible to tell children that straightness is superior to non-straight sexual preferences.

Among the various clarifications that appear to correspond with Republican lawmakers' original intent and design is the indication that teachers are barred from instructing on topics of sexual preferences and so-called gender identity, but are not forbidden from "mere discussion of them."

Additionally, the clarifications detailed in the settlement highlight that the "Statute restricts the use of books 'to instruct' 'students on the concepts of sexual orientation or gender identity' ... but the Statute does not restrict mere 'literary references to a gay or transgender person or to a same-sex couple.'"

"Per the agreement, the challengers will drop their case and their claim that the Parental Rights in Education act is facially unconstitutional."

It is expected the court will now dismiss the case in short order.

The response

The governor's office noted in a Monday statement that, upon signing the bill in 2022, "in typical fashion, the activists turned to the courts to stop the legislatively enacted will of the people. Frequently carrying water for the activists, the media wrote countless stories lying about the intent, design, and application of the law."

"The activists carried these same lies into the courtroom," continued the statement. "Thankfully, to no avail."

The governor's office touted the settlement as a win, stressing the "law remains in effect, and children will be protected from radical gender and sexual ideology in the classroom."

The activists behind the challenge attempted to paint the outcome as a "historic settlement agreement."

Although the law is unchanged, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP claimed in a joint statement, "The agreement effectively nullifies the most dangerous and discriminatory impacts of Florida's controversial 'don't Say Gay Law,' and makes clear that the law must be applied neutrally and is no license to discriminate against or erase LGBTQ+ families."

Roberta Kaplan, lead counsel for the challengers, continued to advance the false narrative about the law in her remarks, stating, "Simply put, the State of Florida has now made it clear that LGBTQ+ kids, parents, and teachers in Florida can, in fact, say that they are gay."

"This settlement is a giant step toward repairing the immense damage these laws and the dangerous political rhetoric has inflicted on our families, our schools, and our state," said Nadine Smith, the executive director of Equality Florida. "The message to school districts, superintendents, and teachers alike is clear: Protect every student and respect every family."

Jaymes Black, the CEO of Family Equality, claimed that "compassion has been restored to the classroom thanks to today's settlement."

Bryan Griffin, communications director for DeSantis, lambasted the Associated Press for pushing the LGBT activists preferred narrative regarding the law and the settlement.

"They lied when it was a bill, parroting activist scare tactics that it could somehow punish student to student conversation ('Don't Say Gay')," wrote Griffin. "Now that the activists lost in court today (the law remains in effect), they run a headline like this making it seem like something has changed. It hasn't."

"Kids remain safe in Florida from radical gender and sexual ideology being forced on them by adults without the knowledge of parents," added Griffin.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Squires: Monkeypox shows the left's fetish for saying 'gay' to kids in the schoolhouse but never to men in the bathhouse



Governor Ron DeSantis was accused of marginalizing LGBT teachers and students when he signed the Parental Rights in Education bill earlier this year. The media, as it is often wont to do, lied about the bill and branded it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

The response was a useful window into the mind of the American left. Politicians, entertainers, and corporations made a point to say “Gay!” every moment they could prior to the bill being signed into law.

Fast-forward a few months to the current monkeypox public health emergency – an actual threat to the LGBT community – and suddenly the keepers of culture have a bad case of laryngitis.

Yes, they grudgingly acknowledge that gay men – “men who have sex with men” in public health parlance – make up virtually all monkeypox cases.

Their overriding concern, however, in the public response to the outbreak is to avoid “stigmatizing” gay men. The writers of a recent Washington Post article acknowledge that public health authorities are weighing whether to recommend that gay men limit their sexual partners to help control the spread of the virus. The Post linked to a resource from San Francisco that tried to provide practical prevention tips for men attending a popular kink festival.

“We’re gearing up for an exciting return of our favorite street festival in San Francisco: Up Your Alley (aka Dore Alley), where you’ll get your fill of hot hairy daddies, hungry pigs, BDSM babes and kinks of all kinds. Douchie’s got some hot tips for a fun and filthy weekend — free of anxiety.”

Romans 1 is clear that a society that sows kink and celebrates filth will reap destruction both physically and spiritually.

“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.”

“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

Promiscuous sex is one aspect of gay culture the left is loath to discuss publicly. Journalists bend over backward not to offend men who lack the discipline to stop bending over forward for random men at sex parties.

The shame mechanism for the people engaged in this behavior is completely broken. Only a mind enslaved to sin would think that being told not to engage in anonymous sex acts at orgies, at bathhouses, and in public bathrooms is more stigmatizing than the acts themselves.

Thankfully, the same book that details the ultimate end of all who are in bondage to sin also describes the freedom found in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. The Gospel has the same power to save the gay man who has spent decades degrading himself through the unnatural use of his body as it does the church girl who thinks her good works are what make her righteous in God’s sight.

What makes the left’s “don’t say gay” monkeypox response so galling is the stark contrast of how this public health emergency is being handled compared to our last one.

During COVID, the media, academics, politicians, and public health officials had no problem using their platforms to chastise and criticize anyone who disobeyed their COVID orders. They ordered churches to close and demanded that people not see their families for the holidays.

People who refused COVID shots and complained about mask mandates were blamed for killing children and senior citizens. They were threatened with job loss, isolated in churches, and chastised for prolonging the “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Conservatives who died after expressing concern about the public health response to COVID were mocked online and in major media outlets.

Now monkeypox is here, and the politicians, public health authorities, and media outlets who spoke with moral force as they shamed disobedient voters have become much more circumspect with their public guidance. We are being led by people who felt emboldened to tell Americans not to celebrate Thanksgiving with family but tremble at the thought of having to tell gay men not to attend kink festivals.

Enabling self-destruction is neither loving nor kind. Immunity from criticism creates a breeding ground for cultural dysfunction and communicable diseases.

We need more leaders willing to discuss abstinence with adults and fewer teachers trying to talk about gender identity and sexuality with toddlers. The people who need to hear “gay” most right now are the men in the batthouse, not the children in the schoolhouse.

The Media Didn't Expect This After They Smeared Me (Pt. 1) | Ron DeSantis | POLITICS | Rubin Report

The Media Didn't Expect This After They Smeared Me (Pt. 1) | Ron DeSantis | POLITICS | Rubin Report

DeSantis DESTROYS Racist Commies! LIVE with Donald Trump Jr. | Louder with Crowder

DeSantis DESTROYS Racist Commies! LIVE with Donald Trump Jr. | Louder with Crowder

DeSantis DESTROYS racist commies



Ron DeSantis continues to slaughter every leftist sacred cow. Next up: commies! We explain why remembering the victims of communism is important. Also, the stock market is plummeting, while progressives still won't calm down about Roe v. Wade. But the good news is Donald Trump Jr. is joining us today!


Want more from Steven Crowder?

To enjoy more of Steven’s uncensored late-night comedy that’s actually funny, join Mug Club — the only place for all of Crowder uncensored and on demand.

Pansexual Florida teacher fired after discussing her sexuality with middle school students



A Florida middle school teacher claims she was fired because she had a discussion with students about her sexuality, whom she says then asked to draw flag pictures expressing their own sexualities.

Casey Scott, a first-year art instructor at Cape Coral Middle School, told WBBH-TV that school administrators ordered her to throw out the drawings and fired her after learning she explained to students that she is pansexual.

“A discussion happened in class and because of that, now I’m fired,” Scott said.

The Lee County School District disputes her story, saying she was fired for not following the mandated curriculum, WBBH reports.

According to Scott, who is married to a man, the discussion concerned how she identifies as pansexual. To be pansexual means a person is not limited in sexual preference with regard to biological sex, gender, or gender identity.

"I like anyone despite male, female, non-binary, transgender,” Scott told WBBH.

She says that some of her middle school kids identify as non-binary, bisexual, and gay, and that they wanted to create art expressing their own sexualities.

Scott hung their artwork on the classroom door, and according to her, that's when school administrators contacted her.

“They said it would be in the best interest if I got rid of them now,” she said.

She provided WBBH with pictures of the flags, which were placed in a recycling bin.

“I went over to the recycling bin. I grabbed all their flags and all the kids were staring at me. And I crumbled their flags in front of them,” she recounted.

She said the school sent her home and then called her later that day to inform her she would be released from her contract.

According to the Lee School District, parents had registered complaints about the conversation and the artwork. The district said that students confirmed the discussion took place and that some were confused by what it meant to be pansexual, WBBH reports.

A representative with the Teachers Union of Lee County said that Scott was not a member and could legally be fired without cause.

The firing happened just days before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law that prohibits discussions on sexual orientation or gender identity from taking place in K-3 classrooms, and restricts such topics to what is "age appropriate" or "developmentally appropriate" in higher grades, as determined by state standards.

Critics derided the legislation as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, arguing it imposes vague restrictions on what teachers are allowed to talk about in the classroom and would have a chilling effect on speech.

Supporters countered that Florida's "Parental Rights in Education" bill prevents young children from being exposed to sexual content that is inappropriate for them in school.

Exxon Mobil will not allow LGBT or BLM flags to fly outside its office buildings



Exxon Mobil will no longer allow its offices to fly flags expressing adherence to or membership of “outside organizations” on company flagpoles, the New York Times reported.

The new policy, which prevents employees from hanging LGBT+ pride and BLM flags on the flagpoles on company premises, is angering some of Exxon Mobil’s employees who in the past have flown gay pride flags outside of Exxon Mobil offices.

Exxon Mobil will only be allowing governmental, company, and employee resource group (ERG) flags to fly outside of its facilities. The Times said that ERGs are “employee-led affinity organizations that are generally blessed by employers.”

ERG flags that celebrate certain group identities may still be flown on company premises during months that coincide with those group identities.

Tracey Gunnlaugsson, vice president of human resources at Exxon Mobil, said, “It’s a longstanding practice at our facilities around the world that E.R.G. flags can be flown during signature months. The flags are directly related to our business and company support of our E.R.G.s.”

For instance, the company’s ERG logo for LGBT+ employees features bubbles filled with several colors around the word “PRIDE.” This logo has been flown at Exxon Mobil offices and is used on T-shirts that employees wear during gay pride parades.

J. Chris Martin, a former employee of Exxon Mobil, who previously had led the LGBT+ ERG group said that a different flag that featured the Exxon Mobil on a rainbow background “was flown at many company locations last year without question” and that he had been told that his ability to display this flag had been revoked “without explanation.”

Martin said, “I’m also told that the employee resource groups were consulted only in a perfunctory way regarding this matter, based on momentary discomfort with displaying a symbol of open-mindedness and support for long suppressed voices.”

He added, "While they may say nobody has lost anything, the symbolism is unmistakable.”

The Human Rights Campaign, a leftist organization that advocates for the LGBT+ agenda under the guise of civil rights activism, lambasted Exxon Mobil’s policy. The group said, “There’s no such thing as ‘neutrality’ when it comes to our rights. Our flag isn’t just a visual representation of our identities. It is also a staple of allyship.”

We support the LGBTQ+ employees at Exxon and hope Exxon\u2019s leaders understand there\u2019s no such thing as \u201cneutrality\u201d when it comes to our rights. Our flag isn't just a visual representation of our identities. It is also a staple of allyship.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-22/exxon-triggers-employee-backlash-with-rainbow-pride-flag-ban\u00a0\u2026
— Human Rights Campaign (@Human Rights Campaign) 1650659402

The Human Rights Campaign has also aggressively come out against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education legislation that was recently signed into law by the state’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis.

In early March, the Human Rights Campaign said that it would refuse to accept donations from the Walt Disney Company until it took “meaningful action” against the then Parental Rights in Education Bill.

MARK LEVIN: Disney transformed from the Magic Kingdom into a WOKE asylum



As leftist Disney executives transform the Magic Kingdom into a woke asylum, Mark unearths a shocking interview where Disney's president of content lays bare the company's plan to indoctrinate the nation with its Marxist agenda.

This sexual agenda being taught to your babies has reached unacceptable levels of depravity, and it must be stopped.

“LevinTV” host Mark Levin chooses to never set foot in Disneyland or Disney World again. "Walt Disney was a conservative, and he would be shocked by the company's stance in its objection to a recent law passed in Florida. A law that would prevent teaching children about: sex acts; sex; straight; gay; genitalia, and all the rest from preschool to third grade."

These are little kids. Why is Disney so obsessed with sexualizing children? Mark explains the disconnect between those who believe children should be sex experts by third grade and the rest of us who believe that "what matters is between your ears, not between your legs."

Watch the video to hear Mark's thoughtful and necessary take on this topic. Can't watch? Download the podcast here.


Want more from Mark Levin?

To enjoy more of "the Great One" — Mark Levin as you've never seen him before — subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Alabama passes bill banning instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in K-5



In a surprise move, the Alabama legislature on Thursday passed a version of Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill that would restrict school instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-5.

The legislation was added as an amendment to a bill that would require boys and girls to use school bathrooms and locker rooms according to the sex on their birth certificates.

The amendment bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten to fifth grade "in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards."

“We don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about homosexuality and gender identity in schools, they should be learning about math,” said Republican state Sen. Shay Shelnutt, who introduced the amendment, according to the Gadsden Times.

The language of Shay's amendment is similar to Florida's Parental Rights in Education law, which critics falsely dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill. That law said "classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

The Alabama version extends the prohibition on inappropriate sex education until fifth grade.

Democrats blasted the amendment, accusing Republicans of advancing a vague law that would chill speech in the classroom.

In the limited debate period before the amendment passed, Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D) asked Shay how he would respond if "little Johnny" asked if he was a boy or a girl.

"Little Johnny, you're a boy," Shelnutt said.

"You just answered the question based on gender," Singleton said. "According to your amendment, they won’t be able to answer the question that way," he claimed.

Republicans overcame Democratic objections and passed the amended bill in both houses of the state legislature. It now awaits Republican Gov. Kay Ivey's signature to become law.

The ACLU of Alabama condemned the legislation in a statement.

“By singling out transgender students for discrimination and excluding them from restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity, HB 322 discriminates based on transgender status and sex in violation of the United States Constitution and Title IX of the Civil Rights Act,” said Tish Gotell Faulks, legal director for the ACLU of Alabama.

The Alabama Association of School Boards also expressed concerns over the legislation, calling it "unnecessary."

“The amendment, while unnecessary, is unlikely to have any impact since sexual orientation and gender identity is not taught in Alabama public schools and the topic would generally not be age appropriate for classroom discussion at these grade levels. However, we are concerned that this amendment could make it even more difficult for school faculty to create safe environments for some students and families,” said Sally Smith, executive director of Alabama Association of School Boards, according to AL.com.