Education

Burlington gender ID webinar goes dark, social media comments referred to police

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In the aftermath of Fox News and other media coverage, the Burlington School District has removed a controversial gender ID education webinar from public view.

by Guy Page

In response to national media attention and social media criticism over a controversial gender identity education webinar, the Burlington School Department pulled the webinar from public view and reported the social media messages – all of them non-threatening – to Burlington police. 

The fuss began on Monday, April 4, when Actively Unwoke blogger Karlyn Borysenko published screenshots and video from the Feb. 8 webinar, “Let’s Talk About Gender Identity an Expression.” As the Actively Unwoke post shows, talk they did. Many Burlington educators shared tips on prompting students to accept gender identity education and stand up for transgender students. 

The April 4 Actively Unwoke column is now a significant repository of original-source information about the Feb. 8 webinar, which is no longer available for public view. The link for the webinar, presumably produced by the school district with taxpayer funds, was public until sometime late last week, after the Fox News story aired. Now, clicking on the link results in an icon saying, “This video is unavailable. This video is private.”

Other online news outlets – including Vermont Daily Chronicle hours after it was first posted – picked up Borysenko’s story. Two days later millions of Fox News watchers were introduced to the Burlington School District in an episode on The Ingraham Angle entitled ‘Doom and Groom.’ Not surprisingly, the story elicited nationwide social media comment, some of it unfavorable. The “Burlington School District staff and members of the LGBTQIA+ community have received hateful, harmful and discriminatory messages from across the country,” Superintendent Tom Flanagan wrote in a letter to the school community posted on Facebook. 

In his letter, Flanagan says “we are working with the Burlington Police Department to ensure our staff and community are safe and protected.” He offers no specific details about the ‘harmful’ messages, However, Flanagan reportedly told VT Digger there were a total of  20 messages and “there were no direct threats to the district.”

This decision led one letter-writing Burlingtonian to wonder why non-threatening messaging was reported to the cops – and if he’s now on the BPD radar.

“I am sure you are aware of the VTDigger story on the Burlington School District Workshop on gender,” he wrote to Vermont Daily Chronicle. “One can debate the workshop topic, but I was taken aback by the fact that emails were turned over to the police, even those who were deemed non-threatening. We are now at a point where groups demand more than equal rights, but special consideration. I’m sure I now am on a special list.”

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7 replies »

  2. One more chink in the erosion of Freedom of Expression, right to dissent our state and national constitutions guarantee in situ.

    Call it what it is, and we might be able to take it on – Marxist theory in play.
    This is SO obvious.
    Vermont has been totally couped and coopted by the global CCP agenda to dominate and control our thoughts, and our lives, with coercian, bullying, and threats – which is what I take this as – a threat against my freedom to express dissenting thoughts voiced as opinions.

    Those pushing this agenda are the threats to Vermonters, and our global sovereignty as human beings.
    Name it.
    Own it.
    Then it can be tackled.

    Meanwhile…the lists, the lists, the lists.
    Person of interest much? (TV show predictive programming)
    V.

    • Carpetbagger from RI and Washington DC. Most of the people that run the equity department in Burlington schools were all brought in from outside of VT when he was hired a couple of years ago. He made $170,000 last year too.

  5. Exposing the demons in this State is a full time job – justifying and normalizing child abuse and child torture will not be tolerated – Defund education! Disney is now exposed as a child predator organization. Those same demons are in our schools, churches, the State, and many other organizations. Protect the children and cast these demons into the abyss from which they came!