On May 20th, I was censured for representing my constituents and following federal law by supporting female student athletes. I won the Santa Ana Unified school board election on November 7, was sworn in on December 17, and was censured by my colleagues for “dangerous and divisive” speech just 154 days later.
If only they acted that quickly to reform Santa Ana’s academically failing schools. Instead, because of their love of political theater, the vast majority of our students cannot read or do math at grade level. Our district, the eighth-largest in the state, ranks No. 1,454—near the bottom of California’s 1,931 districts.
The controversy began April 22, when the board considered a resolution declaring April “National Arab American Heritage Month.” I noted that I had just met with Arab Muslim American constituents, through the Interfaith Statewide Coalition (www.Interfaith4Kids.com). They expressed concerns about the state’s policy forcing girls to share locker rooms and bathrooms with boys—if those boys call themselves girls.
If we truly supported Arab American families including those with orthodox diverse faiths, I said, we would take seriously their concerns about their daughters’ comfort and safety at school.
That concern is hardly unique. Poll after poll shows that majorities oppose letting boys compete in girls’ sports. That view is rooted not only in common sense; it is imbedded in federal law. By April 22, a federal directive had been given to ban males — including those who identify as females — from competing in girls’ and women’s sports. It explicitly threatened to revoke federal funding from any school that allows biological males to play on girls’ teams.
However, rather than following federal directives that reflect the majority of our constituent’s views, the SAUSD board majority passed radical policies to create Gender Support Plans behind parents’ backs. These Gender Support Plans allow students to change their name, pronouns and gender category without parent knowledge or consent, regardless the age of the child. To date, over 260 SAUSD students have requested to change their gender starting in 4th grade. Policies like this will cause our district to lose millions of federal dollars designated for students with special needs.
Title IX, the landmark law, requires educational institutions to create sex-segregated spaces in sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms. However, for a decade, California politicians have played word games with this law, redefining “sex” as “gender,” and then “gender” as a personal preference based on one’s feeling. Suddenly, tampon dispensers appeared in boys’ bathrooms and school libraries and classes featured books about gender fluidity.
This is what outraged the Arab American faith leaders I met. They voted for me to be a voice on their behalf, but when I reported their concerns to the board, I was immediately condemned.
“Board Member Lebsack has made public statements that are anti-trans,” the board declared in their formal censure. My remarks, they said, “misrepresent the diversity of beliefs within our communities and foster a dangerous, divisive narrative … Her comments directly undermine this commitment and violate Board Policy … to provide all students equitable access to a safe and supportive educational environment.”
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This attempt to publicly shame me for my views, cannot remove my First Amendment rights. I am alone on the board, but I stand with a majority of Americans—left, right, and center—who are saying, as politely as we can, stop the madness.
Brenda Lebsack serves on the Santa Ana Unified school board
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