CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins drew a bitter complaint when she fact-checked a pro-Trump state legislator live on the air — and presented video
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins drew a bitter complaint when she fact-checked a pro-Trump state legislator live on the air — and presented video receipts.
In the weeks since Trump began calling for Texas and other states to enact redistricting plans that would give Republicans more seats in the House of Representatives, the Texas state legislature has quickly moved to act on Trump’s plan. Democrats responded by fleeing the state to deny the GOP a quorum, and Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) has ordered them arrested.
Collins hosted State Rep. Brian Harrison (R-TX) on Monday night’s edition of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins to talk about the latest developments.
A student objected to a professor's assertion that there are more than two genders. Then Republican politicians got involved.
Trudy Ring at The Advocate:
The dean of Texas A&M University’s College of Arts and Sciences and the head of the English department have been removed from those positions because a professor in the department dared to say there are more than two genders.
The professor, Melissa McCoul, has not been fired, although some politicians are calling for such action, and the U.S. Department of Justice plans to investigate the situation.
McCoul drew objections from a student over a discussion of gender and sexuality in a children’s literature class. The student, whose name has not been made public, told McCoul she wasn’t sure it was legal to teach about this topic, due to Donald Trump’s executive order recognizing only male and female genders as assigned at birth and threatening federal funding to any institutions that embrace what his administration calls “gender ideology.” The exchange was recorded on cell phone video and posted on X by Republican Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison.
The student also said the assertion that there are more than two genders goes against her religious beliefs and the beliefs of many others. McCoul replied that the student has a right to her beliefs but is “under a misconception that what I’m saying is illegal.” The professor added, “My gender isn’t illegal.” (It isn’t clear if McCoul is transgender or cisgender.) McCoul said she has the right and expertise to teach about the subject and that if the student is uncomfortable in the class, she has the right to leave.
The professor followed up with, “It’s time for you to leave.”
[...]
Harrison also shared a recording, purportedly of Welsh and the objecting student, with the president saying McCoul would not be fired and that LGBTQ+ studies are important “for students who might want to become ‘psychiatrists’ or ‘school superintendents,’” Texas Scorecard reports. “There is a professional reason to teach some of these courses,” Welsh said.
Glenn Hegar, chancellor of the Texas A&M System, which oversees Texas A&M’s main campus and 11 other universities, issued a less supportive statement. “It is unacceptable for Texas A&M System faculty to push a personal political agenda,” said Hegar, a former Texas state legislator and a Republican.
Faculty should not engage in “indoctrination,” he continued, and he said he’d been informed that a professor “failed to comply with clear instructions to align course descriptions with course materials.” He concluded, “I will work with the Board of Regents to make certain that the A&M System takes the disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again at one of our campuses.”
Texas A&M bows to the right-wing faux outrage mob by removing the University’s College of Arts and Sciences and the head of the English department over a student pushing anti-trans accusations about “transgender indoctrination.”
See Also:
LGBTQ Nation: GOP pressures university to remove dean after student records professor discussing gender identity
Brian Harrison, a former dog breeder with no formal education in public health, medicine, or management, was initially tapped by the Trump admin to lead the day-to-day response to COVID-19, Reuters reports
On January 21, the day the first U.S. case of coronavirus was reported, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services appeared on Fox News to report the latest on the disease as it ravaged China. Alex Azar, a 52-year-old lawyer and former drug industry executive, assured Americans the U.S. government was prepared.
