David M. Greenwald
Editor-in-chief
Davis, California – As I like to say, I have often overestimated the Davis community’s progressiveness. The issue at the time, in 2006, was police oversight. I assumed it would be easy to oversee the police in a community like Davis when my wife, who was then the chair of the Human Relations Commission, pushed for it.
I was wrong. In fact, I vowed never to make the same mistake again because I was so wrong. That was almost 18 years ago. Since then, a lot has changed in this community, and in many ways, it has progressed significantly from where it was in 2006, but in some ways, it hasn’t.
As a small group of people started openly opposing liberal transgender policies this year, I was still unsure how things would turn out.
We have seen many changes in the time I’ve been doing this. For instance, California only just passed Prop 8 in 2008, which banned same-sex marriages. Yolo County voted against Prop 8 by 20 points, and Davis did so by a ratio of more than 80 to 20 percent. This is partly because of Davis.
The idea of a potential Prop 8 in California was inconceivable by the time the US Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages. According to national polls, there is now a strong 75 to 25 percent support for same-sex marriage.
Fast forward to 2023, and the right sees transgender as the next social wedge issue after Roe v. Wade was overturned on abortion at the Supreme Court level.
In late 2022, the issue began to surface in Davis at the school board level, and it has since exploded in this area, as well as across the nation.
The Davis community is very liberal on this issue, unlike my experience with the police issue in 2006. I’ve heard some on the right claim that Moms for Liberty’s opinions are supported by a silent majority of residents.
I don’t see it. I see the opposite.
I look at a number of indicators.
First, in terms of the public discourse, the number of people who speak out on one side tends to be relatively small, and many of them are not even current parents of school-aged children.
There is a sizable group that counter-protests in the meantime.
I am aware of the silent majority. It’s like the dog that doesn’t bark. Supposedly, silence translates into support.
I keep asking the school district if this has any momentum. The response I get is that communications basically consist of a small group of individuals, most of whom are not currently parents of school-aged children.
However, almost every elected official in the state and everyone who represents Davis signed onto “Davis is for Everyone” as soon as the bomb threats started to surface. That is a very clear indication that those who feel emboldened are those on the left rather than the right.
I decided that de-escalating was the best course of action based on this. Lower the pressure. Stop responding to Moms for Liberty and other social media posts.
I made that suggestion in September.
People used to ask, “Why do you keep reporting on things if you think it’s best to ignore it?” However, I’m not in the same position as an advocate. My role is to report on what’s happening. Lawsuits. Restraining orders. Bomb threats.
Furthermore, Davis is not an island, and I see my role partly in relation to issues happening in Davis that are taking place nationally. A good example is the housing issue. To know what might happen here, it is kind of important to keep an eye on state legislation as well as prosecution by the Attorney General and HCD.
In relation to this issue, we have seen attempts to ban books, pass laws prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors, and enact “don’t say gay” or “don’t say LGBTQ” laws.
But it goes beyond that.
Although there have been no more bomb threats, social media harassment has persisted. Teachers and city employees have been targeted. We have seen targeted school board members. We have seen targeted student populations.
The very types of vulnerable groups that the Vanguard was created to protect are the ones being targeted.
In the end, I realized that I was actually WRONG even though I had believed in September that the best course of action was to ignore.
Moms for Liberty hasn’t, in my view, gained any traction. I’d actually argue the opposite. Compared to January, I believe the community is now more supportive of the LGBTQ community.
I know that many people feel drained by the year and the relentless beating they have endured.
I certainly do. However, I also know that if I feel that way, vulnerable students and other members of the community must feel significantly worse and need support, even in a relatively safe environment.
In the end, I believe that this effort will actually fail. Yes, you can look at elections from across the country right now to see how some aspects of
this argument are being viewed, but surveys are just snapshots; they are heat readings at the time. We saw the public’s quick shift to marriage equality.
Less than ten years after California passed Prop 8 in 2008 and Obergefell in 2015, the issue has largely disappeared.
A bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors was vetoed just this week by Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine.
According to Gov. Mike DeWine, signing the bill would be “saying that the state, the government, knows what’s better for children than their parents.”
However, I find that to be an interesting development because Ohio is on the cusp of becoming a red state, and that’s not a safe thing to do. Red states have passed this type of legislation, but not purple states or blue states.
If that’s the case, this might not be the issue that some people anticipated a year ago.
Moms for Liberty will eventually realize that they have not only lost this battle but have also pushed the community much further to the left than they realize. I’m hoping that realization comes in time for vulnerable students to find comfort.
