Slow movement murder by a once-great newspaper is painful to watch.
Unfortunately, the Bangor Daily News has changed from a reputable journalistic institution to a propaganda tool pushing left-wing identity politics over the past few decades. So it came as no surprise in the past couple of years when the BDN’s editors, reporters, and investigators jumped aboard the Transgender Express trend.
The paper’s acceptance of this radical ideology is not objectionable in any way. As a private company, the BDN is free to engage in whatever dangerous, delusional philosophy suits its editors.
However, I do object to the BDN’s repeated and willful misinterpretation of the 2014 Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s Doe v. RSU 26 decision, which mandates that local school districts allow biological males identifying as female students to use female restrooms. Nothing about the decision was arbitrary. The justices made it clear that even students with documented histories of gender dysphoria could benefit from their ruling.
Here’s what the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled when they vacated the lower court’s broader decision:
“We note that in this case, the student had a carefully developed plan over a number of years and was supported by a curriculum that effectively addressed the student’s gender identity issues. The student’s gender identification and gender dysphoria diagnosis, both of which were recognized and accepted by the school, are important factors in assessing whether there is discrimination in this case. The school, the student, her parents, and her counselors all agreed that the student is a female.
We do not suggest that anyone can demand access to any school service or facility solely based on a self-declared gender identity or distress without the programs developed in collaboration with the school and the recognized and accepted diagnoses that are present in this case. Our position should not be interpreted as requiring schools to grant students access to the restroom of their choice on a casual basis. Decisions regarding how to address genuine gender identity issues among students should not be taken lightly. As in this case, it has been established that a student’s psychological well-being and academic success depend on being allowed to use the communal restroom in accordance with her gender identity, while denying access to the appropriate restroom constitutes retaliation for gender identity discrimination in violation of the MHRA.” (Emphasis Added)
Doe v. RSU 26 and its implications for Maine’s schools have been repeatedly and falsely represented by the BDN, and so have those who criticize their misinformation as haters and bad actors. I object to being frequently labeled as an “anti-LGBT+ activist” because I oppose bathroom policies in K-12 schools that require teenage girls to share restrooms with mentally ill teenage boys.
A recent study found that a significant percentage of children who are unsure of their gender can develop gender dysphoria without being abused.
Here’s a quick chronological summary of the most recent editorial missteps that have become the norm rather than the exception in the All editorial and newsrooms.
On February 27th, a front-page, above-the-fold article by reporter Kathleen O’Brien covered the current gender identity dispute. Advocates claim that adults in Maine are exerting undue pressure on transgender students, and the extensive piece contained an in-depth interview with two so-called “transgender advocates.” Not a single contrasting viewpoint was included. None.
The article reads like a press release from one of the dozens of Maine-based LGBTQ+ non-profits lobbying for the legalization of gender reassignment surgeries and hormone therapies for young children without parental consent. To make matters worse, the story’s hook was a now-debunked account of an Oklahoma high school student who was allegedly bullied to death because of her gender non-conforming status. The tragic reality is that the young woman in this story was abducted by her father, not by “transphobic peers,” and the BDN conveniently lost interest in it when it no longer fit their ideological narrative.
O’Brien’s article mentioned me by name, yet she didn’t bother to reach out to me for comment. Instead, she relied on “reporting” by a paid activist who wasn’t even present at the event referenced by O’Brien.
O’Brien reported that I “hosted a public forum in Brewer against the local school district’s transgender bathroom policy,” and that I’m “pursuing a lawsuit that targets the rights of transgender Mainers.”
In reality, I’m not pursuing a lawsuit against anyone, let alone one that targets anyone’s rights. Perhaps O’Brien could have avoided relying on hearsay from the Marxist People’s Alliance if she had provided me with the professional courtesy of a brief phone call.
Just three days later, in an article titled, “2 claims target Brewer School Department over transgender policy,” O’Brien struck again. She reiterated both her blatant misinterpretation of the 2014 Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruling and her speculation about the public forum.
In response, I submitted an op-ed to editorial page editor Susan Young to correct the falsehoods in O’Brien’s reporting. However, it quickly became apparent that Young would not allow the publication of commentary that doesn’t align with the transgender cult’s Orwellian newspeak.
When Young objected to the phrase “…teenage girls have a fundamental right to privacy from biological boys,” negotiations began to unravel.
Young insisted that I replace “biological boys” with “trans students.”
In essence, she was demanding that I play “pretend” with her and her fellow ideologues on the BDN editorial board.
I cautioned Young that my characterization of these individuals as “biological boys” is grounded in reality, while her characterization of them as “trans students” is a shape-shifting, ambiguous legal fiction that politicians in Augusta have repeatedly rejected and redefined.
That was a non-starter, but when she excised this crucial phrase altogether, things went from bad to worse.
Parents of school-age children should not feel threatened or bullied by transgender activists who assert that their pseudo-scientific ideology is now settled law.
I objected to her heavy-handed editing with the following statement:
“Students and their parents have historically been subjected to intimidation and harassment by transgender activists. The pending lawsuit against the Brewer School Department details the harassment and intimidation with evidence from sworn testimonies given by female students under penalty of perjury. That alone should provide ample justification for my assertion. Additionally, I adhere to the bounds of legal discourse when I refer to transgenderism as a ‘pseudo-scientific ideology.’ Yes, it’s my opinion, certainly not yours or the Bangor Daily News editorial board’s, but it’s a fact-based perspective that is supported by numerous scholars, scientists, and medical professionals.
Why not allow your readers to draw their own conclusions?”
Young used this absurd rationale to dismiss the sworn allegations of harassment:
There is no evidence that the school policies are acts of intimidation. They likely represent the efforts of legal experts to craft policies that accommodate all students. Perhaps they failed in your eyes, but that does not equate to intimidation.
I have dozens of columns awaiting editing. It’s really unfair to expect that I will spend so much time writing for you and not hear out other people’s opinions.
So, I’m sorry, but I need to move on.”
Okay, I understand. As a busy woke woman, Susan Young has no time to deal with a repugnant deplorable like me. I get it.
She reminds me of David Horowitz, a former leftist turned conservative, who made an observation. He warned us that every progressive harbors totalitarian impulses within.
Horowitz went on to say that Leftists are defined by their instinctual, practiced, and
indispensable dishonesty: “People on the Left may be delusional, but they are not stupid. They know what they can say and get away with, and what they can’t.”
The Bangor Daily News has come full circle. It was born as a tabloid in 1889, known for publishing “some news, but also plenty of gossip, lurid stories and scandals.” It evolved (transitioned?) into a fairly respectable daily newspaper, reaching its zenith in the 1980s with daily paid circulation of 100,000+ readers.
That’s down to about 30,000 today. While some of that precipitous decline can be attributed to the proliferation of online news sources and the shift from print to digital news reporting, there’s no doubt that the BDN’s lurch to the Left has been a significant factor in its decline.
Any company that routinely insults the intelligence of many of its potential customers will eventually find itself circling the drain.
Get woke, go broke.
