Transportation funding? Commissioner pay hikes?
Not a top priority for the conservative hordes of McLeod County.
Despite the fact that no legislation has been introduced to tamper with the Minnesota State High School League trans-inclusive policy--or that two bills to change the state anti-bullying Safe and Supportive Schools law aren't anyone's focus in St. Paul--Republicans in McLeod County centered their recent convention around these issues.
In McLeod County Republicans updated on battles at Capitol, an article submitted by John Grein, the Secretary of the McLeod County Republicans, we read:
Renee Doyle of the Minnesota Child Protection League was the guest speaker when the McLeod County Republicans met in convention on Saturday, Feb. 14, at the McLeod County Courthouse in Glencoe.
She offered thanks to those who have helped MNCPL in its efforts to protect children in the war waged against them by liberals and progressives. One battle in this war was MNCPL’s efforts against the anti-bullying bill. Despite their efforts and the efforts of Republican legislators, this bill was enacted into law during the last legislative session when the DFL controlled both the house and the senate and the governorship.
Another battle was against the Minnesota State High School League and its transgender policy for Minnesota schools. This recently adopted policy allows boys who identify as girls to participate on girls athletic teams. The good news, she said, is that Minnesota citizens are becoming aware of the radical sexual nature of these battles and are rising up to engage in this fight.
Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen then spoke. He added to what Renee Doyle had said, commenting about the DFL legislator who had sponsored the anti-bullying bill. That legislator, on the House floor, publicly thanked homosexual groups for their help, thanking them also for the privilege of carrying the bill.
According to Meet the team behind the Minnesota Child Protection League, keynote speaker Renee Doyle:
Doyle, along with Michele Bachmann and several others, founded the Maple River Education Coalition in the early 2000s. That morphed into Edwatch in the mid-2000s and today is called Education Liberty Watch.
The group has long advocated against the inclusion of safety programs for LGBT youth. For exemple, the group criticized Gov. Tim Pawlenty in 2006 for “promotion of homosexual agenda” after his commissioner of education included a link to OutFront Minnesota on the department’s website.
And that colleague in the House? Minneapolis lawmaker Jim Davnie. Gruenhagen's claim is nothing new, as it was part of the floor debate of the bill in 2014. The Pioneer Press reported in After marathon House debate, school-bullying bill goes to Dayton:
Others said the measure was DFLers backing the agenda of OutFront Minnesota, an advocacy group for gay and lesbian rights.
More than 100 groups back the legislation.
Apparently Gruenhagen is of the school that frowns on people exercising their First Amendment rights to assemble and petition their government.
This isn't the first instance of bizarre and belligerent rhetoric from a Minnesota Republican county convention this winter. In Monday's post, Department of Okay Then: Dave Hancock tells Republicans they're tourists in a new civil war, we looked at Representative Hancock's comparison of this session to the American Civil War.
Photo: Rep. Jim Davnie speaking to his bill last year while Sandra Masin looks on.
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