Chandler School Board President Refuses To Say Pledge Of Allegiance

Chandler School Board President Refuses To Say Pledge Of Allegiance

By Staff Reporter |

The leader of the Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) governing board declines to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance, worrying some CUSD families over the implications.

A video obtained by board meeting attendees shows CUSD Board President Patti Serrano exercising her First Amendment right by standing with her hand over her heart and refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Many of those who protest the patriotic recited verse are usually in protest of the current state of the country or the very existence and idea of America. 

The Pledge of Allegiance represents a citizen’s oath of loyalty to the American flag and the republic it symbolizes, defined as an indivisible “one nation under God” that affords liberty and justice for all its citizens. 

AZ Free News contacted Serrano about her refusal to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance. We did not receive a response. 

Last month, a CUSD community member asked Serrano about her refusal to participate. Serrano said she would not respond publicly about her reason for not reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, since it was not an agenda item for that meeting. 

“I won’t participate in any discussion at this time,” said Serrano. “Public comment is not a time for engagement, and I’m more than happy to reach out to you personally.” 

Serrano’s refusal to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance aligns with her other progressive values: legalizing abortion, increasing gun control, advancing LGBTQ+ ideologies in minors, and supporting Islamic terrorist groups aligned with Palestine. 

When Serrano took her oath of office for the board in 2023, she swore on the book, “Life is a Banquet,” rather than the Bible. The book, written by Arizona State University (ASU) professor and Drag Story Hour Arizona founder David Boyles, describes the sexual experiences and explicit fantasies of a fictional minor male who goes on to reject the values of his conservative, Christian parents and adopt the progressive ideologies of ASU students. 

Boyles likened Serrano taking her oath of office on his book to the Biblical account in which God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.

Also in 2023, Serrano helped organize the appearance of Democratic Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib for an ASU protest in the weeks following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. Tlaib has advocated for the eradication of Israel from the land. Serrano organized the event as the southwest regional coordinator for the Progressive Democrats of America. 

Following Serrano’s role in the Tlaib affair, CUSD families called for Serrano’s resignation. Their call to action was dwarfed by the appearance of around 150 supporters from inside and outside the district at a board meeting, mobilized by former CUSD board member Lindsay Love. Love was also one to inspire controversy during her time on the board for publicizing political views similar to those held by Serrano. Love left the board after one term, citing tensions with the CUSD community as her reason for not seeking reelection.

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Phoenix College Hosts Drag Queen Story Hour With Banned Books For Children

Phoenix College Hosts Drag Queen Story Hour With Banned Books For Children

By Corinne Murdock |

Phoenix College, the flagship institution for Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), hosted a drag queen story hour for all ages on Tuesday featuring banned books.

Drag Story Hour AZ held the event. The banned books read were “My Princess Boy” by Cheryl Kilodavis, which advocates for the normalization of gender nonconformity; “Neither” by Airlie Anderson, which advocates for the normalization of nonbinary and transgender children; “Prince & Knight” by Daniel Haack, which advocates for the normalization of same-sex relationships; and “Red: A Crayon’s Story” by Michael Hall, which advocates for LGBTQ+ normalization. 

In an email, Phoenix College described the story hour as a “Freedom Read” inclusive opportunity to build community. The college hosted the story hour in celebration of Banned Books Week. 

“Drag story hours offer inclusive environments for community building and informal learning through a familiar (and fun!) literacy activity,” read the email. “Beyond asking that you encourage our students (and their families!) to attend the event, we warmly welcome your participation.” 

A community activist and parent opposed to drag queen story hours for children posted that he attempted to obtain tickets for the event, but was restricted from doing so. 

Drag Story Hour AZ also lists other banned books on its Bookshop page. In addition to the books read on Tuesday, the organization recommended the following LGBTQ+ advocacy books for children and their families: “Worm Loves Worm,” “10,000 Dresses,” “Antonio’s Card,” “I Am Jazz,” “When Aidan Became a Brother,” “The Boy Who Cried Fabulous,” “Pink Is For Boys,” “This Day in June,” “And Tango Makes Three,” “Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag,” “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver Presents: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo,” “Queer, 2nd Edition: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens,” “Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World,” “Real Queer America: LGBT Stories From Red States,” “A Queer History of the United States,” “Parenting Beyond Pink & Blue: How to Raise Your Kids Free of Gender Stereotypes,” “The Gender Creative Child: Pathways For Nurturing and Supporting Children Who Live Outside Gender Boxes,” “Helping Your Transgender Teen: A Guide For Parents,” “This Is a Book For Parents of Gay Kids: A Question & Answer Guide to Everyday Life,” and “Sissy: A Coming-Of-Gender Story.”

The organization’s founder and president, David Boyles, is an English professor at Arizona State University (ASU). As reported previously, Boyles has been featured in several events promoting drag entertainment through local libraries and the Arizona Humanities. 

Boyles has held that LGBTQ+ storytelling to minors remains important because it “counter[s] the erasure of queer stories,” and advocates for their attendance at drag shows as well. 

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Tucson Parents Protest Drag Queen Story Hour

Tucson Parents Protest Drag Queen Story Hour

By Corinne Murdock |

A crowd of Tucson parents protested against a drag queen story hour hosted at Bookmans, a local bookstore chain, this month.

Bookmans hosted the event in coordination with Drag Story Hour Arizona. Event organizers withheld the exact location until the day before the event, and only released it to registered attendees. 

The Bridge Tucson, a local multi-location church, organized the protest. Church members behind the protest noted that the drag story hour event organizers were saving preferential seating for children so that protesting adults couldn’t take all the seating.

Bookmans attempted to host another drag queen story hour back in March, but the organizers canceled due to protests.

“Bookmans is committed to allowing men dressed in women’s clothing to dance and sing and read books to children while exploring sexual themes with children and providing a ‘queer’ influence in their life,” stated the Bridge Tucson. “Bookmans is committed to grooming our children and it is pure evil. It has always been society’s job to protect children, and this is one of those moments in time to take a stand. We made it very clear that if Bookmans re-scheduled their Drag Queen Story Hour, we would reschedule our protest. So it’s on!

Drag Story Hour Arizona formed in 2019. In addition to Bookmans, the group collaborates with AzTYPO, Virtual Arizona Pride, Free Mom Hugs Arizona, and Phoenix Pride.

Ahead of the March story hour cancellation, Bridge Tucson members claimed retaliation. Their members reportedly emailed the bookstore to protest the event and claimed that their email addresses were then signed up for porn site email listings.

In response to the protest, State Sen. Justine Wadsack (R-LD17), commended the local parents for withstanding the temperatures that afternoon, which reached around 110 degrees. Wadsack also included an allusion to the controversial child sex trafficking awareness movie, “Sound of Freedom.”

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Wadsack Bill Would Punish Unlawful Exposures To Minors

Wadsack Bill Would Punish Unlawful Exposures To Minors

By Daniel Stefanski |

Arizona Legislative Republicans and Democrats are continuing their legendary clashes over a bill that would severely punish unlawful exposures to minors.

SB 1698, sponsored by Senator Justine Wadsack, “establishes unlawful exposure to an adult oriented performance or business as a class 4 felony offense punishable as a dangerous crime against children and requires a person convicted of the offense to register as a sex offender,” according to the overview provided by the Arizona House of Representatives.

In a video explanation of the genesis behind this bill’s introduction, Senator Wadsack said she “felt a conviction to create this bill after coming across events like the drag queen story hours, which involve sexual adult performance in sexually explicit attire, reading books to children – often elementary school age.”

In February, SB 1698 passed both the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee, before it was approved by the entire Senate chamber in early March by a 16-14 party-line vote. Before the vote on the Senate floor, Senator Wadsack inserted a five-part floor amendment, which (among other things) removed the definition of “drag show” from the original bill.

After the final Senate action on the bill, it was transmitted to the Arizona House of Representatives, where it was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.

This week, the House Judiciary Committee considered the bill, and, after vigorous debate, passed it by a vote of 5-3. All Republicans voted to affirm the legislation, and Democrats voted to oppose. House Democrats labeled SB 1698 as one of the chamber’s “hateful bills,” linking the policy proposed by Wadsack to a hypothetical outcome that would see the end of “school-play versions of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.”

House Judiciary Committee Republicans made their voices heard during this hearing, pushing back against individuals speaking out against the bill and their colleagues from across the aisle. Representative Alexander Kolodin said, “All this bill does is prohibit parents from taking their kids to a sex show or a drag show. It’s common sense. How could you be against that?”

Representative Cory McGarr stated that “there is a growing trend that for some reason we are pushing hyper-sexual material on children. But to oppose this bill on the merit, to me, seems completely insane.”

Countering the naysayers of the bill, the bill sponsor, Senator Wadsack, previously clarified what her legislation does or does not do: “This bill does not target entertainers who are performing for adults. This bill also deals with individuals providing adult entertainment to minors, which is absolutely what crosses the line.”

Representatives from the National Association of Social Workers, Children’s Action alliance, American Civil Liberties Union of AZ, AZ Attorneys for Criminal Justice, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona registered in opposition to the bill during the legislative process.

SB 1698 is expected to make its way to the House floor for a vote in the near future.

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.