What do California, West Des Moines Public School District, and Iowa’s gubernatorial race all have in common? Family, reimagined.
West Des Moines School District’s Indian Hills Junior High posted a photo on their Facebook page of staff members sporting a shirt that says “Family Reimagined”. While this may on the surface appear to be a simple phrase meant to create a warm and caring school environment, it could also be a much more nefarious term in an attempt to redefine what family means altogether. After all, redefining words to fit their narrative and further their agenda is one of the left’s most powerful tools, and a highly successful one. “Family” may soon be next to suffer the same fate as “gay”, “pro-choice”, “democracy”, “assault rifle”, “fascism”, the list could go on and on.
A quick Google search reveals that the phrase already has a much deeper meaning. “Family Reimagined refers to the evolving concept of family that extends beyond traditional biological ties” and includes co-parenting partnerships, LGBTQ+ households, “chosen” families, and is meant to broaden (ie, redefine) the term to include people not determined by blood relations.
Cue California.
The legislature over on the West Coast has sent a bill AB 495, to Governor Newsom’s desk which would drastically change who has authority over California’s children. According to the California Family Council:
AB 495 makes sweeping changes to the California Family Code by expanding who can fill out a Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit, a legal form that gives adults authority to make decisions about where children attend school and what healthcare services they receive. Previously, this form limited significant healthcare decisions to certain “relatives.” AB 495 expands that definition to include vague categories like “nonrelative extended family member”: any adult who claims to have a mentoring or familial relationship with the child or the child’s relatives.
Most disturbingly, the updated affidavit explicitly states three times that “a parent’s signature or a court seal is not required.”…This change is not cosmetic. It removes any doubt that a caregiver can act without the knowledge or consent of the child’s parents.
As appalling as this is, it isn’t all that surprising. It’s just one step further than their current efforts to hide from parents when their child is using a different name or pronoun at school than what is on their registration. In a recent article from the Federalist, the Irvine school district disseminated a “Gender Affirming School Culture” guide that instructed teachers not to tell parent’s about a child’s transition at school.
Before you dismiss this as just a crazy bill from a deep blue state a thousand miles away, the Iowa legislature passed SF496 just a year ago, outlawing educators from carrying out the very same thing in our state. And make no mistake, this bill was extremely controversial. I know, because I was at the Iowa Capitol during the hearings. The Democrats fought loudly against it. The Republicans didn’t take this bill up for fun. They took it up because it was happening in our schools.
Cue the Governor’s race.
Governor Reynolds has been, in my opinion, the best Governor for Iowa in my lifetime. I have had strong disagreements on certain issues, i.e. the pipeline, but she has delivered for conservatives more than any other Iowa governor in recent history by far. The Republican legislature has accomplished monumental wins over the last few legislative sessions to make Iowa one of the deepest red states in the country. I’ve loved every minute of it.
But this also makes people complacent. You might feel pretty good about where we sit, especially when you hear news about parental rights in California or communist candidates in New York. Don’t. You can’t.
My intent here is not to advocate for one particular candidate but to encourage you to be involved in the primary process. While some believe primaries damage republican candidates, I think it refines them. Like iron sharpens iron, a competitive race forces them to refine their positions and reveals convictions over mere political positions.
Be engaged. Ask tough questions. Pray earnestly for guidance.
While the political climate at the moment may be a bulwark against the leftist inclinations in our state, we are just one election from rolling it all back. While we look in disbelief at California trying strip parents of their basic rights to determine the upbringing of their children right out in the open, unashamedly for all to see, educators in our own state just dressed up in a phrase well-known in leftist circles to radically redefine the family. Was it an inadvertent, innocent episode? Possibly.
We cannot afford to find out.
- Angela Wenell
