Dear Mayor Bass and Supervisor Janice Hahn,

We demand that Ara Najarian be removed from his seat on the Metro Board of Directors, as a consequence for his homophobic and transphobic lies about Glendale Public Schools in a “California Insider” video that is currently spreading across social media.

On October 10th, 2023 a video featuring an interview with Glendale City Councilman and Metro Board member Ara Najarian appeared on The Epoch Times’ “California Insider” via YouTube and other social media channels. (According to NewsGuard, a nonpartisan company that rates the credibility of news sites, both The Epoch Times news and opinion articles “frequently include distorted, misleading, or unsubstantiated claims.”)

In the “California Insider” interview, Najarian repeated false claims about GUSD alongside two leaders of the group behind attacks on teachers and harassment of LGBTQ+ community members.

In the video, Najarian states that during “little zoom classes [...] teachers wanted to explain the proper way to have oral sex” and told students that “if you’re not sure you’re a boy or a girl, we can help you change that…we don’t even have to tell your parents.”  The day after the interview was posted, the channel was removed from YouTube for “violation of content policies.” None of what Najarian said was true.

In the video, Ara Najarian was featured alongside Aneta Krpekyan, a local anti-public school extremist who has been harassing children, teachers, and parents since 2021 via Public Records Act requests to Glendale Unified for information about specific LGBTQ+ children. Krpekyan has repeated inflammatory lies about curriculum during public comment at meetings, on far-right news outlets and through her social media accounts, including “GUSD Parents Voices.” (That social media group also includes Maro Najarian Yacoubian, Ara’s sister, who has been a persistent amplifier of misinformation about GUSD schools and LGBTQ+ people while attempting to recruit families to join her charter school.) Najarian's appearance on the California Insider with Krpekyan is nothing short of an attack on public education.

In her remarks on October 10, 2023, Glendale Unified School Board President Jennifer Freemon noted that at no point has Ara Najarian ever come to directly ask GUSD what exactly the schools are teaching. Instead, Najarian chose to amplify the most dangerous lies on a large platform, repeating misinformation that has driven chaos, violence, and harassment of teachers, students, and private citizens in Glendale, a city Najarian has been representing on City Council since 2005. We would like to remind Ara Najarian that 25,000 students attend GUSD Public Schools. GUSD is the largest employer in the City of Glendale.

By appearing on a propaganda channel and repeating verifiably false claims which have inflamed tensions in Glendale, LA County and the region, Ara Najarian has shown seriously compromised judgment. His willingness to advance harmful misinformation for personal gain should disqualify him from leadership positions. Metro serves all people in Los Angeles and leadership which lies about a vulnerable segment of the population is a disservice to us all.

Ara Najarian must be removed immediately.