Four months ago, I made this petition to call attention to the persecution and suspension of LGBTQ students by the administration of my high school.
I never imagined the petition would garner over 60,000 views, and almost ten thousand signees. Thanks to your signatures, we were able to pressure school officials to allow Jack Petocz, the lead organizer of the "Don't Say Gay" Walkouts, back on campus.
Now I ask for your help again.
On August 23rd, three seats on the Flagler County School Board will be contested in an election. Two of which belong to ardently far-right and bigoted members, whom led the ridiculous campaign to ban LGBTQ-centered literature from school libraries, and whom defended hate groups terrorizing student protestors at school board meetings. These members, Jill Woolbright and Janet McDonald, have made targeting marginalized student communities their greatest priority. And of course, both of these individuals publicly criticized our student-led walkout, and dismissed impassioned student participants as “immature”.
With this being said, myself and other student activists are working tirelessly to replace McDonald and Woolbright with two student-champions.
Courtney Vandebunte is running in McDonald's seat, who made headlines for espousing coronavirus conspiracies, disrupting testing sessions and generally being a loon. Courtney is an experienced educator, as well as an advocate for students, parents, and staff through-and-through.
Sally Hunt is aiming to unseat Jill Woolbright, who has managed to turn our school district into a national laughingstock, and a dangerous place for vulnerable students. Also a certified educator, Sally has plenty of experience in leadership in the private sector and will protect students from attacks from the far-right.
Both of these candidates need all the help they can get. And if they win, it will send a shockwave through Florida and the nation, by firmly repudiating efforts by politicians to attack LGBTQ+ student communities.
Please consider donating to Sally Hunt and Courtney Vandebunte to support students in the fight against bigotry.
Donate via the links below: