One of the things I’ve always found inspiring  is the ability of an individual to create change. Gandhi, Marie Curie, Harvey Milk, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman– all of them propagated their ideas, innovations, and moral principles throughout the world, which became  a better place for their efforts. If they hadn’t chosen to pursue their goals, despite starting their journeys with little to no support, we’d currently be in a much darker place.  

Advocacy does, as all things do, go both ways. 2023 has seen record numbers of anti-LGBTQ+ laws raised and passed, and all it takes is a glance at the news to see people using their positions of power to do the opposite of what people in power ought to do. These people’s ideas of protecting those they govern run counter to progress, love, and equality. They may only be a few bad apples, but they’re spoiling the barrel. 

Recently, the Cajon Valley Union School District, has asked all teachers to remove LGBTQ+ “Safe Space” posters from their classrooms and any “student-facing rooms,” meaning the rooms of any faculty member who works or meets directly with students. The stickers that are being taken down were  provided by the Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a nonprofit educational organization that works to end discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community, especially in schools. The district superintendent, David Miyashiro, defended the decision, which has already received significant backlash, by passing it off as a “controversial” issue that is getting  in the way of a space meant for “academia.” 

The suggestion to remove these grave educational barriers was valiantly championed by a lone hero: an unnamed member of the Cajon Valley Union School District board. Upon further research, it can’t be confirmed who this board member was. One particular member of the CVUSD board, has, according to CBS8, made comments against GLSEN, some of them just four days before the District’s decision came out. 

It turns out that this board member has a history of open contempt for the LGBTQ+ community. In June, he labeled three organizations “a groomer cartel of nonprofits,” and, in an interview with Fox5, called objects like the safe space posters “propaganda.”

In August, he continued his crusade. San Diego Youth Services (SDYS) is a nonprofit organization that offers resources from homeless housing to mental health services. They often work with schools, such as those within CVUSD, to provide mental health care and suicide counseling for students as well as educational outreach in classrooms. Within the realm of their services is LGBTQ+-specific services. When the board member found out about their gender-affirming policies, he convinced CVUSD to terminate their collaboration with the organization. An entire district’s mental health and gender/orientation support gone. But not only theirs.

The board member took it upon himself to attend a meeting of the Grossmont Union High District, tell the board about SDYS’ services, and urged them to cut ties with the organization. They did. As of Aug. 14, GUHD offers no mental health services through a formal organization of any kind to any of its students.

To summarize the casualties: two school districts’ student bodies devoid of mental health care, and CVUSD’s LGBTQ+ communities watching the signs that mean they’re embraced for who they are, in a world where they often aren’t, come down. Bravo, board member. 

For the number of lives his fear mongering is ruining, his opinions are rather unpopular. Support for mental health is at its peak, with the National Council for Mental Wellbeing reporting that 76% of Americans placing the same importance on mental health as physical health. LGBTQ+ rights are experiencing the same support, with 71% of Americans saying same-sex marriage is valid, 93% believing that homosexual individuals should be granted the same job opportunities, and 54% opposed to bills that criminalize gender-affirming care for minors. 

Most people aren’t hateful. But some people are, and yet, as it seems, they’re the ones who manage to make the most ruckus. 

People like this board member aren’t going to quit rattling. But, as in nature, snakes rattle because they’re scared. The world, on the whole, is moving in the right direction, and so they resort to digging in their heels for as long as they can–but if they can, we can too. As the board member has demonstrated, one person’s actions can affect the entire community. Whether that influence is for better or for worse is up to who fights for it. If good individuals can be the change they want to see in the world, so can we. If the hateful can, so must we.