EQCA - Equality California

19/07/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 20/07/2024 05:02

Equality California on Successful Recalls of Anti-LGBTQ+ Sunol Glen Unified School District Trustees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2024

CONTACT: Jorge Reyes Salinas, Equality California
PHONE: (213) 355-3057/MOBILE: (213) 355-3057/EMAIL:[email protected]

SUNOL, Calif. - Equality California, the nation's largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, issued the following statement from Executive Director Tony Hoang in response to the successful recall of anti-LGBTQ+ Sunol Glen Unified School District Trustees Linda Hurley and Ryan Jergensen in a special election on Tuesday, July 2nd:

"LGBTQ+ youth in California have been under attack by extremists like Linda Hurley and Ryan Jergensen seeking to advance hateful agendas that put their health and wellbeing at risk. Anyone who uses their position to attack LGBTQ+ youth is unfit to serve in public office, and we are pleased to see Hurley and Jergensen's political careers come to an appropriate end.

During their tenures, Hurley and Jergensen oversaw the passage of a policy to ban the flying of the Pride flag, and their behavior led to the retirement of Superintendent Molleen Barnes, an ally to the district's LGBTQ+ students, staff, and families.

Yet again, voters have rejected the efforts of anti-LGBTQ+ school board members; earlier this year, extremist school board members in Orange Unified, Temecula Valley Unified, and Woodland Unified were also successfully recalled. The results in Sunol mean that all six anti-LGBTQ+ school board members to face recalls in California this year have been removed from office.

Parents, students, teachers, and allies in districts across the nation are rising up to demand more from those who represent them. Equality California will continue to stand against all efforts to discriminate against LGBTQ+ youth, and will work tirelessly to vote out lawmakers at all levels of government who would seek to cause them harm."

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Equality California is the nation's largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org