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In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Lawrence v. Texas, found Texas' anti-sodomy law unconstitutional.
This is a free country, the Court proclaimed, and individuals can engage in whatever private consensual sexual activity that they wish.
But freedom is not the value that LGBTQ activists seek. They will not rest until their values and lifestyle are imposed and accepted by every American.
Which gets to the heart of the current dispute between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co.
Florida passed into law, in 2022, the Parental Rights in Education Act that bars instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3, and 4-12 unless there is conflict with other state standards in reproductive health education.
This law quickly was labeled by LGBTQ advocates the "Don't Say Gay" law. But the law prohibits instruction of any sort in these categories, under assumption that conveying this sensitive material to young children is the responsibility of parents and not public school bureaucrats.
A biblical point of view on these matters is also off the table in public schools, but Christians are not screaming about it. Christians see education differently. It's not about indulging developing, rudimentary instincts in children, but rather conveying to children the knowledge and skills to become responsible adults.
As DeSantis has pointed out, the LGBTQ community interest is in indoctrination, not education. And it is never too young to be indoctrinated.
Disney, which operates Disney World in Orlando, opposes the Parental Rights in Education law.
The governor, in return, has removed the special tax and regulatory treatment that Disney enjoys in Florida, and now Disney has sued.
Disney then-CEO Bob Chapek wrote to Disney employees pledging opposition to the law, saying, "It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida, but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights."
It is a "basic human right" to indoctrinate 6-year-olds in public school about sexual orientation and gender, even if their parents oppose such instruction?
The Disney company was built on entertainment for children.
The panorama of the firm's history appears on its website. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pinocchio, "Fantasia," etc., and Disney's entry into television in 1954 with the Disneyland series and in 1955 with "The Mickey Mouse Club," which, according to the history, was "one of television's most popular children's series."
It was an America, then, where more than two-thirds of American adults were married, compared to less the half today.
And it was an America where the Bible was read aloud in public schools. It was not until 1963 that the Supreme Court ruled this unconstitutional.
Does Disney's current CEO see banning the Bible, and Christian values in general, from our public schools as a "challenge to basic human rights"?
The concept of the Disney theme parks — first Disneyland in California and then Disney World in Florida — emerged from Walt Disney's inspiration that "there should be a park where parents and children could go and have a good time together."
Disney brings in some $4 billion income annually for their stockholders but now is on a campaign, which unfortunately mirrors much of what is happening in general in the country, to destroy the truths and traditional family values that built the wealth it now enjoys.
It also must be noted that no state in the USA enjoys more education freedom than Florida. As result of legislation signed into law by DeSantis, every family can apply for a voucher, estimated to be worth $8,700, to send their child to any private school they want.
So those who want to indoctrinate little children with sexual indulgences they see as truth are free to do so.
But, as noted at the outset, the priority of those who call Ron DeSantis fascist is not seeking freedom, but indoctrination of their agenda.
Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.COM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Jun 06, 2023 12:25:10 -0700 Read moreStar Parker: Disney works to destroy values that built it
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State AP Stories
President Joe Biden has called the smoke from Canadian wildfires in the eastern U.S. “another stark reminder of the impacts of climate change” and has offered additional help to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Biden also has postponed a Pride Month celebration on the White House lawn set for Thursday night because of poor air quality in Washington. It will be held Saturday instead. It remains unclear when more than 12,000 Canadians displaced by the fires will be able to return home. There have been no reports of injuries or deaths, or damage to homes in Quebec, but no rain is expected until next week and temperatures are expected to rise.
The Republican Party’s 2024 presidential field is all but set after a trio of new announcements this week. There are at least 10 high-profile Republican candidates officially seeking their party’s nomination. And with the announcement phase of the primary campaign largely over, several leading Republican contenders will gather in North Carolina this weekend to begin a more aggressive sorting period. It will be a long road to the GOP’s national convention in Milwaukee next summer and surprises are guaranteed. But as of now, most Republican White House hopefuls are looking up at former President Donald Trump, who is the undisputed front-runner in the crowded contest.
Ben Crump has become a powerful figure in the movement seeking equality for Black Americans and justice for those killed by police. The Florida attorney has won multimillion-dollar settlements over the past decade for the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Tyre Nichols. Veteran civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton has called him “Black America’s Attorney General” because Crump takes cases others won’t touch. This week, he’s standing with the family of Ajike Owens, a Black woman fatally shot after going to the Ocala, Florida, apartment of her white neighbor. He called on the state attorney’s office to “zealously prosecute” the shooter.
An autopsy has determined that a man who died in January after police officers in North Carolina's capital city repeatedly used stun guns died from “sudden cardiac arrest.” The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner released on Wednesday the autopsy report, which labeled the death a homicide. It says the Jan. 17 death of 32-year-old Darryl Tyree Williams was also related to cocaine intoxication and the confrontation with police. Police have said Williams was stunned with a Taser three times as officers tried to take him into custody. Several officers were placed on leave. The State Bureau of Investigation looked into what happened and forwarded its case file to the local district attorney.
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National & World AP Stories
Asian shares are trading mostly higher, led by a jump on the Tokyo Stock Exchange where share prices got a boost of optimism from a new bull market on Wall Street. U.S. futures edged lower and oil prices fell. Wall Street stocks rose just enough to enter a new bull market. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to carry it 20% above a bottom hit in October. That means Wall Street’s main measure of health has climbed out of a painful bear market. But the arrival of a bull market doesn’t mean the market is back to its prior heights. A 25% drop for the S&P 500 requires a 33% rally just to get back to even.
DEPTFORD, N.J. (AP) — Back in Mudville, when mighty Casey took an unheeded pitch for a strike, there went up a muffled roar: “`Kill him! Kill the umpire!' shouted someone on the stand."
Donald Trump has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate. The remarkable development makes him the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges by the federal government that he once oversaw. The indictment carries unmistakably grave legal consequences, including the possibility of prison if he’s convicted. But it also has enormous political implications, potentially upending a Republican presidential primary that Trump has been dominating. And it sets the stage for a sensational trial centered on claims that he willfully, and illegally, hoarded sensitive national security information. The Justice Department did not immediately confirm the indictment publicly.
Donald Trump says he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate. The remarkable development makes him the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges by the federal government that he once oversaw. The indictment carries unmistakably grave legal consequences, including the possibility of prison if he’s convicted. But it also has enormous political implications, potentially upending a Republican presidential primary that Trump had been dominating. And it sets the stage for a sensational trial centered on claims that he willfully, and illegally, hoarded sensitive national security information. The Justice Department did not immediately confirm the indictment publicly.