The mother of a Kansas 4th-grader “was outraged when she opened up her representative’s February newsletter and found her daughter’s rainbow drawing published as an example of indoctrination in the school system,” the Kansas Reflector reported on Tuesday, March 7, 2023 (see story here).
“He didn’t ask for permission,” Courtney Ricard said. Well guess what, she has legal recourse. She can sue state Rep. Pat Proctor on behalf of her daughter for common-law copyright infringement.
Proctor (photo, left), who isn’t a lawyer (profile here), described Ricard’s objection to his unauthorized appropriation of her daughter’s intellectual property as “throwing a fit,” clearly not understanding that creative work is protected by copyright laws.
Proctor is among a slew of GOP legislators in Kansas and other states asserting a need for “more control over classroom materials,” meaning they want to censor 9-year-olds’ classroom artwork as part of a broad GOP hate campaign to obliterate LGBQT people. How dare schools teach kids inclusivity!
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who wants to be president, has banned rainbows from classrooms (see article here) in furtherance of his party’s assault against gay people. Why? Because rainbow flags have been used as a “gay pride” symbol, and flags and symbols are a big deal to ideologues. But guess what? My Little Pony kids’ lunchboxes depict rainbows, too. Are they going to ban those lunchboxes?
Here’s a better idea: Let’s keep rightwing bigotry out of our elementary schools and in the adult political arena where it belongs, if it belongs anywhere at all (it doesn’t).
This is really a warning shot. Republicans are trying to censor bloggers, the media, social media companies, teachers, and college professors. They want only conservative ideas out there. And they don’t want gay people to exist. Neither did Hitler.
Photo below: A GOP legislator wants this drawing ripped down
