We Hadn't Heard About That
I love talking with you, our ministry partners. Whether it is by phone, email, or in person, you give us feedback on what topics matter most to you, what we can do better, and how best to interact with you. Interestingly, in the midst of these conversations, I often hear the same theme: thank you for the information you provide and for keeping us up to date on issues affecting our values, because “We hadn’t heard about that.”
It makes sense. One of the important things we do as NDFA is the education/information component of our work. You need to know about threats (and wins) regarding your values. Perhaps most importantly, you need to know what those who oppose your values are doing quietly and without fanfare. Well, here are three perfect examples that few of you may have heard about.
Do you remember the federal funding that NDSU was receiving and funneling to Planned Parenthood to teach its “Safe Spaces” sex education course to teachers? The legislature last session effectively severed that relationship by putting some of NDSU’s funding at risk if they continued to serve in this capacity. However, Planned Parenthood doesn’t give up so easily. They are now touting the federal grant money they have to do similar work Planned Parenthood Funding. Did you know that?
Whether the money goes through an intermediary organization or not (it’s unclear from their description), they are planning to continue exposing those in our state education system to their “pro-choice” agenda. What worries me even more are two phrases. It states, “provides education to young people’ and then notes that, “All participants 17 and younger must have parent or guardian permission to attend.” While the previous grant was to instruct teachers, is this directly instructing children? What is their plan here? Please watch what happens at the local level as it relates to school curriculum – that is where these decisions will be made.
The second example is associated with the University of North Dakota. Did you know that they have proposed a gender inclusion policy? Interestingly, the link to it has now disappeared from their website. That said, here are some nuggets from the proposed policy we managed to capture before it disappeared.
“Students, employees, and visitors may access restrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities consistent with their gender identity and expression and are not required to use UND facilities inconsistent with their gender identity and expression or to use alternative facilities.”
“Students are provided access to housing consistent with their gender identity and expression, as requested, and are not required to stay in single-occupancy accommodations.”
“All recognized student organizations, including fraternities and sororities, must adhere to the University's policies, including nondiscrimination policies.” [This part of the policy then goes on to say that fraternities and sororities are exempt from this policy, with the obvious result that student organizations are not, e.g., Christian organizations.]
In fairness to UND, they did have a comment period and I assume they followed university guidelines on how to announce this. However, it was so under the radar that it was effectively moot, and now the comment period has ended. I can’t tell you how best to give UND your perspective now that the comment period has closed, but making your voice heard in some manner would certainly be advantageous.
Finally, did you know that there is a drag queen show planned for this Saturday in Valley City? In this particular case, we found out about it from one of you, our ministry partners (thank you). Here is the most disturbing part: Valley City State University’s Cultural Diversity Committee and Social Justice Council is helping to support the event. The show promises to, “make people feel good in a way that also informs our community about aspects of the LGBTQ+ culture” VCSU Drag Queen Show. There is even a discount by showing your VCSU ID card. Feel free to let the university know what you think about the event being supported with your taxpayer dollars at VCSU.
There you have three current examples of what is going on between legislative sessions – when all seems quiet. We will continue to provide information like this as we become aware of it, and feel free to contact us if you hear about something that would impact your biblical values or those of your fellow North Dakotans. We can’t catch everything, but with your help, we can perhaps get the word out as soon as possible.
We need to make sure that these types of occurrences come out of the dark and into the light, so all North Dakotans are aware of what is going on. We promise to do our best in this regard, so that you don’t have to tell us, “We hadn’t heard about that.”