Every state carries an external perception that people often reference when talking about it. It could be related to their famous sports teams, local delicacies, or even a unique dialect. So, when it comes to New Jersey, what do people think? As someone who has had the opportunity to travel outside the country multiple times, I can tell you that whenever I mention I’m from New Jersey, people immediately associate it with either “Jersey Shore” or “Snooki.” Unfortunately, this is like a dagger through my heart because our reputation outside the Garden State is primarily based on an infamous reality show.
However, there is another reality show that has been filming during the pandemic, and all of us in New Jersey seem to be unwilling cast members. It’s called “The Real Peasants of New Jersey,” starring none other than our Lord and Master, Phil Murphy. In Season 3, Episode 8, the peasants continue their unruly behavior as they express their frustration with the legal ministry’s attempt to block certain school districts from informing parents about their child’s gender identity, alternative names or pronouns, and bathroom preferences.
According to the state’s guidelines, school personnel are not obligated to notify parents about their child’s gender identity or expression. However, State Attorney General Matthew Platkin filed a lawsuit against three school districts, namely Middletown, Manalapan-Englishtown, and Marlboro, arguing that disclosing this information to parents would harm these students mentally, increase the risk of physical harm, decrease their likelihood of seeking support, and undermine the creation of a safe learning environment.
In classic reality-show fashion, Lord Murphy used his appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation” as a confessional to address the concerns of the common folk. He emphasized the importance of respecting the constitutional and civil rights of young individuals who are navigating their identities. While I may be just another opinionated New Jersey resident, these measures by the state hit close to home for me as a parent who has dealt with a failing public school’s failure to notify me when consultants explored my son’s identity and sexuality.
It seems that Murphy has created an environment of governmental secrecy masked as concern for children. He and other elitist New Jersey Democrats have propagated the narrative that parents who love and care for their children are somehow a threat to them if they are aware of their confusion about their identity. The government assumes that parents would respond with chastisement and oppression rather than appropriate concern and loving support if their child were to identify differently.
Attorney General Platkin wants us to believe that there is information parents cannot handle or have an obligation to know, while strangers who work for the government can. In his lawsuit, Platkin claims that the school district policies “out” these students against their will.
Platkin was not present during my son’s birth, he did not witness his first words, and he doesn’t truly care about my son’s future. Yet, he has the audacity to say that parents like me should not have an “affirmative duty” to be informed about significant events happening to our children within the walls of a government-run school. If we accept the government’s ability to hide our children’s gender transformations, what else could they conceal from us?
Democratic politicians like Murphy attempt to dismiss objections to their rulings as merely products of political opposition, rather than genuine reactions to the violation of rights. Murphy, during his appearance on “Face the Nation,” accuses schools of violating the constitutional and civil rights of students.
Murphy wishes to make it seem as though these concerned parents are nothing more than political operatives, and that the desire to know what’s happening to one’s child in a government institution is a right-wing concern. Yet, he himself would find it unacceptable if any institution withheld critical details about his own children from him. This double standard is to divert our anger away from him, an indifferent ruler, and towards these rebellious parents.
The idea that a child can be “outed” to their parent is simply false because parents are solely responsible for everything their child experiences. This is not a culture war; it is a class war. The creators of this reality show are exploiting our children for ratings. It’s time to cancel this series.
Adam B. Coleman, the author of “Black Victim to Black Victor” and the founder of Wrong Speak Publishing, shares these sentiments. You can follow him on Substack at adambcoleman.substack.com.
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