Opinion Spotlight

Gray-New Gloucester a center for culture wars

| NGX Editorial Team |

In a June 5 article titled “National Culture Wars Come to Maine School Districts” in the Portland Press Herald, reporter Lana Cohen links a GOP event in Gray to broader state and national movements to upend local school boards. A June 7 follow-up editorial in the Press Herald, “Culture warriors want to take down public education,” goes further.

We at NGX want readers to understand that the culture wars are not simply in Maine but here, in Gray-New Gloucester, and are not limited to the schools.

Schools. The June 5 Press Herald article describes a recent event titled “The Hyper Sexualization of School Children” hosted by the Gray Republican Committee and held at the Bible Believing Baptist Church in Gray. At it, speakers “called for banning sex education in K-12 schools and teaching only abstinence, implored parents to immediately pull their children out of public school and claimed a large majority of Maine’s teachers can’t be trusted to do their jobs,” according to the article.

The keynote speaker for the May 25 event was Shawn McBreairty, who figures prominently in the Press Herald editorial. On social media, McBreairty described the Gray GOP event this way: “Tomorrow! Come hear the discussion about what is really happening in our Maine K-12 government run schools. CRT, hyper-sexualization of minors and Critical Pedagogy. It’s an evil agenda of the left. Your kids are being torn apart in a political culture war. Physically and mentally.” Recent posts on McBreairty’s Twitter account include a Pride flag labeled “June is Groomers Awareness Month.” Another shows four Pride flags arranged to form a swastika and labeled “You can combine 4 pride flags to make ultra pride.”

The Press Herald article notes that New Gloucester State Representative Amy Arata was among the speakers at the May 25 event in Gray. Arata told NGX that she discussed school board members’ status under Maine law, the need for collaboration among parents, students and teachers, and informed consent from students or parents for potentially triggering sexually charged materials. She said she departed before the keynote address.

Elections. A previous Gray GOP event, “Will Your Vote Count in November? Will the Next Election Be Stolen?” raised questions about election integrity in Maine. New Gloucester resident and current candidate for MSAD 15 School Board Dorene Libby was listed on the April 20 event flyer and Gray GOP website as featured speaker and as co-founder of MeAudit.org. Her Gray presentation slides, on the MeAudit.org website, include figures purporting to call into question Maine’s 2020 election and references to “anomalies in Maine,” “inflated voter registrations,” and “laws potentially violated.”

The MeAudit.org site promotes an Arizona-style recount and national leaders whose work has been debunked in many recounts and court cases. The site also takes a “sovereign citizen” approach and provides forms and resources for challenging elected officials not only in regard to elections, but also on mask mandates, vaccines, and critical race theory in schools. A sample Freedom of Information request addressed to New Gloucester election staff is included on the site for others to adapt and use in their own communities.

MeAudit’s claims about the 2020 election have been disputed. An article from September 2021 describes Libby’s and MeAudit co-founder Liliana Thelander’s calls for an audit as part of a multi-state effort to discredit the 2020 election. Since then, Maine has passed a law to improve Maine’s already strong election processes.

When asked about election integrity claims like those raised by Libby and MeAudit, a representative from the Maine Secretary of State’s office said this: “We had one of the highest rates of voter participation in the country, and we should be proud of that. Maine’s elections are safe, secure, and fair, and that’s good for all of us.”

On claims that schools are promoting dangerous ideas and practices. National groups like the Heritage Foundation are stirring up confusion and disinformation that feed the fears of parents, and they offer guides for local culture warriors, such as one called “How to Identify Critical Race Theory in Your Schools and What to Do About It.” Calls to condemn social emotional learning, and other practices that aim to support students’ success are also being promoted by national groups, with local groups now following their lead.

For those who wonder, most K-12 teachers had never heard of Critical Race Theory before it became a rallying cry for creating distrust of schools (it’s an advanced law school course). Social emotional learning is not new, it’s simply helping students be successful learners: able to manage their emotions in the classroom, to communicate and collaborate with others, to solve problems and to persevere. By the way, the skills they learn also prepare them for the 21st century workplace.

We respect the marketplace of ideas, the free expression of views. But the fear, mistrust and division being stoked by these efforts are harmful to any community. Our hard-working schools, students and staff, and our town employees who do their best to serve us all deserve better.

Joanne Cole, Julie Fralich and Debra Smith
NGXchange Editorial Team