A few months ago, I started hanging out at the SHAC.
What’s a SHAC, you ask?
It’s a lot like the B-52’s “Love Shack,” except it’s in Austin instead of Atlanta, and it takes place in an Austin Independent School District conference room instead of in “a little old place where we can get together.”
Like “The Love Shack,” I would like to put up a sign that says, “Stay away, fools, ‘cause love rules at the Love Shack,” because a few meetings ago, I had an encounter with someone who is quite foolish.
In fact, she, and her anti-LGBTQ+ group, are the reason I now will be attending the SHAC (School Health Advisory Council) meetings on a monthly basis. (That, and because the SHAC feeds me dinner.)
She’s also the reason I had to post this to Facebook after I returned home from last month’s meeting.
You see, the SHAC is a group of people who work hard to develop processes and curriculum to best serve the Health of all of the students of the Austin Independent School District.
ALL the students.
Even (gasp!) the LGBTQ+ ones.
Which is why the “fools” have decided not to stay away from this love SHAC, (unless of course the SHAC agrees to teach children that love is strictly between a man and a woman above the age of 18.)
There are soooo many mind-boggling points that came up during my discussion with the woman from the anti-LGBTQ group that I’m afraid I can’t remember all of them, but here are a few:
Like when she told me the problem with discussing homosexuality with kids is that it has the word “sexual” in it (last I checked, so does heterosexual. And BTW, gay and lesbian don’t have the word sex in them.)
Like when she told me “they” are going to start castrating little boys before they even have a chance to reach puberty. (Not sure who “they” are, but okay, wow.)
Like when she told me that “some people” believe homosexuality is a mental illness. (Are “some people” in any way related to “they”?)
Like when she told me that gay people shouldn’t be able to get married because marriage should only be for procreation, (and I informed her that my friends who are lesbians can procreate TWICE as fast!)
I could go on for 15 minutes…. because she went on for FIFTEEN MINUTES, but since I’m a woman of my word, I need to focus on one particular area of crazy.
The Texas age of consent.
After this woman could see that I clearly wasn’t going to budge on my stance about supporting the LGBTQ+ community, she asked me, “so, then you probably don’t even support the Texas age of consent laws.”
To which I responded, “I don’t even know what a Texas age of consent laws are.”
She then proceeded to inform me that in Texas, it’s illegal to have sex before you’re 18, even if your partner is the same age. (I’ve learned since then that the age of consent in Texas is actually 17, but she was right about the rest of it.)
After I got done laughing at the pure nonsense of such a law, I told her that her assumption was correct. I do NOT support the Texas age of consent law, especially since there is no “Romeo & Juliet” exception for partners who are the same age.* (*Note: Correction…maybe/kind of. Will add more info at the bottom.)
She then replied with one strange comment and an equally strange question:
- She told me that not supporting the age of consent laws made me a supporter of NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association.) Please don’t Google it – it’s gross, and essentially a group of grown male pedophiles who prey on young boys. What it is NOT is two 17-year-old boys in Texas having consensual sexual relations.
- She asked me if she could “quote me” on it.
I told her that I could do one better and put it in writing myself, from which, I’m sure she’ll enjoy taking small out of context lines of text and stringing them together to make me out as the President of NAMBLA.
Within days, she was already messaging me on Facebook asking me where my public admission of supporting youth fornication was. (I’m paraphrasing – here’s the actual note….And yes, it felt very good to block out her name with a bunch of little LBGTQ+ Pride hearts.)
I don’t usually negotiate with terrorists, or homophobes, but since I’m a woman of my word, here it is, for the whole world to see:
I, Susanne Kerns, being of sound mind and kinda squishy body, do not support the Texas age of consent law, both because it does not take into consideration the ages of both partners* and because it’s crazy to think that a state can decide what’s the right age for a person to have sex, which is demonstrated by the fact that the legal age varies depending on which state you are in. (16, 17 or 18 years of age.)
Most of all, no matter what age people have sex, I 100% support them being armed with knowledge about birth control, their bodies and their power of consent as well as understanding the importance of respecting other people’s bodies and their consent, (or lack thereof,) well before they even consider having sex.
That is why I am fighting for LGBTQ+ inclusion AND sex-ed programs in our schools.
And that is why I’ll be heading to the SHAC every month, to make sure that my voice is heard as our school district considers and develops these programs.
If you want to get more involved in learning about the sex ed programs in your school, a great way to start is by downloading this free toolkit from WhySexEd.org by clicking here.
Also, take a minute and check your school district’s website to see when your SHAC meeting are held. Important decisions about your child’s health and education are being made there. The people who think only 18 year old, heterosexual couples who are actively trying to procreate should be able to have sex are there, so you better make sure you are too.
* At the 11/1 SHAC meeting, the same woman who enlightened me on all topics LGTBTQ, sodomy & sex laws at the September meeting, had it officially added to the meeting minutes that despite what some misinformed people think, (pretty sure she was referring to me,) Texas DOES have a Romeo and Juliet law. I have looked at several sources (okay, I googled for 5 minutes when I got home while drinking a glass of wine,) and am still not entirely sure. But to be safe, just DO NOT go having sex with anyone under 17 in Texas…and if you do get arrested for your sexing, do NOT come yelling at me about your jail sentence.)
Here are some screenshots of my research to help clear everything up. <<< (That was in a super sarcastic voice.)
But, most importantly, heed this warning for any of my posts, and pretty much anything you read on the internet.
If you live in the Austin area, join us at Informed Parents of Austin. We’re a group of parents who believe that ALL students and families deserved to be treated with kindness, dignity and respect and we would love to have you join us. You can follow our Public Facebook Page or join our Private Facebook Group. You can also find more information at InformedParentsOfAustin.com.
Go Susanne!!! You are amazing. And if you are the president of NAMBLA, can I be the vice president?
We would have the funnest board meetings! 🙂
This is my very first exposure to this group and, y’all do not disappoint.
Well maybe some of y’all do but certainly not Ms.Susanne Kerns.