{"id":1419500,"date":"2022-04-05T08:44:35","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T12:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1419500"},"modified":"2022-04-05T08:44:36","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T12:44:36","slug":"bidens-reversal-on-sexual-exposure-for-kids-shows-just-how-extreme-the-democrat-party-has-become","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-reversal-on-sexual-exposure-for-kids-shows-just-how-extreme-the-democrat-party-has-become\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden\u2019s Reversal on Sexual Exposure for Kids Shows Just How Extreme the Democrat Party Has Become"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbidens-reversal-on-sexual-exposure-for-kids-shows-just-how-extreme-the-democrat-party-has-become%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1419500&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>Florida\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flsenate.gov\/Session\/Bill\/2022\/1557\/BillText\/er\/PDF\">new law<\/a> is garnering national attention for preventing teachers from engaging in classroom instruction related to \u201csexual orientation or gender identity\u201d in kindergarten through third grade, and requiring parental involvement in decisions about a student\u2019s mental health. <\/p>\n<p>Critics have given the law the egregiously misleading moniker of \u201cdon\u2019t say gay,\u201d which has been dutifully parroted by corporate media outlets and in cringe-worthy segments <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcmiami.com\/news\/local\/at-oscars-floridas-dont-say-gay-bill-target-of-joke\/2723188\/\">at the Oscars<\/a>, despite having no basis in fact.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after the bill was signed, President Joe Biden called the bill <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-60326418\">\u201chateful.\u201d<\/a> His press secretary, Jen Psaki, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpsdlocal6.com\/news\/white-house-says-floridas-dont-say-gay-bill-is-designed-to-target-and-attack-the\/article_bb122530-8951-11ec-8ad7-afd12c64b30b.html\">claimed<\/a> the legislation was \u201cdesigned to target and attack\u201d children, <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7ny.com\/dont-say-gay-bill-florida-desantis-biden-administration\/11549206\/\">and is<\/a> \u201ccruel\u201d and \u201charmful.\u201d Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg labeled the law <a href=\"https:\/\/quillette.com\/2022\/04\/01\/how-floridas-newly-enacted-parental-rights-in-education-law-actually-protects-gay-students\/\">\u201cdangerous,\u201d<\/a> and his partner, Chasten Buttigieg, declared the law <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Chasten\/status\/1484281974441316353\">\u201cwill kill kids.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But as he has on so many other key cultural questions, Biden has \u201cevolved\u201d on the issue of classroom instruction about sexual orientation. In 1994, he voted for an amendment that was far more draconian than he deems Florida\u2019s law to be \u2013 one that specifically banned programs or discussion that \u201caffirms a homosexual lifestyle\u201d in schools nationwide, K-12.<\/p>\n<h2>Biden\u2019s \u2018Don\u2019t Say Gay\u2019 Moment<\/h2>\n<p>In summer 1994, the Senate began debate on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the country\u2019s primary federal education law. As part of that debate, Sen. Bob Smith, R-New Hampshire, offered an <a href=\"https:\/\/webarchive.loc.gov\/congressional-record\/20160316130607\/http:\/\/thomas.loc.gov\/cgi-bin\/query\/D?r103:30:.\/temp\/~r103NHPJaT::\">amendment<\/a> to prohibit schools from receiving funds under the bill from \u201cencouraging or supporting homosexuality as a positive lifestyle alternative,\u201d which he defined as the \u201cdistribution of instructional materials, instruction, counseling, or other services . . . or referral of a pupil to an organization that affirms a homosexual lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith was joined in his effort by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-South Carolina, who amended the Smith amendment to shield it from modification. (Since the language of the two was <a href=\"https:\/\/webarchive.loc.gov\/congressional-record\/20160316130608\/http:\/\/thomas.loc.gov\/cgi-bin\/query\/D?r103:31:.\/temp\/~r103NHPJaT::\">effectively the same<\/a>, I\u2019ll refer to the amendment as Smith-Helms.)<\/p>\n<p>In the debate that followed, Smith brought to the Senate floor a number of books and pamphlets featuring discussion and graphic images about sexuality, all of which had been prepared for children. \u201cI encourage my colleagues to listen,\u201d he said, describing the materials, \u201cbecause there are some materials here that are so obscene that I cannot show them to the public. I cannot display them here and I cannot hold them up. I cannot quote from them, because to put them on the airwaves in any way, shape, or form would be considered obscene.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He went on, \u201cI ask each of my colleagues . . . How would you respond if your 12-year-old, or worse, your 6-year-old brought home some of the materials that I have at my desk?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The deliberation didn\u2019t stop there. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, dubbed the \u201cliberal lion of the Senate,\u201d and for whom a room in the U.S. Capitol is named, came to the floor with a compromise. Along with Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont (then still a Republican), Kennedy appended the Smith-Helms amendment with language to, in his words, \u201cassure that Federal funds are not used to promote or encourage sexual activity of any kind.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/webarchive.loc.gov\/congressional-record\/20160316130610\/http:\/\/thomas.loc.gov\/cgi-bin\/query\/D?r103:32:.\/temp\/~r103NHPJaT::\">text<\/a> of his amendment later put a finer point on it: No funds were to be used \u201cto develop materials or programs directed at youth that are designed to directly promote or encourage, sexual activity, whether homosexual or heterosexual.\u201d The Senate passed the amendment <a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/legislative\/LIS\/roll_call_votes\/vote1032\/vote_103_2_00246.htm\">99 to 0<\/a>, with every Senate Democrat, including Biden, voting for it.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy, who had just three years before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/la-me-ted-kennedy-timeline-smith-trial-story.html\">testified in a trial<\/a> related to his own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/this-day-in-history\/kennedy-cousin-rape-trial-begins\">family sex scandal<\/a>, offered a follow-up <a href=\"https:\/\/webarchive.loc.gov\/congressional-record\/20160316130611\/http:\/\/thomas.loc.gov\/cgi-bin\/query\/D?r103:33:.\/temp\/~r103NHPJaT::\">amendment<\/a> to ban the distribution of condoms in public schools unless such a program had been \u201cdeveloped in consultation with parents\u201d and provided information \u201cconcerning the health benefits of abstinence.\u201d The amendment passed the Senate unanimously.<\/p>\n<p>Then-Senator Joe Biden had nothing to say about these amendments at the time. While he is now compelled to denounce as \u201chateful\u201d state-passed measures limiting instruction about \u201csexual or gender identity\u201d in grades K-3, he had nothing to say about far more punitive policies that flat-out banned the instruction or materials \u201cenouraging or supporting homosexuality\u201d in all grades and all schools throughout the country. In fact, he voted for them.<\/p>\n<p>When the Senate took up the Smith-Helms amendment late in the day on August 1, 1994, Biden cast his vote in favor, joining the 62 other senators who helped pass the amendment <a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/legislative\/LIS\/roll_call_votes\/vote1032\/vote_103_2_00244.htm\">63 to 36.<\/a><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"TgMJFfj2KouhH4035s6XtDYB9VG7kALicZEeUNa\"><\/p>\n[embedded content]\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>The Democratic Party Shift to Culture War Aggressor\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>While consistency isn\u2019t necessarily the hallmark of lifelong politicians like Biden, it\u2019s worth noting this 1994 vote for two reasons. First, to demonstrate just how far the Democratic Phas evolved on cultural questions in the two decades since, but second, to highlight just how far Biden actually exists outside of his positioning on the campaign trail as a moderate.<\/p>\n<p>From his support for repealing the prohibition on federal funding for abortion \u2013 a policy he routinely supported while in the Senate \u2013 to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/joe-biden-vs-the-nuns-11594336792\">forcing nuns to buy birth control<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2021\/07\/12\/1014806993\/treading-lightly-in-abortion-politics-biden-still-manages-to-annoy-both-sides\">charging<\/a> his Department of Justice to \u201cdo everything in its power to stop the rash of state laws that . . . violate the constitutional right to an abortion,\u201d Biden has emerged as a willing handmaiden to the progressive jihad in the culture wars.<\/p>\n<p>This is true in the area of gender ideology as well. On his first day in office, Biden issued an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/presidential-actions\/2021\/01\/20\/executive-order-preventing-and-combating-discrimination-on-basis-of-gender-identity-or-sexual-orientation\/\">executive order<\/a> directing his administration to ensure all regulations prohibit discrimination on, among other things, sexual orientation or transgender status \u2013 including allowing access by biological males to female restrooms, locker rooms, and school sports. <\/p>\n<p>Biden has followed through on that commitment. His administration\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/04\/04\/biden-administration-to-demand-colleges-erase-womens-sports-due-process-free-speech-and-men-and-women\/\">new Title IX rules<\/a> will expand the definition of discrimination beyond sex to also include sexual orientation and gender identity. In his State of the Union address, Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/03\/02\/joe-bidens-state-of-the-union-previewed-dems-fake-attempt-to-walk-back-their-culture-war\/\">demanded<\/a> that Congress pass the radical Equality Act, which would use sexual politics to erase the First Amendment.<\/p>\n<p>While the left loves to blame the right for \u201cstirring up the culture wars,\u201d a Democratic Party that insists six-year-olds must be exposed to overtly sexual material isn\u2019t the victim in the culture wars, they are the aggressor. In many cases, the rest of the country is just trying to keep up as the left moves the cultural goalposts (and even alters the English language) to more extreme positions every single week. <\/p>\n<p>As The Federalist\u2019s Culture Editor Emily Jashinksy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=HTsRDysS56o&#038;t=43s\">put it<\/a>, the left\u2019s claim that conservatives are dragging the country into culture war fights \u201cis the equivalent of one kid punching another kid on the playground, and then the second kid getting blamed for picking a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s evolution is a proxy for the evolution of the Democratic Party. His vote in 1994 is instructive because of how closely the debate 30 years ago mirrors the same debate that\u2019s going on in states all over the country. Parents are objecting to graphic novels and books in school libraries that show and discuss explicit images of sexual behavior to young children. They are objecting to, in many cases, an ideologically driven attempt to present inappropriate sexual content and curriculum to kids without their consent.<\/p>\n<p>In 1994, Biden took the side of parents in these disputes. In 2022, both he and his party call these parents hateful.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Rachel Bovard is The Federalist&#8217;s senior tech columnist and the senior director of policy at the Conservative Partnership Institute.  She has more than a decade of policy experience in Washington and has served in both the House and Senate in various roles, including as a legislative director and policy director for the Senate Steering Committee under the successive chairmanships of Sen. Pat Toomey and Sen. Mike Lee. She also served as director of policy services for The Heritage Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Florida\u2019s new law is garnering national attention for preventing teachers from engaging in classroom instruction related to \u201csexual orientation or gender identity\u201d in kindergarten through third grade, and requiring parental<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1419500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1419500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1419500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1419500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1419500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}