KATY, TX (Covering Katy News) - Just a few hours after Katy school board member Rebecca Fox voted against a parent's right to know if their child was transitioning genders at school, the Republican Women's Club of Katy publicly proclaimed her as their "Woman of Distinction" with a Facebook post and emails to members.
The act of voting against a parents right to know, coupled with the social media marketing campaign by a Republican organization selling Fox as a Woman of Distinction, quickly turned into a marketing disaster.
The Facebook post went up around 9:30 Tuesday morning. It caused an instant revolt among Republicans. The post was quickly removed as someone at the club realized they'd misread their audience.
Republican Women's Club of Katy
The announcement from the Republican Woman's Club of Katy naming Rebecca Fox as a Woman of Distinction.
Then Republicans started circulating the email promoting Fox as the RWCK's Woman of Distinction. They added very critical comments. One email went to KTRH conservative talk show host Michael Berry. Wednesday morning, he talked about it multiple times during his morning show.
"We're not asking for the world, just a common sense policy. These are our kids, not yours," Berry said during his Wednesday morning local show. "Before you go changing their names, and changing their identity and cutting off their weeners, or encouraging them to cut off their weeners, or take chemicals for castration and do things that are irreversible, before you do that, I need to know. Is that (notifying parents) unreasonable? No, that is very reasonable," Berry said.
Conservatives are fighting a difficult battle nationwide to have every school district adopt policies guaranteeing parents' right to know if their child is transitioning genders at school.
"This is what people block walked for, Berry said. "This is what people held a coffee in their living room for. This is what people called their neighbors and argued with people, begged people, and drove them to the polls so we could win, so we could cast this vote because we're Katy ISD. We're not HISD."
Also Read: Katy ISD school board approves gender policy following hours of public comment
Republican political consultant Chris Begala, who counts President George H.W. Bush among those he advised, told Covering Katy News the Republican Women's Club of Katy and Fox should take Berry's comments seriously as she is up for re-election next year.
"When somebody with Michael's reach and platform comes out that aggressively, you know it will penetrate deeply into the base of any voting block," Begala told Covering Katy News. "I respect that Michael does not come close to abusing his platform. Some people in his position go way overboard. Michael does not go into something like this unless he feels very passionately; that's why his comments are so devastating."
Fox has campaigned for conservative U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, but Begala says that's not enough to get her re-elected.
"That does not give her a get-out-of-jail-free card on a vote like this," Begala said.
The Chairman of the Fort Bend County Republican Party, Bobby Eberle, was at Monday night's School Board meeting and said the vote to approve the gender policy should have been 7 - 0, not 4 - 3.
"I was shocked at the commentary from the kids," Eberle said. "If you've studied Marx, this will sound very familiar. They are choosing the community over parents. That's what happened in Communist China (before the takeover) when kids were encouraged to report on their parents."
The Katy ISD Gender Policy will do the following:
- Make district restrooms, locker rooms, showers, and similar changing facilities specific to a person's gender at birth.
- Require players on girls' teams to have been born female.
- Require players on boys' teams to have been born male.
- Require district staff to notify parents if their child requests to be identified as transgendered, change his or her name, or use different pronouns at school, except where prohibited by law or in cases of suspected parental abuse.
- Exclude Gender Fluidity content from the classroom and instructional material.
Those voting for the policy were Trustees Morgan Calhoun, Amy Thieme, Victor Perez, and Mary Ellen Cuzela.
Trustees voting against the plan were Fox, Dawn Champagne, and Lance Redmon.
If Fox and Champagne choose to run for re-election, they will be on the ballot in May of 2024. The terms of Redmon and Perez expire in 2025. Calhoun, Thieme, and Cuzela are the newest board members, and their terms expire in 2026.