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At this point, making outrageous claims with absolutely no evidence or basis in fact has become part of the Republican brand, and a New Jersey politician is taking a page right out of that playbook.
Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who is running for governor in the Garden State, has claimed that schools are "teaching sodomy to sixth graders" and that if elected he will roll-back LGBTQ-oriented advances in public schools.
Ciattarelli made the comments in a speech last month--at an event held at a gun range, because of course-which can be seen below.
NJ GOP gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli discusses NJ's LGTBQ curriculumyoutu.be
In his comments, Ciattarelli made a number of dubious claims about sex education in New Jersey schools.
"I feel lucky [my kids] are in their 20s and I don't have to be dealing with what you're dealing with right now. You won't have to deal with it when I'm governor.."
"[W]e're not teaching gender ID and sexual orientation to kindergarteners. We're not teaching sodomy in sixth grade."
Ciattarelli then pledged to roll back LGBTQ progress.
"And we're going to roll back the LGBTQ curriculum. It goes too far."
New Jersey has recently passed laws mandating that LGBTQ people be included in schools' curricula and their diversity and inclusion efforts, but there is precisely zero evidence that anyone is "teaching sodomy" to sixth graders, or any other students for that matter.
Sodomy is, of course, a common and normal sexual practice engaged in by people of all sexual orientations and genders. But it has historically been cited as a way of equating male homosexual sex with deviancy. Several states still have anti-sodomy laws on the books that were purposefully passed as a means of persecuting--and prosecuting--LGBTQ people.
When questioned about this connection and why he chose to invoke sodomy as offensive, Ciattarelli denied it pertained to LGBTQ people or homophobia.
"[It has] absolutely nothing to do with someone's sexual orientation and the inference that it does is purposefully misleading."
Okay then, sir, whatever you say.
On Twitter, many people were outraged by Ciattarelli's comments.
Oh but let\u2019s teach kids only being straight is ok? WTAF?— \ud83e\udd18\ud83c\udfff\ud835\udd7a\ud835\udd87\ud835\udd98\ud835\udd8e\ud835\udd89\ud835\udd8e\ud835\udd86\ud835\udd93 \ud835\udd81\ud835\udd94\ud835\udd93 \ud835\udd6f\ud835\udd94\ud835\udd94\ud835\udd92\ud83e\udd18\ud83c\udfff \ud83d\udc19\ud83e\udd91 (@\ud83e\udd18\ud83c\udfff\ud835\udd7a\ud835\udd87\ud835\udd98\ud835\udd8e\ud835\udd89\ud835\udd8e\ud835\udd86\ud835\udd93 \ud835\udd81\ud835\udd94\ud835\udd93 \ud835\udd6f\ud835\udd94\ud835\udd94\ud835\udd92\ud83e\udd18\ud83c\udfff \ud83d\udc19\ud83e\udd91) 1626213518
Hey @Jack4NJ, teaching kids that more than 2 genders exist and you should not attack people for being different from you is a good thing. \n\nRemember what you learned in Kindergarten and stop being a brat to people you don't like— Lucy (@Lucy) 1626214051
New Jersey is for everyone and Jack Ciattarelli is wronghttps://twitter.com/jackieaburns/status/1415068707643133952\u00a0\u2026— Jonah Wolff (@Jonah Wolff) 1626220258
When a candidates stands up in front of an audience and promotes lies like this, reject them he is dangerous.— Truscha Quatrone (@Truscha Quatrone) 1626276310
This is all based on the latest \u201cbig lie,\u201d that there are activist boards injecting these things into curriculum. This is NOT happening. It\u2019s a canard. But suckers abound.— LydCip (@LydCip) 1626276404
#TooTrumpy4NJ Jack \u201cMarjorie Taylor Greene\u201d Ciattarelli thinks that including LGBTQ+ history & heroes in NJ school curriculum is having sixth graders learn \u201csodomy.\u201d \n#WeWontGoBack.https://twitter.com/WNYC/status/1415054933712326662\u00a0\u2026— Hetty Organize Rosenstein (@Hetty Organize Rosenstein) 1626218828
Tell me you\u2019re a bigot without telling me you\u2019re a bigothttps://twitter.com/WNYC/status/1415054933712326662\u00a0\u2026— RhoLynn (@RhoLynn) 1626228216
Good! This is New Jersey. We don't go for his kind of hate and bigotry.— MomsThoughts\u2122 (@MomsThoughts\u2122) 1626261238
Why lie about what the new laws do? And why target LGBTQ people to try to scare voters? \n\nLGBTQ kids commit suicide at alarming rates. Treating LGBTQ issues equally helps those kids not feel alone. Meanwhile this guy is talking about sodomy and bank cards?— Jen Hogg (@Jen Hogg) 1626263008
Going to a gun range to bash the LGBTQ community is pretty on brand tbh.https://twitter.com/gothamist/status/1415054934668632064\u00a0\u2026— Jorge C Santos (@Jorge C Santos) 1626217692
Ciattarelli, a former member of the New Jersey General Assembly, trails incumbent governor Phil Murphy by 15 points in the most recent polling.