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| Matt Barrick spoke out the second time against Maulik Pancholy citing his "political" activism. To his left Moms for Liberty co-chair and school board member Kelly Potteiger. |
After a five-hour-long meeting, the Cumberland Valley School Board voted 5-4 to reverse the decision to cancel a school assembly featuring Maulik Pancholy at Mountain View Middle School.
On May 15, during an unscheduled vote, The Cumberland Valley school board unanimously voted against Maulik Pancholy speaking at the Anti-Bullying Assembly at Mountain View Middle School.
Most objected to his 'lifestyle" wrapping that homophobia in an unfounded accusation that he's a political activist. They said that they learned not to allow politically motivated speakers after hosting Donald Trump, arguably the most dangerous political threat to the LGBTQI community, for a 2016 campaign rally.
The school board has failed if political neutrality mattered to them.
The vice-chair of the Cumberland County chapter of Moms for Liberty Kelly Potteiger, is a school board member.
Moms for Liberty has recently been designated by the SPLC as an anti-government, anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender identity, and anti-inclusive curriculum extremist group. Nothing will change as long as Potteiger remains a board member and the other board members who voted against Pancholy again falsely accusing him of being a political activist.
Pancholy, an openly queer person, spoke out about the cancellation on social media, saying, “When I visit schools, my ‘activism’ is to let all young people know that they’re seen… I wonder why a school board is so afraid of that?”
"I've covered a lot of school board meetings, reporter Mckenna Axlender began the segment with. So believe me when I say this was the longest, loudest, and most attended meeting I've ever been to. Hundreds of people sat in the crowd, and tonight, many of them walked away feeling victorious."
Trisha Comstock, a parent in the district, started a Change.org petition to reinstate the assembly that quickly amassed thousands of signatures. In it, she argued the initial vote did not represent their community, and after the huge upswell of public support, the school board voted to reinstate it. The assembly will now be held on May 22nd.
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