I went down a rabbit hole this morning after reading a really great story in @stltoday by Coleen Schrappen about what sounds like an excellent example of a #KochDonorNetwork attack on a hospital doing incredible work to save lives of #trans teens.
Please read this article let’s talk about it. A thread. 🧵 1/
@stltoday Before we talk about the article, I want to provide background on what interested me about this story. Apart from the fact that recent attacks should make us ALL vigilant to protect the #trans community, and esp. trans youth, I also felt a personal connection to the story. 2 years ago, my colleague, Gabriela López, and I we’re similarly targeted by a coordinated defamation campaign. 2/
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gViYo1RZYUYWNNfyNxDSbk3NzQm00Uf0L3s3NNI3w_I/edit
How local and national conservatives and political opportunists are changing San Francisco. To take political power, right wing activists use San Francisco schools as a dog-whistle for “woke ideology” and LGBTQ fear-mongering. By Ali Collins I am an educator and parent organizer who has advocated...
@stltoday The attacks started during the wake of the COVID pandemic before anyone really understood what was going on. This was at the onset of the wave of #SchoolBoardAttacks that swept the nation to demand removal of mask mandates under the guise of reopening schools. In the process of figuring out who was behind these attacks, I came to know Dr. Isaac Kamola, an expert on dark money, the #KochDonorNetwork and the right-wing media ecosystem. 3/
@stltoday Basically, what I’ve learned is that when there is a huge outrage story about something that really isn’t a story, you can pretty much assume there is a right-wing interest (and think tank) creating and then amplifying said story.
Like an elaborate reality TV scenario, political operatives “produce” outrage and then cover it, which in turn MAKES it into real news. 🙃 /5
@stltoday Getting back to the Washington University Transgender Center Story…
We have a disgruntled case manager, not a doctor or expert in any way shape or form, fired due to poor performance incl. misgendering trans children in a trans youth clinic, who *coincidentally* teams up to file a lawsuit with a right-wing lawyer known for filing lawsuits connected to “Don’t Say Gay” laws and a Republican state senator currently pushing anti-trans legislation. 6/ https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/health/choice-of-lawyers-for-whistleblower-at-st-louis-transgender-clinic-taints-her-motive-critics-say/article_7b36198a-af0d-57cf-a06c-f45952b3b307.html#tracking-source=in-art
“This is incredibly ideologically-oriented,” said Rabbi Daniel Bogard who has a transgender son. “Her attorneys are involved nationally in targeting trans kids and their parents and trying to deny their
@stltoday Normally, when I see stories like these, they usually rely on two-sides narratives that silence those targeted (in this case doctors and clients) while validating that “someone said something” even if that something has no basis in fact.
This should not be a new idea considering information coming out of the Dominion lawsuit that revealed how Fox News deliberately elevated false news. 8/ https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/16/business/media/fox-dominion-lawsuit.amp.html
@stltoday The problem with right-wing outrage campaigns is if enough attention is directed at them they grow. Fake news gets validated by legacy media. When Gabriela and I were targeted by political operatives from the International Women’s Forum, Manhattan Institute, Parents Defending Education, Moms 4 Liberty affiliated groups and LITERALLY Chris Rufo, the false taking points they amplified were also shared in The NY Times and SF Chronicle.
I’ll give you an example… 10/
Meanwhile, Gabriela López and I worked to get over one million meals to SF children during the pandemic and a laptop for every child to access remote learning, a feat that districts as large as NYC struggled with.
Nonetheless, the NY Times and even the SF Chronicle refused to publish even one Op Ed from Gabriela as Board President during a pandemic! 18/
So, all this to say, the work that @stltoday is doing to vet sources and discuss the validity of their claims IS NOTABLE.
We cannot allow corporate media to pander to right wing propaganda mills seeking to undermine our democracy and terrorize our educators or the trans community. Black media, independent media content creators and artists are doing brave and necessary work to hold political grifters accountable.
Support their work! And demand more from corporate media. 19/
If you want to see a play about all this, Ishmael Reed a legendary playwright wrote a satirical play based on the SF School Board recall and corporate media. The Conductor opens this Thursday, LIVE Off-Broadway at the Theater for the New City on NYC. Performances will run (and stream virtually) from March 9-26th.
Go to the following link to purchase tickets and learn more: https://theaterforthenewcity.net/shows/the-conductor-2023/
/FIN
Ali Collins
