The reality: a teacher / football coach working hard to prevent homophobic bullying and providing a safe environment for all his students.
Recruited Young Boys?
Not only is the notion of “gay recruitment” a well-known homophobic dog whistle, but the claim that Walz specifically recruited “young boys” is misleadingly narrow. The club did not aim to recruit male students exclusively, but students of any gender and sexual orientation. Further, he did not conceive of the GSA or seek out its leadership. He was asked by the principal of the school to supervise it. He described both aspects of the GSA’s formation in an ad that ran during his 2018 campaign for governor of Minnesota:
I had students come to me who were concerned that there was an uptick in some bullying towards our gay and lesbian students, and this is in the mid-'90s. They asked if I would be interested in helping start a Gay-Straight Alliance group. My answer was absolutely.
I recognized my responsibility, in that you have an older, white, straight married male football coach who’s deeply concerned that these students are treated fairly and that there’s no bullying.
And the idea that my [football] players would be interested in coming to that [group] and learn and to speak, to create a culture in a school that was welcoming, open, and understanding was something Gwen [Walz, also a teacher at Mankato West] and I always strove for.
“It really needed to be the football coach, who was the soldier and was straight and was married,” Walz told the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 2018. “In other words,” the Tribune wrote in a profile of the then-gubernatorial candidate, “he would be a symbol that disparate worlds could coexist peacefully.”
“It was important to have a person who was so well-liked on campus, a football coach who had served in the military,” Reitan told the Times. “Having Tim Walz as the adviser of the gay-straight alliance made me feel safe coming to school.” Another student from Walz’s time with the GSA recalled to the Times the attitude Tim and Gwen Walz took:
“The Walzes were both like, ‘There will be nothing but respect,’ and it was just like laying down the law,” said Nicole Griensewic, 41, a former classmate of Reitan’s. “It was really bold.”
In response to critics, Berry posted on X: “In a world where the truth is suppressed, the truth will look like hyperbole.” A crucial corollary to this point could be this: In a world without context, anything can look nefarious.
Broke: “Walz lured straight kids into the gay club and hit them with the homosexual agenda ray”
Woke: “Walz was a straight ally as early as the 1990s, when homophobia was rampant and even leading Democrats struggled to have a good LGBTQ policy”
Bespoke: “Walz has created a secret army of gay supersoldiers and soon they will take over the world.”
Now that’s an army I’m willing to serve 🫡🏳️🌈
🫡
All the good things I’ve heard about this man have come from attempts to discredit him.
Totally on-point. Every right wing attempt to attack him is just like free promotional advertising about why the left should like him more.
Not only is the notion of “gay recruitment” a well-known homophobic dog whistle
Christians literally go door to door trying to convert people to a Christian way of life. They want to convert people. They need to covert people. So they project that everyone else wants to do the same thing. They project that gay people are out trying to covert other people to a gay way of life.
They can’t comprehend that people just want to live their lives. To them everything is a war, so they assume everyone wants to declare war on them.
My response is always the same, “I don’t hate anyone enough to join your religion.”
“I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member”
Groucho Marx.
The fact that conservatives can’t fathom why someone would be kind to kids without wanting to have sex with them is really upsetting. I know they tell on themselves all the time, but damn, they could just save time and admit they’re pedophiles.
What the hell is gay recruitment? How does it work in their minds? Are they thinking of Christian pastors and priests raping children?
I had plenty of gay men proposition me but not once have I felt recruited. On the other hand Christians of various denominations are knocking on my door on the regular.
To understand the idea of gay recruitment, you have to start from the mindset that sexuality is a choice. Once you’ve started from that completely irrational belief, it’s pretty easy to jump to even stupider conclusions.
I think in their mind, everyone is tempted by the Devil to want the d in the a from time to time. They just choose not to act on it because that would make jesus cry.
The ‘gay recruiters’ are those that are telling people it’s ok to have those feelings thus tempting people to act on them
They see sexual orientation as a choice so you have to convince people to be gay
“Man sees his meeting of normative ideals as a duty to protect children who are different, opponents see this as nefarious”
I knew Joel Berry was a tool. After reading the article, now I know he’s a cunt.
