Morning Wire XX
[0] A new Florida parental rights law dubbed don't say gay by critics limits instruction on sex and gender theory in elementary grades.
[1] The law has sparked fierce debate across the country and a strong defense from Florida's governor.
[2] And we're going to make sure that parents are able to send their kid to kindergarten without having some of this stuff injected into their school curriculum.
[3] So what do Americans think about the new law?
[4] A new exclusive poll for Daily Wire found some surprising common ground.
[5] I'm Georgia Howe with DailyWire.
[6] Wire editor -in -chief John Bickley.
[7] It's Tuesday, March 15th, and this is Morning Wire.
[8] Russia continues its deadly invasion of Ukraine.
[9] But no matter how the war ends, experts say it's China who will emerge as the winner.
[10] As discussion of sex and gender in schools takes center stage in the national dialogue, a sex and gender summer camp is making headlines in the Midwest.
[11] We'll discuss what's stirring up the controversy.
[12] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[13] Stay tuned.
[14] you need to know.
[15] This show is sponsored by the Claremont Review of Books, America's premier journal on political thought and statesmanship.
[16] Each issue presents a collection of thoughtful essays and book reviews by America's top thinkers, including some of your daily wire favorites.
[17] Morning Wire listeners will receive a bonus issue with a new subscription, that's five issues for the price of four, beginning with the recently released winner 2022 issue.
[18] Visit www .claremontreviewofbooks .com slash morningwire to claim this special offer.
[19] Last week, Florida passed HB 1557, a law that bans lessons on sex and gender identity and kindergarten through third grade.
[20] Passage of the law set off a firestorm, with critics calling it the don't say gay bill.
[21] Here with more on what's in the measure, as well as details on an exclusive poll gauging its popularity, is Daily Wires Cabot Phillips.
[22] So, Cabot, first, can you give us a recap of what's actually in this bill?
[23] Yeah, I read the entire thing, and first, what really jumped out is that the word gay, isn't actually in the legislation.
[24] The bill really centers on two things, transparency for parents when it comes to sexual education in schools, and prevention of teachers from discussing sexual topics with the youngest of elementary schoolers.
[25] More specifically, the bill outlaws, quote, classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade or in a manner that is not age appropriate.
[26] That's the official bill text.
[27] And on the transparency front, the bill makes sure parents have access to basically any and all records about their child.
[28] Now, I want to drill down on the bit about transparency.
[29] LGBT activists have criticized this bill because they're concerned that students won't be able to keep their gender identities confidential from their parents.
[30] Is that accurate?
[31] The bill prevents teachers from encouraging a student to withhold information from their parents regarding their gender identity or other sexual topics.
[32] It also requires the school to notify parents, quote, if there is a change in the student's services or monitoring related to the student's mental, emotional, or physical well -being.
[33] So it could be interpreted to mean that schools must notify parents if the child is demonstrating a major emotional change, like a gender change, for example.
[34] That said, the bill does offer some scenarios where students and teachers would be able to withhold information from parents, specifically in cases where there's reason to suspect that the student would face abuse, abandonment, or neglect as a result of that disclosure.
[35] Now, I want to talk about the popular support for this bill.
[36] Daily Wire commissioned an exclusive poll on how Americans view this legislation.
[37] Can you tell us about the results?
[38] Well, if you were to judge the bill's popularity off media coverage, you'd think it was quite a lot.
[39] popular, but it was interesting.
[40] This survey quoted entire portions of the bill word for word to a sample of 1 ,000 Americans nationwide.
[41] By the way, the sample skewed Democrat by about four percentage points.
[42] And of the thousand respondents, 64 % supported the ban on sexual education for K through third grade.
[43] That's the main portion of the bill.
[44] And it's worth pointing out, there wasn't a huge disparity along party lines either.
[45] Sixty -nine percent of Republicans were in favor, as were 62 % of Democrats.
[46] And on that core question of whether it should be teachers or parents talking to their kids about sex and gender, 79 % of those surveyed agreed that it should be up to parents.
[47] Another supposedly controversial part of the bill was whether schools should notify parents if a child wants to change their gender pronouns in the classroom.
[48] Well, that part was not controversial for most Americans.
[49] Just 18 % said that information should be kept from parents.
[50] Right.
[51] And now tell us about the political battle over this.
[52] Governor DeSantis has taken a lot of heat for this legislation.
[53] He has.
[54] This really became quite the flashpoint over the last month.
[55] In one tweet last month, for example, President Biden called the bill, quote, hateful and said his administration would continue to fight against it.
[56] Governor DeSantis and Republicans nationwide obviously view it differently.
[57] They say this is all about the right of parents to have a say over what their kids are learning about deeply personal and controversial issues.
[58] They say kids who are barely old enough to read shouldn't be learning.
[59] about sex in the first place.
[60] And if they are, it should be up to parents to initiate those conversations.
[61] Well, Cabot, thanks for breaking it all down for us.
[62] Anytime.
[63] That's DailyWire's Cabot Phillips.
[64] Coming up, how China could benefit from the war in Ukraine.
[65] The Daily Wire is proud to announce our exclusive partnership with Good Ranchers, the 100 % American Meat Company.
[66] Did you know 85 % of the grass -fed beef sold in stores and online is imported from overseas?
[67] With Good Ranchers, that you help support local American farms and ranches while getting steakhouse quality cuts.
[68] Head on over to good ranchers .com slash wire or use code wire at checkout to get their biggest offer ever.
[69] $30 off of your first order plus free express shipping.
[70] Visit good rancher .com slash wire today.
[71] The Russian invasion of Ukraine is strengthening the alliance between China and Russia, causing further concern that the war in Eastern Europe might just be the start.
[72] Here to tell us more about the role China is playing in this conflict is Daily Wire's Ian Howarth.
[73] Ian, what has China got to do with Ukraine?
[74] Well, we've spoken a few times about the potential role China will play in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but in the last few days, it's become clear that not only is China likely involved, its role is going to be significant.
[75] First off, according to U .S. officials, Russia has asked China for military support, in addition to economic support beyond gold and foreign currency access we've discussed before on Morning Wire.
[76] White House National Security advisor Jake Sullivan met with his Chinese counterpart soon after this news broke on Monday.
[77] Yeah, so what is the Biden administration saying about China's involvement?
[78] Well, on Sunday, Jake Sullivan said that the notion that China could support Russia and effectively bail them out from the impact of Western sanctions is concerning, but he also implied that there is no clear plan to impose consequences if China continues to back up Russia.
[79] We also are watching closely to see the extent to which China actually does provide any form of support, material support or economic support to Russia.
[80] It is a concern of ours, and we have communicated to Beijing that we will not stand by and allow any country to compensate Russia for its losses.
[81] And so the concern here is that there is no real response being presented beyond economic isolation if China does ratchet up support for Russia.
[82] But unlike Russia, a huge amount of world trade relies on China, and so it would be far more difficult to impose economic consequences.
[83] consequences on China if they did help Russia in its invasion, especially if the Biden administration wants to avoid an impact on Western markets.
[84] And after reports that China asked Russia to delay the invasion of Ukraine until after the Winter Olympics, Sullivan downplayed the idea that they were fully aware of the extent of what Putin was planning.
[85] And now China has denied being asked by Russia for assistance, but it wouldn't be surprising if they were lying given their shared celebration of a developing relationship between the two nations.
[86] And this is all of some express fears that China would benefit from the geopolitical shifts that continue to take place.
[87] China increasingly sees itself as a superpower that will soon eclipse the U .S., which it believes is in rapid decline.
[88] Another issue we've discussed when it comes to Ukraine is what this could mean for China and Taiwan.
[89] Does China's support of Russia change the logic there?
[90] Well, this will all be sparking alarm bells for Taiwan on so many levels.
[91] First, the fact that the Biden administration's strategy did nothing to prevent the invasion of Ukraine could spur Chinese forces on as they loom over Taiwan.
[92] And then there's also the problem that China is watching the Western response to Ukraine very closely and taking notes in real time.
[93] This was Awari expressed by Dean Cheng, a Heritage Senior Research Fellow.
[94] The Chinese are absolutely going to try and create their own network to bypass economic and financial sanctions, even if it doesn't work, if it simply just impacts the Russians, the Chinese are watching this eagerly to learn less.
[95] at somebody else's expense.
[96] And the Russian success against Ukraine, they'll apply against Taiwan.
[97] So not only are we having to deal with the long -term concern that the alliance between China and Russia is developing faster than we can control, there's the short -term threat of another invasion of a sovereign nation on the horizon with no apparent plan to deal with the fallout.
[98] It's definitely a lot to be concerned about right now.
[99] Ian, thanks for the update.
[100] Thanks, John.
[101] Daily Wires, Ian Howarth.
[102] Florida's new parental rights law raises the question, how young is too young to learn about sex and gender identity?
[103] A sex ed summer camp in Indiana teaches third through fifth graders how to use a condom and will teach kids that gender is a spectrum.
[104] The camp, which is part of a nationwide push to incorporate sex education at younger ages, is set to launch in Indianapolis this June.
[105] Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Allorty, did some digging on this, and she's here to tell us more.
[106] So Marade, a sex ed camp for third graders.
[107] Yeah, it's quite a concept.
[108] And just to confirm, the entire theme of the camp is sex and gender.
[109] Yes.
[110] So what does that look like in terms of structure and activities?
[111] Well, it's scheduled to run for five days in early June from 8 a .m. to 5 p .m. out of a barbecue restaurant in northern Indianapolis.
[112] The camp says it's for kids in third to fifth grade, so 7 to 11 -year -olds.
[113] In terms of activities, it sounds like the kids will learn.
[114] learn about anatomy, changing bodies, and consent.
[115] They will also learn about different sexualities and various gender identities.
[116] There will also be a condom demonstration.
[117] The camp explicitly states they want kids to think of condoms the same way they think about band -aids without embarrassment or shame.
[118] Notably, the activities won't be gender separated because the founder's philosophy is that gender is a spectrum.
[119] And what do we know about the person who's running this camp?
[120] So the organizer of the camp is a woman named Ashley Robertson.
[121] Robertson calls herself a sexuality educator and has taught several other sex ed classes.
[122] For example, in November, she ran a workshop for parents called Shame -Free Potty Training and Early Sex Ed.
[123] She didn't respond to the Daily Wire for comments, but her public Facebook page gives some insight.
[124] There, she advocates that adults talk openly with kids about sex, up to and including things like sex kinks.
[125] That Facebook group has a modest following, about 900 members, but it does include some notable education figures, including an assistant professor of education.
[126] from Eastern Michigan University, a Pearson diversity reviewer, as well as multiple elementary school teachers and counselors.
[127] So she has some degree of influence with educators, but as of now, this is just one camp in one state.
[128] Well, it's not entirely unprecedented.
[129] For example, one camp called Sexy Sex Ed was reported in 2019 in Kentucky, but as of now, these camps are few and far between.
[130] That said, it is part of a larger trend of extending comprehensive sex ed into younger grades.
[131] The concept of very early sex and gender theory in classrooms has become a major culture war issue over the past year in particular.
[132] And what are parents in Indiana saying about it?
[133] Well, as of now, we don't know how many parents have signed their children up.
[134] At least one parent expressed their support for the camp on Robertson's Facebook page.
[135] That mom posted, quote, our community is lucky to have you as an educator.
[136] Teaching consent, body awareness, anatomy, etc., is essential in eliminating sex trafficking and other sexual violence against children.
[137] Other parents are very upset.
[138] A parent group called Perpah for Parents, Indiana, told the Daily Wire that the camp seems like child sexual grooming.
[139] They believe Robertson should be investigated.
[140] For her part, Robertson actually pushed back on them on her Facebook page, calling the parent group a hate group.
[141] Although I imagine Robertson would argue that those parents are free not to enroll their own kids in this program.
[142] Right.
[143] the camp also has a mandatory orientation day for parents in order to establish trust.
[144] More broadly, though, a lot of parents are concerned about the cultural encroachment of sex and radical gender theory into children's fears.
[145] They worry similar messages are percolating in public schools and school libraries.
[146] Parents I have spoken to point to various high -profile scandals involving explicit texts being taught in classrooms, particularly in Texas and Virginia.
[147] They also point to states like Florida, which have taken steps to limit discussion of sex in early elementary grades.
[148] Well, it's definitely becoming a recurring theme in the headlines.
[149] Marade, thanks for reporting.
[150] Thanks, Georgia.
[151] That's Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Allorty.
[152] Another story we're tracking this week.
[153] The final appeals court in the UK blocked gay marriage in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, siding with the local government on the issue.
[154] The court ruled that gay marriage is not supported by the Bermuda Constitution and must be legislated.
[155] The islands are British overseas territories, and final rule.
[156] rulings on Supreme Court cases are decided by a high court in the U .K. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[157] We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation.
[158] If you love our show and you stand with our mission, please consider subscribing, leaving us a five -star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend.
[159] That's all the time we've got this morning.
[160] Thanks for waking up with us.
[161] We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
[162] If you like this podcast, get the Morning Wire newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.
[163] when you join at dailywire .com slash subscribe.