Michigan State Sen. slams GOP opponent for intolerance

Watch this Michigan state senator reply to accusations that she’s “grooming” children because she’s an LGBTQ+ advocate …

Transcript

00:00I want every child in this state to feel seen, heard, and supported,

00:03not marginalized and targeted because they are not straight, white, and Christian.

00:21I didn't expect to wake up yesterday to the news that the senator from the 22nd district had

00:26overnight accused me by name of grooming and sexualizing children in an email fundraising

00:34for herself. So I sat on it for a while wondering why me and then I realized because I am the

00:42biggest threat to your hollow hateful scheme because you can't claim that you are targeting

00:49marginalized kids in the name of quote parental rights if another parent is standing up to say

00:55no. So then what? Then you dehumanize and marginalize me. You say that I'm one of them.

01:02You say she's a groomer. She supports pedophilia. She wants children to believe that they were

01:07responsible for slavery and to feel bad about themselves because they're white. Well here's

01:12a little bit of background about who I really am. Growing up my family was very active in our church.

01:18I sang in the choir. My mom taught CCD. One day our priest called a meeting with my mom and told

01:24her that she was not living up to the church's expectations and that she was disappointing.

01:29My mom asked why. Among other reasons she was told it was because she was divorced and because the

01:34priest didn't see her at mass every Sunday. So where was my mom on Sundays? She was at the soup

01:40kitchen with me. My mom taught me at a very young age that Christianity and faith was about being

01:46part of a community about recognizing our privilege and blessings and doing what we can to be of

01:50service to others, especially people who are marginalized, targeted, and who had less, often

01:57unfairly. I learned that service was far more important than performative nonsense like being

02:03seen in the same pew every Sunday or writing Christian in your Twitter bio and using that as

02:09a shield to target and marginalize already marginalized people. So who am I? I am a straight

02:15white Christian married suburban mom who knows that the very notion that learning about slavery

02:22or redlining or systemic racism somehow means that children are being taught to feel bad or hate

02:27themselves because they are white is absolute nonsense. No child alive today is responsible

02:35for slavery. No one in this room is responsible for slavery. But each and every single one of us

02:41bears responsibility for writing the next chapter of history. Each and every single one of us decides

02:47what happens next and how we respond to history and the world around us. We are not responsible

02:55for the past. We also cannot change the past. We can't pretend that it didn't happen or deny people

03:01their very right to exist. I am a straight white Christian married suburban mom. I want my daughter

03:07to know that she is loved, supported, and seen for whoever she becomes. I want her to be curious,

03:13empathetic, and kind. People who are different are not the reason that our roads are in bad shape

03:21after decades of disinvestment or that that health care costs are too high or that teachers are

03:26leaving the profession. I want every child in this state to feel seen, heard, and supported, not

03:33marginalized and targeted because they are not straight, white, and Christian.

03:40We cannot let hateful people tell you otherwise to scapegoat and deflect from the fact that they

03:46are not doing anything to fix the real issues that impact people's lives. And I know that hate

03:54will only win if people like me stand by and let it happen. So I want to be very clear right now.

04:02Call me whatever you want. I hope you brought in a few dollars. I hope it made you sleep good last

04:07night. I know who I am. I know what faith and service means and what it calls for in this moment.

04:15We will not let hate win.