Vishal P. Singh
The Leave Our Kids Alone (L.O.K.A.) movement has been gaining momentum in the last few months, especially in Southern California. From repeated Fox News appearances to violent school board protests— the loose coalition of self described "concerned parents" have organized a multitude of violent anti-LGBTQ+ rallies alongside MAGA faithfuls and Proud Boys while wearing their signature uniforms: white shirts simply reading "Leave Our Kids Alone."
But exclusive video published by VPS Reports shows the true hateful beliefs of L.O.K.A. followers. One of their very first protests targeted Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood over a Pride event for students that included the reading of a picture book about different kinds of parents (with one variety of parent mentioned in the book being gay and lesbian parents).
The announcement of this event was followed by a break-in at the school where a transgender teacher's Pride flag was burned. The teacher was targeted online by L.O.K.A. followers and was transferred to a different location for safety. When the Pride event came, a large number of L.O.K.A. supporters surrounded the schools— wearing their uniforms and even bringing a truck with a massive L.O.K.A. sign. In what has become a typical occurrence: L.O.K.A. supporters instigated fights and were filmed throwing punches and beating people to the ground while police stood by and watched. Before the brawls against LGBTQ+ supporters broke out, however, several L.O.K.A. supporters confronted LGBTQ+ youth activists who were rallying in defense of the school Pride event. The L.O.K.A. supporters repeatedly told the LGBTQ+ youth activists that they should hang themselves and that they should have "died in the ******* closet."
These comments have been omitted in reporting from all local news agencies in Los Angeles County— who typically describe L.O.K.A. supporters as "concerned parents" who are just advocating for their parental rights.
The L.O.K.A. movement is now working closely with Republican politicians and even Chino Hills Unified School District president Sonja Shaw to target LGBTQ+ youth. Shaw and her school district are now the subject of a civil rights investigation by the California Attorney General for violating state laws to target LGBTQ+ students and potentially cause them harm. Shaw and L.O.K.A. joined forces to pass an illegal ruling for the school district which forces teachers to out transgender and non-binary students to bigoted parents— which experts have proven increases the risk of abuse and suicide amongst LGBTQ+ youth. Shaw even had the state superintendent thrown out of the meeting where this illegal policy was voted on (it passed 4-1).
These activists are honest about what they want: it's not to "save the children" and it's not to "support parent rights." They want LGBTQ+ youth dead. They have admitted as much on camera and they are taking actions that have been proven to increase the likelihood of LGBTQ+ youth committing suicide. According to the Trevor Project: 45% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered suicide last year and 20% of transgender and non-binary youth attempted suicide last year. The same report notes that support from family members was proven to significantly reduce the risks of suicide amongst LGBTQ+ youth.
