Standing on a truck bed in a parking lot outside a recent Cherry Creek school board meeting, the so-called book-banning pastor John Amanchukwu shouted through a microphone to around 50 onlookers to vote out supporters of “drag queen story hour” and restore parent voice in education.
Amanchukwu came to confront the school board after Colorado Parent Advocacy Network’s (CPAN) Executive Director Lori Gimelshteyn said she shared her “concerns about plummeting academics, alarming safety issues related to multiple mishandlings of sexual/physical assault & harassment cases, controversial school lessons and the blatant disregard of parents and taxpayers by District leadership and the current board of education.”
Amanchukwu was relegated to the outdoors after the school board denied his request to speak because district policy limits public comment to only those connected to its schools through residency, invitation, employment, or past or current attendance (including parents of children who attend).
“I’m a resident of this state because I have a roommate agreement,” said Amanchukwu. “I’ve been a resident of Colorado since October 5th (one day before the school board meeting), and they still don’t want to allow me to speak.”
He signed the roommate agreement with Gimelshteyn. However, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue, to establish residency, you have to meet one of the following conditions: own or operate a business in Colorado, be gainfully employed in Colorado, or reside in Colorado for 90 consecutive days.
“I am not sure why the district would not allow John to have the opportunity to give two minutes of public comment, especially since they are committed to equity. The district allows for people outside of the district to speak during public comment if they choose to — I guess they just did not want John to speak, and that was their decision,” said Gimelshteyn.
At the meeting, Cherry Creek superintendent Christopher Smith told teachers and staff, “I want you to know that I stand with you, I will stand alongside you, and I will not back down to hate.” Many supporters lined the room with signs saying “Representation Matters” and “Just One Accepting Adult Can Save a Queer Person’s Life.” Members of Parasol Patrol, an organization that shields people from protestors by using colorful umbrellas, also provided support for school board supporters.
Earlier this year, Amanchukwu joined forces with Turning Point Faith, an offshoot of Turning Point USA whose mission is to restore America’s biblical values, starting a nationwide tour preaching the removal of pornographic books from school libraries. Numerous video clips show Amanchukwu being escorted out of school board meetings across the United States as he attempts to read passages from books he finds objectionable.
Ties to anti-LGBTQ groups
While CPAN states the organization is not anti-LGBTQ, but rather anti-pornography in schools, the group continues to associate with anti-LGBTQ organizations. The Anti-Defamation League claims that “numerous Turning Point USA representatives have made bigoted remarks about minority groups and the LGBTQ+ community.”
Earlier this month, a Turning Point USA crew attacked a queer Arizona State University instructor accusing him of pushing sodomy on young people and hating Americans. Gimelshteyn said CPAN doesn’t support violence against any individual and is actively working to ensure that all voices are heard, respected, and represented.
CPAN also helped spread a call to action by Libs of TikTok asking its members to email the Cherry Creek superintendent, school board, and district leadership team about the district providing what they called pornographic books to children. The Anti-Defamation League claims Libs of TikTok is an anti-LGBTQ extremist social media account that “frequently targets educators, healthcare professionals and drag performers who either identify as LGBTQ+ or work on LGBTQ+-related issues.”
The coordinated effort to target Cherry Creek schools led to several security threats against its schools, to which CPAN released a statement saying, “No one should be threatened or harassed, including teachers, administrators, school officials, families and organizations working to ensure that children of Colorado receive a quality education.”
When asked about associating with Turning Point USA and Libs of TikTok, Gimelshteyn said, “Statements and actions of individuals or organizations are solely the opinions and responsibility of the person or entity providing those statements/action.”
Age-appropriate doesn’t mean banned, according to CPAN
CPAN also claims that calling for age-appropriate access to books doesn’t mean they want them banned and that they would like to see maturity warnings on materials handling adult themes. “The Cherry Creek & Colorado Parent Advocacy Networks do not support banning books with diverse viewpoints, values or ideas. We do support the use of age-appropriate materials and the use of maturity ratings to help families make informed decisions,” said Gimelshteyn.
She said banning a book means making owning, reading, or sharing a copy illegal. However, The Free Speech Center defines book banning as a form of censorship that occurs when private individuals, government officials, or organizations remove books from libraries, school reading lists, or bookstore shelves because they object to their content, ideas, or themes.
CPAN continues to target Cherry Creek on social media with accusations that students across the district have easy and unrestricted access to pornographic books and websites. A video on CPAN’s Facebook page follows as an unidentified person searches Cherry Creek’s online library site for “All Boys Aren’t Blue” and finds one copy available. However, a district representative stated the book shows as available because the search function is system-wide. That doesn’t mean a student with elementary credentials can download it. The district said no one had filed an official book challenge to remove it from high school shelves.
Gimelshteyn said the district locked down access to the book “after her post” during an X (formerly known as Twitter) spaces recording. She also said, “That post wasn’t a request for banning. That post was not saying that we know Cherry Creek schools are grooming our children. We know that they aren’t. But we also know that we do have activists in education who are pushing the sexualization of our children. We know that. We see that, and we have evidence of that.”
A guest speaker and former Cherry Creek schools parent at the same meeting said that if a librarian or a board member doesn’t find that book and throw it in the trash regardless of the policy, then they’re agreeing to “distribution of porn to a minor” and should be arrested.
