When people tell you who they are, do them the courtesy of believing them.
Willow Reicht, the chair of the Board of Education in my hometown of Chilliwack, British Columbia, has issued an apology on behalf of the school district after trustee Teri Westerby shared this meme on social media:
Yes, you’re seeing that correctly. That’s a steamroller with the crusher painted with the LGBT rainbow running down a crowd of screaming people labeled “Traditional Family,” “Christian Values,” “Sanctity of Marriage” and “Etc,” just in case anything was left out. The steamroller is driven by “Barbie,” apparently a reference to the feminist film currently showing in theatres.
“The meme that Trustee Westerby shared on his personal Facebook page was intended to poke fun at online commentators who are upset that the Barbie movie has a feminist message,” Reichelt said in a statement sent to Fraser Valley Today. “If you know the history of the meme, you know that the intent is not to advocate crushing traditional values but to point out the absurdity of saying that the Barbie movie has that power. However, if you do not know the meme’s history, it’s understandable that the image could be hurtful. I apologize on behalf of the board for any hurt caused, and I want to offer my assurance that Christians and other people of faith are welcome and supported in this district.”
“The Chilliwack School District embraces families of all religious faiths (and no faith) and recognizes that different families have different values. We strive to create learning spaces where people of all different backgrounds can come together and treat each other with respect.”
That explanation doesn’t check out. Why is the steamroller an LGBT-themed steamroller? It is not incidental that Westerby identifies as “proudly transgender” and also just happens to be the director of the Chilliwack Pride Society. A quick scan of Westerby’s Twitter profile reveals that the school trustee is first and foremost an LGBT activist who believes that opposition to LGBT ideology constitutes hate speech. That, I think, is far more relevant context to this steamroller-crushing-Christian-values meme than Reichelt’s attempt to pass this off as clever satire skewering a few American conservative commentators.
