After recently meeting with anti-LGBTQ mogul Jerry Falwell Jr. about education issues, Donald Trump has chosen Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education. DeVos and her family foundations have donated millions of dollars to extreme, anti-LGBTQ organizations. Some have promoted dangerous, unscientific “conversion therapies” to convert LGBTQ youth and all of them have fought against basic nondiscrimination protections, school safety, and more.
Organizations DeVos has supported include Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, the Alliance Defending Freedom, and the National Organization for Marriage.
The Huffington Post reported Thursday that a think tank funded by DeVos recently advocated for putting kids back in the workforce.
The Acton Institute, a conservative nonprofit that is said to have received thousands of dollars in donations from Betsy DeVos and her family, posted an essay to its blog this month that called child labor “a gift our kids can handle,” the report stated.
American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten said, “In nominating DeVos, Trump makes it loud and clear that his education policy will focus on privatizing, defunding and destroying public education in America.”
The Equality Federation voiced its opposition to the appointment of DeVos, stating in an email that is, ” … deeply concerned about the wellness of LGBTQ youth, and all youth, under the impending leadership of DeVos. Homophobia should have no place in our nation’s schools.”
