Kevin McCarthy learned the power of a loud minority. It happens in Clovis Unified, too

For the first time in 100 years, the House adjourned for repeated days of its new term without electing the one congressional position mentioned in the Constitution because Kevin McCarthy could not secure the needed votes to be named speaker of the House.

A minority of loud, attention-seeking individuals, with no interest in the actual well-being of the country or even democracy, revolted against the Republican Party, against the institution of the people’s House, but really against McCarthy himself.

What, exactly, was he expecting? McCarthy, like many others in the Republican party, let this small minority of extremists grow their profile over the past decade, often adding fuel to their fire. Now, amazingly, he was shocked that a group of approximately 20 representatives in a body of 435 held the rest hostage. No business could get done in the House until a Speaker was elected. No bills passed, no resolutions offered, no investigations begun. Newly elected members could not even be sworn in.

Here in Clovis, now part of McCarthy’s newly redistricted territory, we know all about loud voices in the minority who throw their weight around to get what they want — no matter who it impacts.

Take, for example, “Moms on the Ground Clovis,” a group that, in December, shared its dismay that the Clovis Unified School District would have the audacity to offer voluntary training to school personnel on how to work with historically marginalized students, including the LGBTQ+ community. They were “disappointed” that they weren’t informed that children could be educated on “sensitive topics.” Their Instagram page describes them as “Grassroots that protects parents rights and children” but neither their grammar nor their posts (a fairly comprehensive set of Fox News clips and long ago debunked conspiracy theories) points to anyone or anything that they are actually protecting.

Mind you, the outrage was over a program that the district began to offer over a year ago designed to better prepare educators for interactions with those marginalized students. Literally, helping educators to make students feel safe and supported. A statement about the program from Moms on the Ground Clovis read, “most parents feel schools need to teach education, not gender identity.” Have they not read what the program does? Who are the moms protecting?

Let’s look at who the CUSD program is protecting. The Trevor Project provides statistics about risks facing kids. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among people ages 10 to 24, and LGBTQ youth are at far greater risk — more than four times as likely as their peers to attempt suicide. There is nothing in their gender identity or sexual orientation that makes them more inclined toward depression or suicide. They are at higher risk because they are stigmatized in their own communities, sometimes in their own homes.

For all the criticism I’ve directed at CUSD in this column, I must commend the district here. I’m not sure I could say they’re doing enough, but the district is doing something to help with the voluntary training.

Like Clovis Unified, McCarthy is learning the hard way that if you keep giving more concessions to small minorities who have no real agenda or purpose beyond chaos and generating as much attention as they can for themselves, they will never have enough. Whether it’s the “Never Kevins” or Moms On The Ground, the goal is rarely about protection as much as amplification.

I sure hope that elected officials (from our school boards to the people’s House) will focus on the needs of their constituents — all their constituents.