August 22, 2023 • 17 mins
Janet Roberson, a mother of 3 in Benicia California, was troubled by the new sex ed curriculum in her kid's school district. After she shared her concerns and beliefs during a local school board meeting, Roberson became the target of a local activist group--intent on destroying her life. Janet joined us to talk about her experience...
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You disagree with woke mob, They're coming for your job.
It's Armstrong and Getty extra large.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Because four hours simply.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is armstrong and Getty extra large.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is a cautionary tale because we said all throughout
the pandemic, and I do believe it's true. Still a
cautionary tale though, that the thing we all ought to
do is quit paying so much attention to presidential politics
and more to who's our city council and on our
school board. That's the stuff we need to get involved with.
That's the stuff that affects our actual lives on a
(00:35):
day to day basis, and we can have an effect
on but it ain't easy all the time.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yeah, I would add local prosecutors to that list as well. Obviously.
This is the tale of one Janice Roberson, who is
a mom of three in beautiful Venetia, California. It is
a very pleasant town in the Bay Area. It is progressive,
as most of the Bay Area is. Janice was troubled,
(01:03):
as you'll hear, by the new sex ed curriculum in
the Venetian Unified School District and got up in front
of the school board to discuss what she found questionable
or objectionable. Because of her comments, she was branded as
a hater, a homophoba transphobe, hounded out of her job,
(01:26):
targeted online, the victim of vicious slanders and rumors in
the press, videos online.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Et cetera.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
And it's a great, as in horrible example of how
vicious the radical gender theory crowd can be if you
merely say, hey, can we wait a minute and talk
about this now. Her comments were branded afterward as hateful, bigoted, homophobic, transphobic,
(01:59):
et cetera. As I said, it utterly inexcusable, beyond the pale,
and she deserves to lose her job, and she did,
as she'll explain. We're going to talk to her in
a couple of minutes, but why don't we let you
be a witness to what she said at the school
board meeting first and you can decide if it was
all of those terrible things. Michael will start with clip ninety.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
But I would like to say to you, who are
entrusted to represent and make decisions for our children, and
to the community that may be watching this video, that
we have a big concern with what is now being
taught to children as young as ten in benetia, such
as children are being asked to identify their pronouns, and
this is now part of the ten year old curriculum.
This forces a gender discussion beyond the scope of the
(02:39):
state requirements and complicates an already overburdened classroom environment.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Still her pretty reasonable so far, roll On.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
We are alarmed that gender identity is now being discussed
in math classes. This takes time from core learning and
does not benefit the students or our community. Teaching kids
that they're is in any standard or truth that you
can believe anything you want to believe is not scientifically
accurate or medically correct. For example, the notion that a
girl can decide to be a boy or a boy
(03:10):
can decide to be a girl is not true and
should not be taught. The new curriculum teaches that individuals
can decide if their male or female, regardless of anatomy.
Does not explain that a boy cannot menstruate and a
girl cannot impregnate someone. This is not scientific or medically accurate.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Probably worth pointing out that the vast majority of humanity,
including American humanity, agrees with her. I mean the vast
majority roll on.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Our ten year olds will now be taught that they
can receive puberty blockers to prevent their body from going
through changes that make them uncomfortable. All humans are uncomfortable
during adolescence. To teach vulnerable children that a lifetime of
dependence on medical care is a viable option is completely
unacceptable and evil.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Frankly Worth mentioning that puberty blockers are not reversible. And
yet another European country, as we've discussed on the radio show,
has said, no, we're not doing this anymore, except in
very rare cases. It's going to be counseling and emotional
care for these kids. We're not giving them drugs anymore.
(04:20):
We're not doing surgeries on them anymore. It's a fairly
rare European country that is in the United States is
in the other direction. But we've talked about that plenty,
So we'll roll on.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Twelve year olds will now be taught about oral and
anal sex twelve year olds. So I get a little
emotional about this because I think that's wrong. The EG
Code five one nine through three requires that instruction and
materials should be appropriate for use of pupils of all races, gender,
sexual orientations, and ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Teaching children about
(04:51):
oral and anal sex violates this lass, and several cultures
would not find this teaching appropriate.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
What the hell is wrong with people?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I think it's interesting that she included that argument in
her speech, that, for instance, you know, Muslim folks among others,
would find that horrifically inappropriate. It's a good point since
that is part of the state's you know, educational code.
I'm not sure you need to go there teaching twelve
(05:21):
year olds about all the alternate creative ways to please
someone sexually.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Some of them. I'm a big fanom pleasure based sex thing.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
That's part of radical gender theory and critical theory in general.
It's kind of a broad deal, but that's part of
what they believe.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
God, clang it. I don't want to have those discussions
with my twelve year old.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
And finally, the next clip, Michael, when we asked, we
were told the reason the curriculum removes the idea of
male and female was to be more inclusive, but no
longer include or no longer identifying females as having ovaries
and males as having testes is not scientific, not medically accurate,
and not true.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
It's nonsense. It's not a choice. People are not gender fluid,
and to teach our children this is not okay.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
So what people have known to be true for the
entirety of mankind stood up and said, hey, remember this,
and then the radical philosophy of the last couple of years,
at least in the mainstream, it's been in your far
left colleges for a while, responds to the entire history
(06:31):
of mankind with a not only are you wrong, You're
a hateful bigot, and I'm going to ruin you for
expressing that at a school board meeting. No matter how politely,
how measuredly, how much documentation, the legal the quote of
the school policies, no matter how much you are careful
(06:54):
to be respectful, we are going to ruin you. I
think that's a pretty fair description of what happened. Well,
he or she is Janet Roberson, a resident of Benetia, California,
concerned mom, local businesswoman until fairly recently, and we'll get
into that a little a little bit more. But Janet,
how are you.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
I'm doing great, I'm very grateful to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Thank you well, We're glad you did. You're obviously a
brave lady. Now we've listened to what you said in
front of the Benicia School Board. I don't think anybody
can deny that it was very polite, It was very measured,
it was respectful in every way. Is there anything you
want to add to your comments before the school board
before we talk about what happened afterward.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
No, I appreciate you saying so. I feel the same way.
I was very surprised when after what I said became
big news in town that I was a homophobe and
a transphobe. None of those things are true, and I
think if people listen to what I said, de'll agree.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
So you spoke at the Benisha Unified School District meeting
to disagree with the new sex ed curriculum. What happened
after that?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
So?
Speaker 5 (07:58):
Yes, I'm a mom of three children, nine year old,
at twelve year old, at fourteen year old, and so
when I saw the new curriculum that's coming out that
I believe is to be taught this year, I was
very concerned about several items on it, which we can discuss.
But I just simply went and spoke at the school
board meeting like a lot of parents do. And then
I was really surprised that afterwards, within the week, several
(08:22):
people wrote to the local newspapers and even wrote to
my company corporate headquarters to say that I was transphobic
and homophobic and a bigot and all the terrible insults
that were thrown at me, none of which are true.
And then it just kind of snowballed from there.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
So they contacted your place of work, and then did
your place of work say, hey, what's up with this?
Speaker 5 (08:42):
Yeah, you know, great question. I was very shocked when
I saw the letters in the newspaper actually identified me
as a Compass real estate agent, because when I spoke
to the school board meeting, of course, I didn't identify
myself as anything other than a mom, and so that
was pretty crazy. And then when I heard they'd actually
written to my corporate headquarters, my local team leader. So
(09:05):
I worked with Compass here in Benetia in a little team,
and they approached me and said, hey, you know, we've
been told and Compass Corporate has been told that you're
transphobic and all these things, to which I said, no,
of course not. You know me, I've worked here for
over a year and I've brought in great money for
you guys. In twenty twenty two, I did pretty well.
(09:26):
I retired law enforcement, but I then did a retirement
job as a realtor and kind of had just started out,
and they said, well, Compass Corporate's really concerned about it.
And you know, basically I didn't really think much of
it because I thought what I had said at the
school board meeting was very reasonable. So then to get
(09:46):
a call from the Compass Corporate representative, our regional managing director,
to tell me that I could no longer do business
as a Compass agent, I was shocked. I mean I
just felt my heart drop. I couldn't believe that they
had done well.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
What was there? Why? Why couldn't you do work for
them anymore?
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Great question, which is exactly what I said. I said,
oh my goodness, I said, my business is doing great.
And his words were, yes, this has nothing to do
with business. And I said, well, you need to give
me a reason. You know, why on the earth would
you let me go if my business is great? And
he said, well, no, actually, we don't have to give
you a reason because you're an independent contractor, which, by
(10:25):
the way, pretty much all realtors in the United States
are independent contractors. He said, we don't. We really don't
have to give you a reason, and I said, no,
this is devastating to me. I've just spent tens of
thousands of dollars branding myself as a compass agent, and
you're saying I can't work as a compass agent anymore,
and I need something in writing or some sort of reason.
(10:46):
And he would not elaborate. I'm certain he was advised
by counsel not to.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Oh yeah, Well, his counsel is smart, because to fire
somebody for their political beliefs is kind of a no
no in this country and actually even in the state
of Unicornia. Well, I have a feeling that discussion is
not over by any means. I'll let you worry about that.
So I understand the local papers actually wrote to your
company and said, hey, we're going to publish this, and
(11:11):
we're going to you know, we're going to publish it
an op ed calling her all these terrible things. Do
you want to comment on it, when, again, your professional
association's never factored into this in any way other than
as a threat.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
You're one hundred percent right. I never brought my profession
into this at all. I was just a mom speaking
at a school board meeting. But to clarify a little bit,
the people who wrote to Compass Corporate and threatened to
go public with the fact that they're employing a transfobe,
which again is not true, was actually a club here
in Benisia called the Progressive Democrats of Benetia. Their treasurer
(11:49):
was the one who wrote the main letter, and it's
available for anyone to read for themselves and make their
own opinion at my website it's banishafreedom dot org.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Is that the letter from Billy Innisley.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
Ennis is actually a man about town. He ran for
city council I think a couple of times and has lost,
but he's known in town as kind of a rabble rouser.
The letter that to me was most concerning was a
woman named Nathalie Christian and she's the treasurer of the
Progressive Democrats of Benetia and she's the one who wrote
(12:20):
to Compass and said, if you don't disavow disassociate yourself
from Janet Robertson by May first, we're going to go
public on this. And sure enough, May first is when
I got the call from the corporate representative who told
me I could no longer be a Compass agent.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Well, that activists have figured this out. They know the
play is to go after your workplace if they want
to frighten people off, because every workplace is so afraid
of being being attacked by the mob that they're willing
to let people go.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
And I'm looking at this letter from the Progressive Democrats,
I think, and it continually identifies you as Compass real
Estate's agent, Jennet Roberson, which is not an accident. They
are absolutely attempting to terrorize you into silence by taking
away your ability to make a living.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I mean it's practically like saying, hey, we know where
your kids live or something like that. I mean, it's
just a threat.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
You're absolutely right, I completely agree.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Yeah, this is something. This is just absolute ugly crazy.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
I mean it would be It's like a better example
would have been edit that out. My example was poor.
A better example would be the kind of car you
drive and where you bark. I mean, yes, that's what
it is.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Yeah, it is. It truly is an attempt to silence me,
and for me it was effective. It actually got me fired. Sure,
I'm very very fortunate that, like I say, it's a
retirement job for me with real estate, although it is
my primary income at this point, I have a small
pension from having been law enforcement, which I appreciate a
lot of parents don't. There's a lot of Americans who
(13:57):
work as independent contractors and that is their sole income,
and for me it has also been financially devastating. But
it's just so frustrating. I would love to have seeing
Compass come out in response to this to say, hey,
we respect they're big proponents of the diversity, equity and inclusion.
Why not say we're diverse and inclusive and we appreciate
(14:19):
all walks of life and all thoughts, and we will
support any of our realtors whatever their political ideology is,
even if we disagree with it. My thoughts are likely
they're not as traditional as I am, and traditional people
should also be protected.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Well, yeah, you're absolutely right. What we've been saying for
years is I wish these companies realize if you just
not fire and do nothing for forty eight hours, it'll
go away and nobody will ever remember it again.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Right well, and I hope they are corporate lawyers were
listening to this right now and jotted down word for
word what you just said, because that is not only
a perfectly reasonable policy, but it's for the only one
that's possible in a world where people disagree with each other.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Wow, that's a scary situation. I mean, you weren't asking
for this. It's not like you're an activist, really. I mean,
you went to discuss the curriculum at the school, and
that's scary.
Speaker 5 (15:18):
You're absolutely right, and so it's disappointing to me that
I was silenced, and I'm hoping that my story doesn't
scare parents but actually inspires people to come up and
speak up. I've received just an outpouring of support email, text,
phone call that had to shut my phone off for
people who said, we totally agree with you. And so
(15:39):
I feel like if more Americans felt empowered to exercise
their right to free speech. I mean, it's crazy that
people would be afraid to do that. In America, you
should be able to have an opinion about your child's education.
And so I'm really hoping people step forward and realize
there's a lot of us that do have traditional values.
Don't be afraid and please speak up.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
My kids are about to exactly the same age as
your kids, and so I'm just starting to run into
it myself, the stuff that's being taught in school.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yeah, on a personal note, I remember the one in
high school, one in middle school, one in elementary school.
Days and God bless you, Janet hey and listen, we
admire the heck out of what you're doing. We are
one hundred percent with you. If there's any way we
can help, let us know again. Her website is Benetia
Freedom dot org. We'll have a link prominently placed at
armstrong in getty dot com so you can find it
(16:27):
and lend your sport. And it's it's just crazy, but
good for you standing up.
Speaker 5 (16:32):
Thank you so much. I'm so grateful that you helped
me share my story. Thank you very very much.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Great to talk to you. Thanks.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I'm a little concerned about finding a way out of
this because, like I said, the activists know the play
is to go after your workplace and it is successful
a lot.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yes, So many of your corporate animals are so involved
in the day to day ins and outs of their
corporate activities they don't have a sense of the greater
culture and the greater political world around them. They don't
understand that the outrage is phony. It is utilized entirely
as a weapon, to the extent that the outrage is sincere.
(17:12):
It's unbalanced people who believe things that only a tiny
minority of people believe. And so when they're you know,
awakened from their C suite meetings and told, hey, we
got a controversy here, they panic.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Plus, everything lasts like a day in the modern world.
It'll go away, don't worry about it.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yeah, yep, haven't said that. Janet's a brave lady. Good
for her, Good for her. Extra large
You disagree with woke mob, They're coming for your job.
It's Armstrong and Getty extra large.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Because four hours simply.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is armstrong and Getty extra large.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is a cautionary tale because we said all throughout
the pandemic, and I do believe it's true. Still a
cautionary tale though, that the thing we all ought to
do is quit paying so much attention to presidential politics
and more to who's our city council and on our
school board. That's the stuff we need to get involved with.
That's the stuff that affects our actual lives on a
(00:35):
day to day basis, and we can have an effect
on but it ain't easy all the time.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yeah, I would add local prosecutors to that list as well. Obviously.
This is the tale of one Janice Roberson, who is
a mom of three in beautiful Venetia, California. It is
a very pleasant town in the Bay Area. It is progressive,
as most of the Bay Area is. Janice was troubled,
(01:03):
as you'll hear, by the new sex ed curriculum in
the Venetian Unified School District and got up in front
of the school board to discuss what she found questionable
or objectionable. Because of her comments, she was branded as
a hater, a homophoba transphobe, hounded out of her job,
(01:26):
targeted online, the victim of vicious slanders and rumors in
the press, videos online.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Et cetera.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
And it's a great, as in horrible example of how
vicious the radical gender theory crowd can be if you
merely say, hey, can we wait a minute and talk
about this now. Her comments were branded afterward as hateful, bigoted, homophobic, transphobic,
(01:59):
et cetera. As I said, it utterly inexcusable, beyond the pale,
and she deserves to lose her job, and she did,
as she'll explain. We're going to talk to her in
a couple of minutes, but why don't we let you
be a witness to what she said at the school
board meeting first and you can decide if it was
all of those terrible things. Michael will start with clip ninety.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
But I would like to say to you, who are
entrusted to represent and make decisions for our children, and
to the community that may be watching this video, that
we have a big concern with what is now being
taught to children as young as ten in benetia, such
as children are being asked to identify their pronouns, and
this is now part of the ten year old curriculum.
This forces a gender discussion beyond the scope of the
(02:39):
state requirements and complicates an already overburdened classroom environment.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Still her pretty reasonable so far, roll On.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
We are alarmed that gender identity is now being discussed
in math classes. This takes time from core learning and
does not benefit the students or our community. Teaching kids
that they're is in any standard or truth that you
can believe anything you want to believe is not scientifically
accurate or medically correct. For example, the notion that a
girl can decide to be a boy or a boy
(03:10):
can decide to be a girl is not true and
should not be taught. The new curriculum teaches that individuals
can decide if their male or female, regardless of anatomy.
Does not explain that a boy cannot menstruate and a
girl cannot impregnate someone. This is not scientific or medically accurate.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Probably worth pointing out that the vast majority of humanity,
including American humanity, agrees with her. I mean the vast
majority roll on.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Our ten year olds will now be taught that they
can receive puberty blockers to prevent their body from going
through changes that make them uncomfortable. All humans are uncomfortable
during adolescence. To teach vulnerable children that a lifetime of
dependence on medical care is a viable option is completely
unacceptable and evil.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Frankly Worth mentioning that puberty blockers are not reversible. And
yet another European country, as we've discussed on the radio show,
has said, no, we're not doing this anymore, except in
very rare cases. It's going to be counseling and emotional
care for these kids. We're not giving them drugs anymore.
(04:20):
We're not doing surgeries on them anymore. It's a fairly
rare European country that is in the United States is
in the other direction. But we've talked about that plenty,
So we'll roll on.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Twelve year olds will now be taught about oral and
anal sex twelve year olds. So I get a little
emotional about this because I think that's wrong. The EG
Code five one nine through three requires that instruction and
materials should be appropriate for use of pupils of all races, gender,
sexual orientations, and ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Teaching children about
(04:51):
oral and anal sex violates this lass, and several cultures
would not find this teaching appropriate.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
What the hell is wrong with people?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I think it's interesting that she included that argument in
her speech, that, for instance, you know, Muslim folks among others,
would find that horrifically inappropriate. It's a good point since
that is part of the state's you know, educational code.
I'm not sure you need to go there teaching twelve
(05:21):
year olds about all the alternate creative ways to please
someone sexually.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Some of them. I'm a big fanom pleasure based sex thing.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
That's part of radical gender theory and critical theory in general.
It's kind of a broad deal, but that's part of
what they believe.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
God, clang it. I don't want to have those discussions
with my twelve year old.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
And finally, the next clip, Michael, when we asked, we
were told the reason the curriculum removes the idea of
male and female was to be more inclusive, but no
longer include or no longer identifying females as having ovaries
and males as having testes is not scientific, not medically accurate,
and not true.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
It's nonsense. It's not a choice. People are not gender fluid,
and to teach our children this is not okay.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
So what people have known to be true for the
entirety of mankind stood up and said, hey, remember this,
and then the radical philosophy of the last couple of years,
at least in the mainstream, it's been in your far
left colleges for a while, responds to the entire history
(06:31):
of mankind with a not only are you wrong, You're
a hateful bigot, and I'm going to ruin you for
expressing that at a school board meeting. No matter how politely,
how measuredly, how much documentation, the legal the quote of
the school policies, no matter how much you are careful
(06:54):
to be respectful, we are going to ruin you. I
think that's a pretty fair description of what happened. Well,
he or she is Janet Roberson, a resident of Benetia, California,
concerned mom, local businesswoman until fairly recently, and we'll get
into that a little a little bit more. But Janet,
how are you.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
I'm doing great, I'm very grateful to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Thank you well, We're glad you did. You're obviously a
brave lady. Now we've listened to what you said in
front of the Benicia School Board. I don't think anybody
can deny that it was very polite, It was very measured,
it was respectful in every way. Is there anything you
want to add to your comments before the school board
before we talk about what happened afterward.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
No, I appreciate you saying so. I feel the same way.
I was very surprised when after what I said became
big news in town that I was a homophobe and
a transphobe. None of those things are true, and I
think if people listen to what I said, de'll agree.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
So you spoke at the Benisha Unified School District meeting
to disagree with the new sex ed curriculum. What happened
after that?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
So?
Speaker 5 (07:58):
Yes, I'm a mom of three children, nine year old,
at twelve year old, at fourteen year old, and so
when I saw the new curriculum that's coming out that
I believe is to be taught this year, I was
very concerned about several items on it, which we can discuss.
But I just simply went and spoke at the school
board meeting like a lot of parents do. And then
I was really surprised that afterwards, within the week, several
(08:22):
people wrote to the local newspapers and even wrote to
my company corporate headquarters to say that I was transphobic
and homophobic and a bigot and all the terrible insults
that were thrown at me, none of which are true.
And then it just kind of snowballed from there.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
So they contacted your place of work, and then did
your place of work say, hey, what's up with this?
Speaker 5 (08:42):
Yeah, you know, great question. I was very shocked when
I saw the letters in the newspaper actually identified me
as a Compass real estate agent, because when I spoke
to the school board meeting, of course, I didn't identify
myself as anything other than a mom, and so that
was pretty crazy. And then when I heard they'd actually
written to my corporate headquarters, my local team leader. So
(09:05):
I worked with Compass here in Benetia in a little team,
and they approached me and said, hey, you know, we've
been told and Compass Corporate has been told that you're
transphobic and all these things, to which I said, no,
of course not. You know me, I've worked here for
over a year and I've brought in great money for
you guys. In twenty twenty two, I did pretty well.
(09:26):
I retired law enforcement, but I then did a retirement
job as a realtor and kind of had just started out,
and they said, well, Compass Corporate's really concerned about it.
And you know, basically I didn't really think much of
it because I thought what I had said at the
school board meeting was very reasonable. So then to get
(09:46):
a call from the Compass Corporate representative, our regional managing director,
to tell me that I could no longer do business
as a Compass agent, I was shocked. I mean I
just felt my heart drop. I couldn't believe that they
had done well.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
What was there? Why? Why couldn't you do work for
them anymore?
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Great question, which is exactly what I said. I said,
oh my goodness, I said, my business is doing great.
And his words were, yes, this has nothing to do
with business. And I said, well, you need to give
me a reason. You know, why on the earth would
you let me go if my business is great? And
he said, well, no, actually, we don't have to give
you a reason because you're an independent contractor, which, by
(10:25):
the way, pretty much all realtors in the United States
are independent contractors. He said, we don't. We really don't
have to give you a reason, and I said, no,
this is devastating to me. I've just spent tens of
thousands of dollars branding myself as a compass agent, and
you're saying I can't work as a compass agent anymore,
and I need something in writing or some sort of reason.
(10:46):
And he would not elaborate. I'm certain he was advised
by counsel not to.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Oh yeah, Well, his counsel is smart, because to fire
somebody for their political beliefs is kind of a no
no in this country and actually even in the state
of Unicornia. Well, I have a feeling that discussion is
not over by any means. I'll let you worry about that.
So I understand the local papers actually wrote to your
company and said, hey, we're going to publish this, and
(11:11):
we're going to you know, we're going to publish it
an op ed calling her all these terrible things. Do
you want to comment on it, when, again, your professional
association's never factored into this in any way other than
as a threat.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
You're one hundred percent right. I never brought my profession
into this at all. I was just a mom speaking
at a school board meeting. But to clarify a little bit,
the people who wrote to Compass Corporate and threatened to
go public with the fact that they're employing a transfobe,
which again is not true, was actually a club here
in Benisia called the Progressive Democrats of Benetia. Their treasurer
(11:49):
was the one who wrote the main letter, and it's
available for anyone to read for themselves and make their
own opinion at my website it's banishafreedom dot org.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Is that the letter from Billy Innisley.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
Ennis is actually a man about town. He ran for
city council I think a couple of times and has lost,
but he's known in town as kind of a rabble rouser.
The letter that to me was most concerning was a
woman named Nathalie Christian and she's the treasurer of the
Progressive Democrats of Benetia and she's the one who wrote
(12:20):
to Compass and said, if you don't disavow disassociate yourself
from Janet Robertson by May first, we're going to go
public on this. And sure enough, May first is when
I got the call from the corporate representative who told
me I could no longer be a Compass agent.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Well, that activists have figured this out. They know the
play is to go after your workplace if they want
to frighten people off, because every workplace is so afraid
of being being attacked by the mob that they're willing
to let people go.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
And I'm looking at this letter from the Progressive Democrats,
I think, and it continually identifies you as Compass real
Estate's agent, Jennet Roberson, which is not an accident. They
are absolutely attempting to terrorize you into silence by taking
away your ability to make a living.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I mean it's practically like saying, hey, we know where
your kids live or something like that. I mean, it's
just a threat.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
You're absolutely right, I completely agree.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Yeah, this is something. This is just absolute ugly crazy.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
I mean it would be It's like a better example
would have been edit that out. My example was poor.
A better example would be the kind of car you
drive and where you bark. I mean, yes, that's what
it is.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Yeah, it is. It truly is an attempt to silence me,
and for me it was effective. It actually got me fired. Sure,
I'm very very fortunate that, like I say, it's a
retirement job for me with real estate, although it is
my primary income at this point, I have a small
pension from having been law enforcement, which I appreciate a
lot of parents don't. There's a lot of Americans who
(13:57):
work as independent contractors and that is their sole income,
and for me it has also been financially devastating. But
it's just so frustrating. I would love to have seeing
Compass come out in response to this to say, hey,
we respect they're big proponents of the diversity, equity and inclusion.
Why not say we're diverse and inclusive and we appreciate
(14:19):
all walks of life and all thoughts, and we will
support any of our realtors whatever their political ideology is,
even if we disagree with it. My thoughts are likely
they're not as traditional as I am, and traditional people
should also be protected.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Well, yeah, you're absolutely right. What we've been saying for
years is I wish these companies realize if you just
not fire and do nothing for forty eight hours, it'll
go away and nobody will ever remember it again.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Right well, and I hope they are corporate lawyers were
listening to this right now and jotted down word for
word what you just said, because that is not only
a perfectly reasonable policy, but it's for the only one
that's possible in a world where people disagree with each other.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Wow, that's a scary situation. I mean, you weren't asking
for this. It's not like you're an activist, really. I mean,
you went to discuss the curriculum at the school, and
that's scary.
Speaker 5 (15:18):
You're absolutely right, and so it's disappointing to me that
I was silenced, and I'm hoping that my story doesn't
scare parents but actually inspires people to come up and
speak up. I've received just an outpouring of support email, text,
phone call that had to shut my phone off for
people who said, we totally agree with you. And so
(15:39):
I feel like if more Americans felt empowered to exercise
their right to free speech. I mean, it's crazy that
people would be afraid to do that. In America, you
should be able to have an opinion about your child's education.
And so I'm really hoping people step forward and realize
there's a lot of us that do have traditional values.
Don't be afraid and please speak up.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
My kids are about to exactly the same age as
your kids, and so I'm just starting to run into
it myself, the stuff that's being taught in school.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yeah, on a personal note, I remember the one in
high school, one in middle school, one in elementary school.
Days and God bless you, Janet hey and listen, we
admire the heck out of what you're doing. We are
one hundred percent with you. If there's any way we
can help, let us know again. Her website is Benetia
Freedom dot org. We'll have a link prominently placed at
armstrong in getty dot com so you can find it
(16:27):
and lend your sport. And it's it's just crazy, but
good for you standing up.
Speaker 5 (16:32):
Thank you so much. I'm so grateful that you helped
me share my story. Thank you very very much.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Great to talk to you. Thanks.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I'm a little concerned about finding a way out of
this because, like I said, the activists know the play
is to go after your workplace and it is successful
a lot.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yes, So many of your corporate animals are so involved
in the day to day ins and outs of their
corporate activities they don't have a sense of the greater
culture and the greater political world around them. They don't
understand that the outrage is phony. It is utilized entirely
as a weapon, to the extent that the outrage is sincere.
(17:12):
It's unbalanced people who believe things that only a tiny
minority of people believe. And so when they're you know,
awakened from their C suite meetings and told, hey, we
got a controversy here, they panic.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Plus, everything lasts like a day in the modern world.
It'll go away, don't worry about it.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yeah, yep, haven't said that. Janet's a brave lady. Good
for her, Good for her. Extra large
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Jack Armstrong
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