In 2021 this site was started as a way to inform the community about the arrival and malicious actions of reactionary extremist, and two time losing candidate for public office, Jordan Henry.
In June 2023, the focus of the site expanded to include Henry’s supporters and collaborators after their group and allies instigated violence at LAUSD's Saticoy Elementary School on June 2nd and Glendale Unified School District June 6th and 20th.
One year later, many of the most vicious and vile LOKA extremists have been driven back, unmasked as the violent, child-less clowns that they are, and have suffered losses at the ballot box despite raising tens of thousands of dollars from dark money extremist sources.
Now, one year later, this site is being rebranded because Jordan Henry doesn’t deserve the spotlight and his role as a useful (useless?) idiot is clear. HOWEVER, we’ll continue monitoring the larger network he's part of and documenting its activities here, starting with:
A LITANY OF LOSSES: LOKA Movement Loses Momentum
Not content to lose elections and harass parents and children, the LOKA movement attempted and failed to create transphobic state ballot measures. They also failed to oppose a law that would protect kids from forced outing policies. In two districts (Orange and Temecula) with LOKA-friendly Board members, parent-led communities successfully recalled their fascist board members, flipping control back to boards that will follow state and federal laws.
Several of the higher-profile fascists, including Manuk Grigoryan and Narek Palyan, appear to be in hot water after showing up for some reason at the UCLA anti-war protests last month. Aneta Krpekyan sent a weird concession email nearly 3 months after her loss. Jordan continues to rant about The Trans to his same 10 followers on social media.
Read on for a deeper dive on state-level LOKA stall-outs.
FAILED ANTI-LGBTQ BALLOT MEASURE
After 6 months of signature gathering the “Restricts Rights of Transgender Youth” Ballot initiative failed to qualify for the ballot. Supporters claimed to have gathered 400,000 signatures (unverified)- just 73% of the required minimum total and about 1% of state residents.
Extremist movement lawyers and supporters (some of whom spent nearly every weekend since November attempting to gather signatures) tried desperately to spin this as a victory.
Above, losing= winning and "zero funding" means over $200k raised.
2) LAWMAKERS MOVE TO BAN FORCED OUTING; LOKA EFFORTS TO OPPOSE THE BILL FAIL BADLY.
One day later the CA state senate education committee held a public hearing on AB1955, a.k.a The SAFETY Act, a bill which will outlaw forced outing statewide. Announced just a week prior to the hearing, the bill appeared to catch the far right off-guard.
A predictable array of megachurches, dark money funded orgs, and anti-trans culture warriors immediately began to publish high-pressure calls to followers to demand legislators reject the policy. Calvary Chapel-affiliated Christian nationalist org Real Impact had printed materials ready to go for Sunday services at numerous locations around the region.
Flyers above were distributed at various Calvary Chapel Sunday services. Extremist Pastor Jack Hibbs preached about the bill from the pulpit.
The Ernst Rohm of Glendale, congressional candidate Alex Balekian, paid to advertise a video about AB1955 fear-mongering to the anti-LGBTQ+ extremists who are his only supporters, then hosted a live discussion about "protecting kids" with Adam Vena, an anti-trans activist barred by a court order from contact with his transgender child. Balekian has no children at all. Balekian will likely lose his runoff election to LGBTQ+ supporting public school parent Laura Friedman in November.
Despite opposition efforts, the bill received over 100 signatures of support from state organizations focused on civil rights, school safety, youth mental health, and LGBTQ+ rights- many of whom were represented in person at the hearing to give enthusiastic support.
Twelve organizations, primarily religious-leaning, opposed the bill. Opposition witnesses included a parent who sued her school district after learning her child was using a different name/pronouns (the law firm representing that parent is also supporting Chino Valley in the case the state is pursuing against the district re: their forced outing policy) and a Catholic gastroenterologist with no training in gender affirming healthcare or mental healthcare.
A number of LOKA-connected groups and individuals appeared in-person to oppose the bill in Sacramento, including:
Erin Friday: transphobic parent and lawyer
The anti-trans lawyer claims to have written both the Chino Valley forced outing policy currently under injunction and the failed ballot initiative (of which she was also the top funder). Friday appeared to think she was the primary opposition witness. To her surprise, she was informed she would not be testifying after trying to approach the conference table.
Friday, who appears to spend the majority of her time thinking about teenagers' genitals, repeatedly confused her anti-trans opinions with legal precedents, was heard whispering profanities by audience members, and was repeatedly rebuffed by the hearing chair for attempting to argue issues irrelevant to the bill’s scope.
Freedom Angels: J6 participant/Mamalitia (a militia for mamas) founder/ current Assembly D13 candidate Denise Aguilar was present and seen live-streaming the hearing with her partner-in-dramatic protest Tara.
Aguilar and Tara both appeared to be exchanging information with various Mom Army chapter leaders in attendance and later created social media content in which they pretended to understand the 14th amendment.
Moms for Liberty: various chapters
Multiple chapters were represented including by Yolo County chapter leader Beth Bourne (currently estranged from her trans child, previously served a restraining order by her school board, and someone who faked being non-binary to try to get substack attention) and LA chapter representative David Bolog (who does not appear to have children and is definitely not a “mom”).
One of the “most influential anti-gay groups” in the country, funded by the Koch brothers, CWA sent a single representative to oppose the bill.
Seak Smith's Proud Boy-friendly parents rights "battalions" from Sacramento, Natomas, and Placer County were represented by several women, dressed in camouflage-patterned outfits. Two spoke extensively with the Freedom Angels and are shown in the photograph above.
The “leopards eating faces party surely won’t eat MY face” group sent several representatives.
Women Are Real
Similar to GAG, this anti-trans activist org sent mutliple representatives. Their site links exclusively to other anti-trans activist orgs.
The anti-abortion, anti-lgbtq+ explicitly Christian nationalist policy org sent VP Greg Burt. CFC’s resident young person and non-parent Sophia Lorey tweeted video mocking parents and grandparents supportive of the bill. Her tweet was later deleted.
Lastly, this state chapter of the dark money-funded State Policy Network, CPC was represented by school voucher enthusiast and failed school superintendent candidate Lance Christensen.
The hearing was a clear presentation of the two sides of the "parental rights" issue: one made up of families, experts, educators, therapists, and LGBTQ+ students themselves and one constructed by far-right organizations who want to use LGBTQ+ issues as a cover for longstanding goals to roll back civil rights, defund public education and destroy unions.
The good news is, in the years since they trained their sights on CA communities, we've learned who they are and how they work. On this site we'll continue keeping you updated til they Leave Our Communities Alone.
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