\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI would just like to say, \u2018Welcome to Germany, 1939.\u2019\u201d \u201cWe have been labeled as homophobes, bigots, racists and fascists.\u201d \u201cFor years, my conservative peers and I have peacefully coexisted with feminist clubs and L.G.B.T.Q. clubs.\u201d This is Onondaga County in Central New York, where a brand of high school clubs founded by Charlie Kirk and financed by his conservative juggernaut Turning Point USA, has led to this. \u201cThese accusations are not only untrue, but they undermine the very principles of open dialogue and respectful debate that we promote.\u201d \u201cIt really is as bad as you think, just from a student perspective.\u201d \u201cIf there\u2019s going to be a Club America, by God, there needs to be a Club Progressive.\u201d Before his assassination, Charlie Kirk made it clear he wanted a TPUSA chapter in every high school. \u201cHe told the team, let\u2019s do 25,000 high school chapters. Club America has exploded in popularity in the months since Kirk was killed, with at least 3,300 chapters in high schools across the U.S., according to Turning Point USA. \u201cI\u2019m excited to announce today that every Oklahoma high school will have a Turning Point USA chapter.\u201d States are also endorsing the club. \u201cI\u2019d love to see a chapter in every single high school in the state.\u201d At least eight Republican governors have partnered with Turning Point, vowing to bring Club America to all of their public high schools. But here in New York, where Democrats govern and a statewide embrace of TPUSA\u2019s conservative Christian ideology is unlikely, students like Jacob Kennedy are still trying to launch Club America, even if that means an uphill battle. \u201cI have grown up in a Christian home, which follows mostly the values of conservative beliefs. It\u2019s my first year at a public school. I did not feel accepted to share my conservative beliefs and my religion.\u201d For most of his life, Jacob lived overseas where his parents were missionaries. \u201cAnd starting this Club America, I am quickly finding other people that have the same values as me.\u201d Jacob really didn\u2019t even know who Charlie Kirk was until he was killed. Since then, he\u2019s connected with Kirk\u2019s message on religion as much as politics. \u201cThere was no question at the time of the founding that God played a central role in all of our government.\u201d \u201cWhether it is immigration laws or abortion, I put my religion first and then my political worldviews.\u201d But Jacob\u2019s push to secure approval from the district to establish Club America at his high school has stoked a sense of anxiety in community members who see Charlie Kirk\u2019s rhetoric as racist and homophobic. \u201cThis was Charlie Kirk\u2019s organization \u2014 that tells you a lot about this club. It\u2019s not for everybody. It\u2019s divisive.\u201d \u201cNo matter who it is \u2014 Charlie Kirk or Charlie Brown \u2014 this is still the United States, and we do have freedom of speech.\u201d Federal law requires equal access to all sorts of clubs, from Jesus and Me to the Afterschool Satan Club. As long as they are student-initiated and aren\u2019t disruptive, anything goes. \u201cSo what is Club America? What do we do? We promote the values of free speech, patriotism and small government.\u201d Turning Point USA declined multiple requests from The New York Times to participate in this story, and even told students in Club America chapters not to speak with us. But we did manage to film a public information session addressing the backlash the group has received. \u201cLet\u2019s talk. If we don\u2019t talk, we\u2019ll never get to get outside of our echo chambers. And Charlie Kirk always said, when we stop talking, that\u2019s when violence happens.\u201d \u201cAre you advocating for your student groups to have open discussion? I don\u2019t see that as the actual implementation level, what\u2019s happening.\u201d \u201cDebate is absolutely encouraged in your Club America meetings where you\u2019ve set ground rules for your debates.\u201d \u201cHow do you plan on ensuring that kids from the L.G.B.T.Q.+ communities feel more included and feel safe?\u201d \u201c\u2018There are students of all different backgrounds, all socioeconomic statuses and of all persuasions involved in Club America. And if those students don\u2019t attend, that\u2019s on them. But you\u2019re welcome to be there.\u201d Charlie Kirk\u2019s influence is everywhere from President Trump\u2019s State of the Union address \u2014 \u201cMy great friend Charlie Kirk, a great guy.\u201d \u2014 To his five-story portrait draped outside the Department of Education in D.C. It\u2019s with this singular influence and power in the world of conservative media, politics and faith that Turning Point USA is hoping to get high schoolers registered to vote before this November. Jacob\u2019s goal is much simpler. He just wants to get students together to hash out their differences. But until his club\u2019s approved, he\u2019ll have to engage with them one-on-one. \u201cWhether you support L.G.B.T. rights, whether you are a a son or daughter of an illegal immigrant, whether you are pro-choice, you have the free will to join the club and be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI would just like to say, \u2018Welcome to Germany, 1939.\u2019\u201d \u201cWe have been labeled as homophobes, bigots, racists and fascists.\u201d \u201cFor years, my conservative peers and I have peacefully coexisted with feminist clubs and L.G.B.T.Q. clubs.\u201d This is Onondaga County in Central New York, where a brand of high school clubs founded by Charlie Kirk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[574,3334,8905,949,6558,588,291,882],"class_list":{"0":"post-46791","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-justice","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-clubs","10":"tag-expand","11":"tag-high","12":"tag-point","13":"tag-schools","14":"tag-turning","15":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}