About this episode

Bobbie Simpson shares her journey as California's first transgender school board member in a conservative county.

When Bobbie Simpson decided to run for her local school board in Gateway Unified School District, in the far northern county of Shasta, she knew it might be difficult to win as a transgender woman. More than half the voters in Shasta County are registered Republican. A conservative Christian church that promotes LGBTQ conversion therapy and “believes in the ever-increasing government of God,” according to its website, is very influential in local politics. But Bobbie ran anyway because she cares about schools. She pledged to bring the focus back to education and preserve the district’s social emotional learning programs, which had benefited her own kids. And she won, with 57 percent of the vote, becoming the first transgender person known to be elected to a California school board. For the most part, she says she's found acceptance and respect on the board and in her community. Guests: Bobbie Simpson, school board member, Gateway Unified School District Thomas Peele, investigative reporter, EdSource Read more from EdSource: The journey of Bobbie Simpson: Transgender woman making strides on school board in deep red Shasta County Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by…

People in this episode

Host: Zaidee Stavely

Guests: Bobbie Simpson, Thomas Peele

Topics covered

• transgender representation
• school board elections
• education policy
• community acceptance
• LGBTQ issues

Keywords

• transgender
• school board
• Shasta County
• education
• LGBTQ
• Bobbie Simpson
• community acceptance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Gateway Unified School District, EdSource

Places: California, Shasta County, Gateway

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