WFFJ-TV

By:  David Deschesne
Editor/Publisher,
Fort Fairfield Journal
November 15, 2023

Following the report on Fort Fairfield School System’s Transgender Policy in the October 18, 2023 edition of Fort Fairfield Journal. I received two Emails criticizing my treatment of the subject. The first letter and my response can be read here. The second unedited E-mail Letter to the Editor and my response are as follows:

Dear Editor:

I'm so incredibly disappointed, once again, with the misinformation you share. Your recent essay (I refuse to call it an article) is not only inaccurate, it's harmful to the community.

You have a responsibility to your community. Trans and non-binary youth are at much higher risk of suicide, depression, and anxiety. Why? Because of harmful things they see and hear. Your incorrect vision of what is actually happening in schools put a target on the back of students that are already at risk of being harmed, bullied and in other cases driven to harmful situations. Most trans kids aren't using bathrooms because it puts them at risk for harm. They aren't changing in locker rooms because it puts them at risk for harm. Can you imagine going all day without being able to use a bathroom? Many schools have gender neutral bathrooms. This has been a welcome addition to all schools. But really, the younger population are mostly accepting. They accept their peers as they are. Things have changed since you and I attended FFHS. With any luck this shift toward acceptance will grow a stronger, more confident citizen. This isn't indoctrination. It's acceptance, love and understanding. You could learn a lot from the young people I work with.

You also put a target on the school. An organization filled with hard working, caring people that in many cases are unappreciated. They will receive hate mail and hate calls. All due to your transphobic thoughts. We are already short staffed in ME schools. Our schools need our support. They are following the science. The science that says LGBTQ youth who report having at least one accepting adult were 40% less likely to consider suicide. This isn't indoctrination. They are trying to save lives. You fueled the flames of hate and made their jobs that much harder.

You were at the Pride festival this summer. You had the opportunity to see the growing community of support in the County. You had the option to listen, learn. There are many other opportunities for you to learn about your own biases that are hurting people. I highly encourage you learn from reputable sources like Out Maine or Equality ME. They offer training.

What I find most horrible is that you did this to make a buck. You spin a tale, make up a boogeyman to sell papers. You put kids and our school at risk for money. I'm embarrassed that you are representing my hometown.

Nicole Rediker Vachon

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Nicole:

I didn't write the policy, I just reported on its existence. It’s not inaccurate, or “misinformation.” I quoted the MSAD #20 policy word-for-word. Perhaps that it casts your ideologies in a bad light is what makes you perceive it as “misinformation” or “inaccurate” but that is only in your mind. The world I live in requires me to quote the words accurately which I wrap quotation marks around.

Perhaps the high suicide rate among the transgender community is because their delusions are being reinforced by adults in a position of responsibility who should know better. I think what trans folks really need is some help understanding the reality of their own bodies and not be exploited to promote a political narrative or agenda which, in all likelihood, is going to end up being a passing fad.

You whine about trans kids being bullied, but how about normal kids being bullied by the trans kids? You’re not so naïve as to think that isn’t happening, are you? A recent event at FFMHS occurred where a trans kid sent a non-trans kid to the hospital to get an MRI for a potential concussion. I’m not going to say more on it because they are minors but you get the point, I hope.

Also, I can think of no greater bullying than forcing young, pre–pubescent and pubescent girls to have a male in their locker room while they undress.

No student at Fort Fairfield schools is being forced to “go all day” without going to the bathroom. Even before this most recent iteration of “trans rights” in the Fort Fairfield school policy, trans kids were allowed to use a teacher’s bathroom without any problems.

I don’t have a problem accepting people for who they are. But, at what point do we stop acknowledging fake identities? Is it okay, for example, to allow kids to "identify" as police officers and walk around carrying guns and enforcing the law? How about if they "identify" as school principals and attempt to usurp that power for their own? What about if a male student “identifies” as the husband of his female girlfriend? Should he be allowed to sleep with her in a motel on an overnight school field trip or sporting event? Is it hateful if we call this out? Where do you think this identity insanity should end?

I am not “transphobic” as you claim. I completely don’t care if a person wants to be confused about their gender, though it’s unfortunate. I’m simply pointing out that there is a large group of real biological females at school who don’t feel comfortable with males getting undressed with them. Quit it with ‘the science’ to prop up trans ideologies. If the trans community was concerned about “science” they’d see the ridiculousness of their ideologies as they consider someone to be something they are—scientifically–not.

Yes, I did attend the Pride event in Presque Isle. I found the people there to be amiable and pleasant. But, of course, I was keeping my mouth shut and just listening and observing. One wrong word and I’d be accused of “spewing hate”.

While at the Pride Aroostook event I noticed a guy walking around in a full unicorn costume. I don’t care that he had a unicorn costume on—that’s his thing, and it’s what makes life interesting. But, I am not so naïve as to believe he was an actual unicorn. That would at once be ridiculous and inaccurate.

Costumes are costumes, they do not define reality. Rather, they mask it. As I responded to Suzanne Saucier Whitmore in the November 1 edition of FFJ, “If during Halloween, a child wears a Scooby Doo mask, that is a cute and innocent masquerade. If that child then barks like a dog, he might get an extra candy bar. If that child then continues to wear that dog mask weeks and months after Halloween, only uses barking to communicate with his family, teachers and peers, then commences to peeing on car tires it is no longer cute; it is a problem that needs to be corrected. Wearing a Scooby Doo mask and peeing on car tires does not make a person into a dog regardless of how much they believe it.”

Trans folks are wearing costumes in order to present themselves as the opposite gender of what they scientifically and objectively are. Again, I don’t care that they’re doing it so long as they don’t attempt to impose their beliefs on others using the force of law, policy or social ostracization.

Out Maine and Equality Maine are certainly not reputable sources for information. They are biased propaganda outlets, spawned straight out of Orwell’s Ministry of Truth, whose sole intent is to destroy the fabric of society and the meaning of words in order to create distracted, confused and easily manipulated people bickering among themselves; which government can then take advantage of in a multitude of ways for its own, nefarious ends. This is scientifically-crafted 5th Generation warfare and most people are oblivious to what’s being done to them and the collective mind of society by really bad people.

I reported on the MSAD #20 transgender policy which was officially adopted by the school board. That is what news reporters do. You may think of it as fueling the “flames of hate” but that is all rhetoric with no basis in reality. Perhaps you are worried that parents of young, teenage girls will not be so accommodating toward co-ed locker rooms for their daughters, mixing with males. That’s not my fault. I simply report what’s going on in the community.

Some young students at FFMHS contacted me to look into the issue because they were uncomfortable with males potentially being allowed in their female spaces.

I didn't write the article to "make a buck". I’m not even sure how you could possibly know how much money I make. After expenses, I make very little money with this newspaper on the rare occasions I come above breaking even. I have to supplement the cost of producing this newspaper and making sure all my equipment is current technology and in good repair with a side business because there isn’t enough money in the news business to make it a viable source of income—especially if one dares to use the platform to tell the truth. Truth: everyone says they want it, but few want to hear or read it.

Truth be told, I could make more money stocking shelves at the local grocery store...a LOT more money, even if it’s just minimum wage. Some days I barely have enough money to put out an edition of FFJ, much less survive. But, I do, and will, for as long as I can. That’s my sacrifice to make sure people are informed about what’s going on around them. Then, on top of making no money, I have to suffer being accused of “spewing hate” simply for doing that thankless job.

I don't care what a person wants to masquerade as. That's their business. But, they should not be using the power of the State to force other people to accept their masquerade as if it were fact, or forcing young kids who don't share their views to be put into a position that makes them uncomfortable. Rights go both ways.

David Deschesne
Editor/Publisher,
Fort Fairfield Journal