@starluna @doormouse They appear to be anti-trans MAGA activists from Falmouth, who gave a presentation on this bill at a community center last night. Here's a FB post (with photos) on local reaction to the event:
Text of the post if you don't want to go to FB:
Residents from Falmouth and beyond packed Gus Canty Community Center inside and out last night for a presentation on "Protecting Children from Sexually Explicit Materials in Schools and Libraries," in regard to proposed Bill 2535 (H.2042) by Dee Dee Dorrington, Sue Daniels, and Pam Vidal, who provided no introductory information about themselves other than being residents of Falmouth; I'm not sure if Pam Vidal was even present.
While a peaceful protest was underway in front of the building, the room was soon over-capacity with overflow all the way down the long hallway. So many people took time from their busy lives to be there. I had to rush home from a quick birthday mental wellness escape to Maine, and I attended with the intention of listening quietly, but as a journalist/advocate who works with children and adults who have been sexually abused, I was angered by much of the disingenuous attempts to distract from the core issue: hatred and prejudice. A quick perusal of Ms. Dorrington's public Facebook page illustrates her feelings about the Transgender community, which will be the next target in this crusade, after this very obvious attempt to criminally target our library teachers, public librarians, and anyone with the education and expertise to work with minors, including museum educators. I don’t appreciate being lied to and patronized. While the term "gaslighting" has become overused, in my experience, it's accurate to describe the true intentions of this bill and last night's unsubstantiated "presentation."
The first thing I saw when I got home was Congressman Keating's defense of Senator McBride, which made me feel better for justifiably losing my temper while voicing what many of us knew going into the event. This is about hatred and fear-based ignorance. Someone in the hallway then displayed her page to the crowd, which validated my statement.
I'll be writing much more about this event, and I was glad to see The Enterprise in attendance. It's a shame the Cape Cod Times wasn't there, unless I missed them.
It was inspiring to see so many people from different walks of life coming together, once again, including dedicated educators in Falmouth Public Schools and Cape Cod public libraries, who already work tirelessly to keep our children safe, physically and emotionally. I will continue to use my platform to support them and the LGBTQ+ community...#powerofthepen
The author is a photojournalist (https://falmouthstyle.com/).
The censorious activists are organizing under "Protectkids25" at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573784312780 (comes across as a pretty obvious Project2025 callback to me).
