Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) District 2 Board Member, Peggy Muller-Aragón last night regarding those seeking a federally-mandated transgender bathroom/locker room policy:

“Anyone who wants to compare this to the civil rights movement is plain ignorant,” she said. “No one is being denied a stool in the lunch room, denied a hotel room, denied a seat in a classroom, denied an education or denied housing.”

The transgender advocacy organizations are “small, extremist groups” that “represent the few,” according to Muller-Aragón.

Boardmember Muller-Aragón’s “represent the few” comment is exquisitely ironic, given that she is the result of “small, extremist groups” banding together, with the relatively sizable financial help of Governor Martinez, to win her seat last year with a grand total of 1,918 votes. Turnout for last year’s Board election was 2.6% of eligible voters.

Who are the “small, extremist groups” again, Ms. Muller-Aragón?

The lone Board Member vocally opposing the policy changes, she defends herself with McCarthy-esque statements of getting hundreds of emails opposing and “nearly everybody who has spoken with her is against it.” First, where are those emails? Second, exactly who have you spoken with, Board Member Muller-Aragón? Were they exclusively part of the massive 1,918 people who voted for you in a pool of right at 300,000 eligible voters?

The nation will have a chance to consider right-wing extremism in the upcoming November election. What would make Burque far Better would be for us to more thoughtfully consider and fully participate in local elections. For if we don’t, we get Peggy Muller-Aragón and her “small, extremist group” of pro-discrimination, anti-inclusive gender nativists. They don’t represent Burque any more than they represent the country, but our political fatalism and lethargy allow them to do things like unnecessarily and embarrassingly prolong APS ratification of a federally-mandated transgender policy.

Meanwhile, wasn’t dragging feet also a hallmark of pro-segregation forces in the time of Brown v. Board of Education? Oh yeah, this is exactly like the civil rights movement in that regard, Ms. Muller-Aragón, and you’re doing a damn fine George Wallace impersonation right now.