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Wisconsin School District Gets Restraining Order Against Gays Against Groomers Leader
Wisconsin School District Gets Restraining Order Against Gays Against Groomers Leader
Pulaski School District secures court order following allegations of harassment and intimidation.
A school district in Wisconsin has been granted a temporary restraining order against the leader of the state’s chapter of the anti-trans hate group Gays Against Groomers.
It comes after the anti-LGBTQ+ social media account Libs of TikTok posted that students at one school were "subjected to graphic sexualized content" by a teacher who does drag. An investigation by the district found the accusation by Libs of TikTok to be false.
The Pulaski Community School District secured the restraining order against Jose “Rocky” Rodriguez, who leads the Wisconsin chapter of the group, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette. The order, issued by a Brown County Circuit Court commissioner, comes in the wake of allegations of harassment and intimidation directed at the district, its staff, and the school board by Rodriguez.
\u26a0\ufe0fGREENBAY WISCONSIN\u26a0\ufe0f\nBryce Thomas Van Vreede, who goes by Nova Caine when in drag, is a special education teacher at Pulaski High School near Green Bay, Wisconsin. He has been directing students to his sexually explicit page.\n\nhttps://t.co/07R0NBUrfi— Gays Against Groomers Wisconsin (@Gays Against Groomers Wisconsin) 1695212216
Gays Against Groomers, a group with chapters across 18 states and run by Jaimee Michell, a lesbian supporter of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has been vocal in its criticism and protests against LGBTQ+ discussions in schools and minors attending drag shows. They also spread misinformation about and rail against gender-affirming care.
Gays Against Groomers has been labeled an extremist hate group by the Anti-Defamation League.
Related: Meta Fails to Moderate Content from Anti-Trans Hate Group on Instagram, Watchdog Group Says
Rodriguez’s confrontation with the district escalated in September when he posted a video on TikTok issuing what were interpreted as threatening statements against a staff member of the district, the district itself, and the school board.
In the video, Rodriguez warned, “Pulaski High School and Pulaski School Board, we’re coming for ya. This is not going to end very well for you, trust me,” accompanied by images of the staff member and addresses of the high school and district.
Rodriguez explained his statements as “internet lingo” in an interview with the Press-Gazette, indicating a sense of vigilance rather than a threat.
He said, “That means that we have you on our radar. We know what the accusations are. We’re watching to see what happens.”
The allegations against the staff member initially emerged from the far-right hate account Libs of TikTok, run by Chaya Raichik, in September, accusing the staff member of promoting sexually explicit content to students. However, after an investigation, the district dismissed these allegations as unsubstantiated.
SCOOP: Drag queen teacher at @pcsd allegedly told students to search his drag profiles where they were subjected to graphic sexualized content.\n\nFull story here!\n\nhttps://t.co/owgrGtU64j— Libs of TikTok (@Libs of TikTok) 1695222112
Superintendent Allison Space said in an email to the Press-Gazette, “At present, we have investigated the extent to which the teacher’s personal life was brought into the school environment by the teacher and find no evidence to support that concern.”
Despite Rodriguez not living within the district or having children enrolled there, his actions were deemed as attempts to incite others to join in his intimidating conduct, as per the school district’s brief.
The temporary restraining order now requires Rodriguez to cease any harassment towards the district and its staff in person, via phone, in writing, or online.
An injunction hearing is scheduled for October 13, when the restraining order is set to expire. Amidst these developments, the Pulaski Police Department is considering levying criminal charges against Rodriguez, the paper reports.
