‘What, you’re not supposed to know that gay people exist until you’re 18?’: LGBTQIA+ community inspires back and forth during Carra and Schultes’ ‘Candid Conversation’ in Three Rivers

Tuesday’s “Candid Conversation” between incumbent Michigan state Rep. Steve Carra, R-District 36, and Democratic challenger Erin Schultes included several claims about the LGBTQIA+ community and last June’s Three Rivers Pride.

Discussion began when Schultes was asked about human rights by cohost Andrew George, who is also the founder of Three Rivers Pride. The specific question, asked about 53 minutes in, was “What is your stance on protecting the rights of all individuals, including those in the LGBTQ+ community within our district?”

Schultes, whose pronouns are she/they, has described themselves as a “dual cardholder of the LGBTQIA+ community.” It is paramount that all people be protected, Schultes said.

“You can’t just go around hurting people because you don’t like the way that they dress, because you don’t like the way they talk, because you don’t like who sleeps in their bed at night. It’s not any of your damn business,” Schultes said.

If someone is breaking the law for any reason, they deserve to go to jail, “but that has nothing to do with who someone has sex with or who someone loves,” Schultes said.

On Thursday morning, one of Carra’s Facebook pages included an image of a male and a female with the text that “There are only two options for gender reassignment surgery …” Written with the post was that “hormone suppression, mutilating body parts, and plastic surgery don’t change whether you’re male or female. #science.”

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has a fact sheet on gender-affirming care, including information about gender-affirming surgery. For example, there is no single gender-affirming surgery.

“Gender-affirming surgery includes a wide range of procedures such as plastic surgery to change features in the face to be more typically masculine or feminine, ‘top surgery’ to make changes to the chest or torso, or ‘bottom surgery’ to make changes to genitals,” HRC states. “In all cases, regardless of the age of the patient, gender-affirming surgeries are only performed after multiple discussions with both mental health providers and physicians (including endocrinologists and/or surgeons) to determine if surgery is the appropriate course of action.”

Tuesday evening, Carra steered the conversation from human rights to Three Rivers Pride. He started by saying he’s the chair of the Michigan House Freedom Caucus, and that “I take the idea of freedom and the proper role of government very seriously.” On the other hand, he said it’s “reprehensible” that “they’re using and weaponizing tax dollars against what I believe is best for my kids.”

“That is not freedom for me. That is destroying my freedom,” Carra said.

George, who cohosted with St. Joseph County Housing Coordinator Clayton Lyczynski II, did not interject comments during that portion of the conversation. Schultes, the former vice chair of Three Rivers Pride, responded to Carra’s claim that the event received tax dollars and before that, his claim that LGBTQIA+ culture was being imposed.

“If we go by what Steve says, then what, you’re not supposed to know that gay people exist until you’re 18?” Schultes asked. “My kids are just supposed to not know that I exist until they turn 18? That’s ridiculous.”

Saying they don’t have a way to answer the question without getting upset, Schultes turned to Carra’s claim that Three Rivers Pride was paid for with tax dollars.

“Unless you came with receipts, sir, we didn’t get anything from the government,” Schultes said. “I was vice chair for the last two years and (it) never happened.”

There is no indoctrination going on in schools, Schultes said. Children are simply being taught that there are other people that exist, they added.

Carra said a Head Start program collaborative promoted five events that youth were encouraged to go to. If they went to all five events, they would receive a prize. One of those five events was Three Rivers Pride, he said.

“So, that is tax payer dollars being used to encourage our kids to go and participate in the event,” Carra said. “That’s where I’m coming from with that. That is true that tax dollars were used to promote. It maybe wasn’t done through your entity, but it was done to promote Three Rivers Pride, and to me, that is an inexcusable use of tax dollars.”

Schultes prepared to give a further response but was stopped by Lyczynski.

“The good news, you can continue this conversation onto your platform and clarify,” Lyczynski said.

Frank Stanko is a staff writer for Watershed Voice.