Jelly Belly jellybeans are known for being sweet, but it turns out that for transgender people, their current chair is anything but.
Back in August, California passed landmark legislation to support their transgender students from grades K-12 in all school districts. The “School Success and Opportunity Act” (also known as bill AB1266) gives transgender students in California the right to choose programs and use facilities (i.e. sports and restrooms) based on their gender identity and not their birth gender. Jelly Belly Chairman Herman Rowland Sr. however, has a problem with that. He has been outed as a donor of of $5,000 to the “Privacy Of All Students” initiative campaign, which seeks to gather enough signatures to put a repeal of the School Success and Opportunity Act on the ballot for the upcoming 2014 election.
As if the idea of the chairman of a candy company trying to hurt children wasn’t evil enough, one of the masterminds behind the “Privacy Of All Students” initiative campaign is none other than Prop. 8 strategist Frank Schubert, who is currently the political director for professional gay haters National Organization for Marriage. Schubert is advising the initiative during the signature gathering phase and will manage the campaign if it qualifies for the ballot.
If all of this cartoon villainy is a bit too much for you, the National Center for Lesbian Rights has started a change.org petition that seeks to get Rowland, Sr. to back off of his support for the bill and to give the public an idea of just where their money may be going when they buy that bag of tasty Jelly Belly jellybeans at the register.
According to the Privacy For All Students initiative website, nearly 505,000 signatures are needed and must be delivered by Wednesday, November 6.
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