Do you want an evangelical Christian running the state’s school system? Of course not. But that’s what we’ll be getting if Erin Jones wins this race.
We initially endorsed Jones for the August 2 primary because she’s a career educator who has worked for the state school system, and because she seemed like the right person to lead on racial equity for students. But by the end of August, we’d learned about an obscure questionnaire on a right-wing blog in which Jones made alarming comments about new educational standards related to vulnerable LGBTQ youth—progressive curriculums designed to teach all kids about gender and sexuality. (In another questionnaire, Jones put “God” first, ahead of the Constitution and the Supreme Court and Congress, in a ranking of whose authority is highest.) In an August 25 interview with The Stranger, Jones refused to answer the question of whether being gay is a sin. In another interview later that day, this one with Equal Rights Washington (ERW), she described having an LGBTQ identity as a “lifestyle.” ERW announced five days later it couldn’t support Jones. “The future of our kids is too important,” said Monisha Harrell, the group’s board chair.
