Community Organizing and Family Issues

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Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI)

The Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI) has received a total of $215,000 worth in grants from the CCHD since 2007, the most recent being $50,000 in 2020.

At issue is COFI’s direct involvement with a campaign designed to encourage homosexual and transgender ideologies in public education.

In 2009, just two years after COFI received its first-ever CCHD grant, American Life League stated its concern that COFI had received a grant from the Playboy Foundation, saying “The contribution from the Playboy Foundation is a red flag, obliging the CCHD to immediately investigate.”  To date, the CCHD has never addressed this concern, and Playboy is still identified on COFI’s list of funders.

While it may be unclear as to why COFI accepted a donation from Playboy, there is no mistaking the fact that COFI is member and on the steering committee of an organization thoroughly committed to LGBTQ indoctrination of children called Dignity in Schools.

COFI is identified on Dignity in School’s “Current Members” page, just under Illinois.
Not only is COFI a member of Dignity in Schools, but it is also represented by two individuals on the Coordinating Committee, which determines the policy, public action, and direction of the entire campaign.  One of COFI’s representatives is the foundress of COFI’s project called POWER-PAC, Karen Lynn Morton, and the other is Aida Palma Carpio, COFI/POWER-PAC IL’s Policy Organizer.

The duties and responsibilities of Dignity in Schools Coordinating Committee is set forth in a policy manual which also enshrined “LGBT rights” in its core mission.  On page 21, under the heading “Coordinating Committee composition,” the policy manual made clear that LGBTQ activists are to have a seat on the committee:

“3 to 4 seats must be policy or advocacy groups. A policy or advocacy group is a non-profit organization that is engaged in reform efforts on issues that are central to the mission of DSC, such as school pushout, school-to-prison pipeline, educational justice, juvenile/criminal justice, racial justice/civil rights, disability rights, LGBTQ rights, and/or human rights.”

The establishment of LGBTQ activists as a component of the Coordinating Committee for Dignity in Schools sets the tone for the entire focus of the organization and intention of the organization on the whole.  In fact, all organizational members (including COFI) must “sign on to DSC National Resolution for Ending School Pushout and DSC Principles of Unity:”
The Principles of Unity are directed toward sexual perversity and misinformation in schools.  They state:

“We are building a strong, clear, and explicit analysis in our work at all levels, intentionally examining issues such as race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, immigration status, ability, religion, language and age. We regularly self-reflect and evaluate our practices as we seek to challenge injustice, be it in ourselves, our organizations, our communities, or our movement.”

Because of the requirement to sign this Principle of Unity, COFI cannot be ignorant of the LGBTQ ideologies being promoted by Dignity in Schools.

In October of 2013, Dignity in Schools produced a document titled, “A Model Code on Education and Dignity: Presenting a Human Rights Framework for Schools.”  Beginning on page 66 of this document is section “4.2 Eliminating Disproportionate Use of Discipline.”  the goal of the section already singles out “gender identity and sexual orientation” saying:

“Human Rights Goal: Schools must take steps to eliminate any disparities in the use of disciplinary referrals, in the severity of punishments or in the impact of disciplinary action on  students based on race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation,[emphasis added] language, national origin, religion, disability, economic, or other status. School discipline must be administered in a fair and non-biased way”

Beginning on page 67 is section “F: Districts and schools shall create safe spaces for all young people regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity,
and gender expression,” which calls for:

• the establishment of clubs rooted in homosexual and transgender ideologies,
• providing propaganda on LGBTQ ideologies,
• implementing school curricula that includes LGBTQ ideologies,
• withholding information from parents regarding the moral and mental wellbeing of their children,
• providing access to “health services” related to LGBTQ identities (which could potentially include “transitioning services),
• males and females to be allowed access to the locker rooms and bathrooms according to their preference and not their biological sex.

Here is a picture taken right from the manual:
In 2019, Dignity of Schools published a revised version of “A Model Code on Education and Dignity,” which claims to “present policymakers with recommended language for alternatives to pushout and zero-tolerance practices.” It also emphasizes the prioritizing of its “human rights” position: “This human rights framework envisions an educational system where schools adapt to meet the academic, social and emotional needs of every student…”

However, this document openly supports and promotes transgenderism among students.
On page 87, the document prohibits certain dress code policies that may prohibit LGBT students from being able to express their gender identity:

“States, districts and schools should avoid dress code prohibitions that restrict students’ dress based on their gender identity or perceived gender. They must ensure that dress codes do not discriminate against LGBTQ+ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer or Questioning) and TGNC (Trans and Gender Non- Conforming) students by enforcing strict gender roles that do not allow them to express their full identities.”

On page 117 of the document, Dignity in Schools provides a full section on discrimination and gender identities titled, “LGBTQ+ and Gender Non-Conforming Students.”  Under the “Human Rights Goal” of this section, Dignity in Schools demands that students should be permitted to flaunt their sexual identity and perversity, and claims that the schools “have a responsibility” to incorporate curriculums that work against, “heterosexism, homophobia and transphobia.”:

“Students of all sexual orientations, gender identities and expression have a right to attend schools that affirm their identity and create a supportive environment for them to thrive. Schools have a responsibility to foster an environment that proactively works against heterosexism, homophobia and transphobia in the curriculum and school climate”

In addition to the aforementioned demands identified in the previous version, this updated document demands that schools use a students’ preferred pronouns and ensure student privacy by allowing trans kids to transition during the school year with or without the knowledge of their parent or guardian.  Here is some of the additional language:

4. Supporting the use of gender affirming pronouns as identified by students and school staff including through allowing students to choose their name and pronouns on their student IDs;

9. Ensuring that students have their right to privacy respected, and do not have their parents, staff and/or faculty notified of the students’ sexual orientation, gender identity or any of the examples below without the students’ permission:

a. Students may wear different clothes in school than at home;
b. Students may use a different name or pronouns than they can at home; and
c. Trans students may transition during the school year or from one year to the next, and their parent or guardian may or may not be aware of this;

In 2018, Dignity in Schools produced a toolkit for “School Communities on the Every Student Succeeds Act” and COFI is identified as a contributor.
Page 6 of this toolkit specifically pushes LGBT ideologies, saying “We must push for schools that promote equity for all students, including low-income students, students of color, English learners, LGBTQ students, and students with disabilities.”
In 2019, Dignity in Schools created an Appendix for Glossary and Terms used in the Model Code on Education and Dignity we indicated earlier.  The Appendix provides definitions for terms such as

• Gender Non-conforming
• Gender Identity
• Gender Pronouns
• LGBTQ+
• Non-binary
• Transition

The definitions for these things are too long to be reproduced in this report, so a couple of examples will suffice.  In the definition of LGBTQ+, the appendix indicates that the “+” is included:

“to indicate that an acronym will never be fully inclusive of everyone’s identities. Other variations of the acronym exist in an effort to be more inclusive, for example LGBTQI2S+.  This version adds Intersex, Asexual, and Two-Spirit people to the acronym.”

Under the definition for “transition,” Dignity in Schools directly indicates that this sometimes includes the use of hormone “therapy” and/or surgery.  This is important, considering that this is the glossary of terms for the Model Code on Education and Dignity that demanded that students have a right to NOT have their parents notified if they are “transitioning.”

Even on Social Media, Dignity in Schools pushes an LGBTQ agenda.  Here are just a few examples.

On September 2, 2015, Dignity in Schools posted an article supporting the notion that a male should be allowed to use a female bathroom saying, “it is important for Transgender students to have the right to use the bathroom of their choice.”
In February of 2017, Dignity in Schools condemned the Trump Administration’s removal of transgender protection under Title IX saying, “Transgender students’ civil rights are human rights.”
Clearly, the promotion of homosexual and transgender ideologies has been present in the Dignity in Schools campaign since at least as far back as 2013.  It’s unclear how long COFI has been a member and on the Coordinating Committee of Dignity in Schools, but we know that COFI has been on the Coordinating Committee and a member since at least 2017.

In July of 2017, COFI congratulated two of its staff members for having been selected to Dignity in School’s Coordinating Committee.
In August of 2019, COFI actually hosted the kickoff event for Dignity in Schools’ “National Week of Action.”
On October 23, 2019, COFI tweeted a link to the Model Code recommendations we illustrated earlier in this report.  Remember, those recommendations included hiding transgender and homosexual activities of students from their parents.
On October 22 of 2022, COFI announced that it was “proud” to once again be participating in the Dignity in Schools campaign, which includes homosexual and transgender ideologies.

Conclusion

COFI, as an organization, is intimately connected to Dignity in Schools and would have been perfectly aware of its homosexual and transgender agenda.  Not only did COFI sign the Principle of Unity, which included LGBT activist ideology, but it helped create a document that echoed this ideology.  Furthermore, COFI promoted one of Dignity in Schools’ most egregious documents – one which called for boys to be able to use girls’ locker rooms and bathrooms, which called for the inclusion of LGBTQ curriculums, which called for dress codes to allow for boys to dress as girls and vice versa, one which called for faculty and staff to use the preferred gender pronouns of students, and which demanded that the transsexual and homosexual activities of children be hidden from their parents.

What COFI is involved with is an abomination, and the CCHD has helped facilitate this activism to the tune of $215,000!

A simple examination of COFI’s projects and activities would have revealed to even the most casual observer that COFI was neck-deep in this gravely immoral activity.  And yet, it somehow got by the CCHD’s self-professed “rigorous vetting process.”  The CCHD’s ability (or willingness) to investigate these grantees is a joke!  It’s time to shut the entire thing down.