Santa Clara County leaders blasts councilman over ties with 'anti-lgbtq hate group'
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. - Several local politicians have publicly expressed concern over San Jose Councilman Bien Doan's affiliation with an anti-LGBTQ group.
In an open letter to Doan, Assemblyman Alex Lee formed a coalition with LGBTQ+ officials expressing their concern with Doan's association with "Informed Parents of Silicon Valley" and asked Doan to publicly condemn the organization, which they are calling a "hate group."
The group is planning to host an "anti-LGBTQ+ event" titled "Your Children Are at Risk!" next week on the same night as a "prominent local Drag Queen Story Time," the letter reads.
This isn't the first time Doan has been accused of fraternizing with the organization, the letter claims, saying he once agreed to appear at a public gathering. Doan had claimed it was an oversight.
Lee among other assemblymembers and councilmembers said the group allegedly harassed students, teachers, and community members with "their discriminatory leaflets and openly spouted bigoted rhetoric on their website."
They said Doan's association with the organization violates the San Jose City Code of Ethics on discrimination, quoting "City employees and officials shall not, in the performance of their duties, discriminate against any person on the basis of…Sex, gender,…or, sexual orientation."
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The local leaders said they are "disturbed" by Doan's association and called on him to condemn their "bigoted views and dangerous tactics" and accused the group of denigrating LGBTQ+ families and calling for literary censorship.
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Specifically, they are demanding Doan condemn the group at a city council meeting and "affirm that [he does not] support any censorship of LGBTQ+ literature for students, disavow all ties to the Informed Parents of Silicon Valley and its affiliated leadership, clarify to [his] staff that association with [Informed Parents of Silicon Valley] or any other hate group will not be tolerated," and donate funds to pro-LGBTQ+ organizations that focus on youth facing homelessness and mental health crises.
"Bigotry against LGBTQ+ people has no place in our county. It's become apparent that even in Santa Clara County there are those who desire censorship, book banks, and denial of human rights to LGBTQ+ people…all students deserve to be safe, welcomed, and accepted for who they are. Our human rights are not a matter of politics, they are our very existence," the open letter to Doan read.
The letter was signed by councilmembers and school board members throughout the county, alongside officers with Silicon Valley Pride.
KTVU has reached out to Doan and the Informed Parents Silicon Valley for comment.