Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears (R-Va.) is a national treasure. She’s the first woman to serve as Virginia’s lieutenant governor and the first black woman to hold a statewide office in that state. She’s a veteran and has an inspiring story as an immigrant from Jamaica to the U.S. She’s also a compelling speaker and gives delightful interviews — so much so that she lives up to her first name.
Sears’ appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher on Friday night demonstrates how wonderful of a voice she is when it comes to conservatism and traditional values. Appearing on a panel with Tablet columnist James Kirchick and Gov. Chris Sununu (R-N.H.), she gave Maher’s audience a dose of perspective about the recent Nashville shooting and tied it in with the rights of parents to protect their children from the state.
“They are misgendering and dead naming the murderer. They are referring to the murderer by their given name and not their chosen name. … If someone says they’re a man they’re a man.”
“This person murdered 6 people. I don’t really care who you say you are.” pic.twitter.com/AYqQ1s0wc6
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) April 1, 2023
The video clip begins in the middle of Kirchick talking about how the media has treated the Nashville shooter’s gender identity mess differently than it usually treats transgender people.
“They are referring to the murderer by their given name, not their chosen name, and by their referring to her as a woman, as opposed to what her identity apparently was, was a man, which is not the way the media usually does these things,” Kirchick says. “They’re usually very particular about the subjective sense of gender identity and respecting that if someone says they’re a man, then they’re a man, but in this case, they’re not doing that.”
But then Sears jumps in with some unvarnished truth.
“Hang on,” she begins. “You know what? This person murdered six people. I don’t really care who you say you are. You murdered six people, and three of them were children. You don’t get a say — well, she’s dead now, so, you know — but you don’t get a say in telling us who you are and what you’re about. You killed six people.”
The audience rewards Sears with a hearty round of applause.
Maher then does what any good host should do and encourages Sears to jump back to the original topic at hand, which apparently was gender in schools.
“So now we’re on to something else,” Sears says. “But here’s the thing; I’m a parent. I’m a parent all day. I get to decide what happens in my child’s life. Not you, not the government, not anybody. I don’t co-parent. [appreciative laughter from Maher] I had this child. I’m responsible for this child. Anything happens to Little Johnny, you’re calling me, right? As you should. Right? So what I’m saying —”
As the audience applauds, Sears talks over them. “Hang on. So what I’m saying now is, if I don’t want my child given lap dances at school by a drag queen, I don’t want it done. That’s happening —”
“But do you think the state should have the right to interfere?” Kirchick interjects.
“I’m talking about as a parent,” Sears asserts. “I’m a parent — forget the state — I’m a parent. This is my child, and I will make a decision on what happens with my child.”
The audience applauds appreciatively again, but then Maher begins to push back at Sears.
“I’m not sure if —” he begins.
“It’s happening!” she insists.
“There’s drag queen story hour; there are definitely drag queens reading to children,” Maher admits.
“There are drag queens that are doing pole dances, there are drag queens that are —” Sears continues.
“In school?” he asks incredulously.
“Bill, you gotta read more,” she quips.
She’s right. Just this week, we learned that Forsyth Technical Community College in North Carolina hosted a Pride Fest in which a drag queen performed lap dances and other suggestive moves with minors present.
“Our staff was aware that there would be drag performances but was not involved with planning the event and had no information regarding the age of the attendees,” Joshua Swift, Forsyth Technical’s public health director, said to Fox News. “We spent $58 on supplies from the department’s operational budget which is funded locally and in part by the State of North Carolina. We do not condone the actions that allegedly took place during the event.”
The left needs to hear more often about the havoc that its obsession with drag wreaks on our culture, and it needs to hear more about how parents should be the gatekeepers of their children. Thankfully, Winsome Sears was able to do both on Real Time Friday night.