Idaho’s Teacher of the Year flees state after being attacked for LGBTQ+ allyship

Karen Lauritzen said it has been the hardest year in her 20 years of teaching.

Idaho’s 2023 Teacher of the Year has fled the state after facing vicious attacks from right-wing parents.

Fourth-grade teacher Karen Lauritzen told the Boston Globe it has been one of the worst years ever in her two-decade-long career. After being honored as Teacher of the Year, conservatives began attacking Lauritzen for her previous social media posts supporting LGBTQ+ people.

The conservative Idaho Tribune called Lauritzen a “left-wing activist” who “follows drag queens on social media, promotes LGBT events, promotes transgenderism, Black Lives Matter, and is active in local politics, promoting liberal ideology.” The article also blasted her for liking posts on social and emotional learning — a style of instruction that encourages healthy self-awareness, decision-making, and interpersonal skills — which the article described as “a left-wing ideology.”

“Would Lauritzen be happy to cultivate transgender ideologies among your children? Probably,” stated an article on Action Idaho, another conservative website. It added, “She is getting her PHD in advanced education at University of Idaho, no doubt learning all the latest trends in queer theory and social and emotional learning.”

Lauritzen taught in a rural area, and the public outrage reportedly led concerned parents to…

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