Janet Roberson was concerned about the schools' sexual education curriculum that she said teaches "gender confusion, not gender clarification" because it tells 10-year-old students they can choose their own gender and receive puberty blockers.
So on April 20, with her own elementary, middle, and high school-aged kids in mind, she went to a Benicia Unified School District (BUSD) board meeting and calmly but firmly expressed her objections.
"All humans are uncomfortable during adolescence," she points out. "To teach vulnerable children that a lifetime of dependence on medical care is a viable option is completely unacceptable and evil, frankly."
In the week that followed, Roberson was shocked to find a scathing letter to the editor about her in the local paper.
It was penned by William "Billy" Innes, a retired educator who lost his bid for city council last fall.
Among other things, his letter points out that Roberson hosts a website and a Facebook page called Benicia Freedom, where readers are promised to find "a plethora of racist, homophobic, transphobic, anti-COVID safety, and anti-COVID vaccine writings, along with content that favors Eugenics."
After calling Roberson and anyone who agrees with her "fear-mongering voices," the letter concludes by welcoming people "to the new civil war."
"He was on record saying I'm a Nazi and I'm a daughter of Hitler; I'm a proponent of eugenics," Roberson details about the letter.
Her websites, however, present research to tell the truth about Black Lives Matter, critical race theory, equity, and socialism, and they encourage parents to use that information to speak out against those things.
Nevertheless, members of Innes' group, Progressive Democrats of Benicia, also wrote to Compass Realty, where Roberson was a contracted agent. They made the same false allegations against her and demanded that she be fired. On May 1, Compass let her know that she was no longer employed.
"My heart just dropped," she shares. "This is my business. I've put tens of thousands of dollars into marketing myself as a Compass agent."
When she asked why the company was severing ties with her, she was told, "It's something we don't need to discuss. You're an independent contractor; we can get rid of you at any time."
"I think their intent was to silence me, and they did initially," Roberson admits. "But now, I absolutely want my story to be told, and I really want to inspire other parents to go out and say something so that this madness doesn't continue."
"I think we should be tolerant and inclusive, and that includes listening to other people who might believe differently than we do," she reminds her cancellers.
As Roberson recently told Fox News, her ultimate goal is to inspire other parents to speak up.
