Category: Lawsuit
New York teacher compelled 7th graders to view deranged pornographic images, damning lawsuit claims
The conservative legal outfit American Center for Law and Justice filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against a public school district in New York after a teacher allegedly subjected seventh graders to pornographic materials on multiple occasions.
The complaint, filed on behalf of two parents and their minor children, alleges that “under the guise of an art lesson,” Bridgette Gates — a teacher with the Watertown City School District who “resigned as an art teacher, … was rehired as an English teacher, and remains on administrative leave,” according to Syracuse.com — intentionally exposed around 100 students to “pornographic and sexually explicit imagery over a two-week period in September 2025, without providing any advance notice to parents or offering an opportunity to opt out.”
‘It’s almost criminal.’
According to the complaint, Gates directed her students at Case Middle School to visit the gallery on the Keith Haring Foundation website using their school-issued Chromebooks during class time.
At the time of publication, the gallery contained various sexually explicit images and images of bodily mutilation, including multiple cartoons and paintings depicting men masturbating; a cartoon depicting a man with a fist-tipped penis; a cartoon depicting a man being choked by his penis; a painting mocking the martyrdom of St. Sebastian, depicting him with an erection and impaled by multiple airplanes; a painting of a character with a mouth in the place of an anus; and a painting of a penis wearing a wig.
The deviant agitprop was created by Keith Haring, a hallucinogenic drug-abusing homosexual activist who died of AIDS-related complications in 1990.
A spokesperson for the Haring Foundation told Artnet that it is aware of the conservative group’s response to the alleged incident at the school and acknowledged that some of Haring’s images may be inappropriate for some audiences.
The lawsuit alleges that Gates acknowledged that “some of the images were inappropriate” yet told her 12- and 13-year-old students to “ignore them and be mature.” Gates allegedly continued showing the images to kids despite signs of unease and resistance.
RELATED: Elementary school teacher allegedly possessed thousands of files of child sex abuse material
Photo by Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg via Getty Images
After learning of the content in late September, concerned parents contacted the teacher, school administrators, and local law enforcement.
Stephanie Boyanski, a plaintiff as well as the parent of one of the plaintiff students, told WWNY-TV in September, “It’s almost unbelievable.”
“It’s almost criminal,” said Heather Trainham, another parent.
Plaintiff parent Jessy Roberts noted that her son “knew it was inappropriate, but he wasn’t sure if he should speak out or not, because they’re of authority.”
‘Schools are not free to override that authority or to “correct” the family’s moral instruction.’
In the face of parental backlash and concerns raised at school-board meetings, Gates was reportedly placed on paid administrative leave, the assignment link was removed from Google Classroom, and the district admitted to parents that students had “come across inappropriate content.” There was, however, no apology from the district.
The ACLJ sent a letter on Nov. 21 to Larry Schmiegel, superintendent of the school district, stating that “because of the District’s lax monitoring of its curriculum and teachers, and its deliberate choice to shield the teacher from accountability, the harm done to Mses. Boyanski and Roberts’ children is irreparable and ongoing.”
The legal group demanded that Gates be issued a formal reprimand; that the school adopt a policy not to show children sexually explicit content without parental notification and to provide an opt-out if future curriculum includes such content; and to provide counseling for kids impacted by the images — and provided the district with a Dec. 1 deadline to act.
The lawsuit filed this week requests that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York declare that the school violated parents’ First and 14th Amendment rights; bar the district from repeating its error; require the district to implement age-appropriate safeguards; and award damages for the alleged constitutional violations.
The district did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.
“Parents should not be forced to choose between public education and their family’s values. The Constitution draws a bright line: Parents, not the state, decide how and when their children are introduced to sexual content,” the ACLJ said in a release. “Schools are not free to override that authority or to ‘correct’ the family’s moral instruction through compulsory exposure to explicit material. When officials discard that line, the courts must restore it.”
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Costco attacks the tariff plan that puts America — and Americans — first
Costco is suing the Trump administration.
Yes, Costco. The warehouse temple of middle-class stability where Americans stock their freezers, fill their carts, and feel briefly insulated from the chaos of the broader economy. Costco thrives when the American consumer thrives.
Remember, when faced with a choice between standing with the American worker or protecting the globalist status quo, Costco sided with the status quo.
So why file suit against the administration? The company’s board donated heavily to Democrats in the 2023-2024 cycle, and now its leadership wants its tariff money back. The lawsuit doubles as a political favor and a financial windfall.
In short, Costco refuses to accept the new populist moment.
Fighting the populist tax revolt
Trump’s tariff program funds his most audacious promise: eliminating income taxes for working Americans and issuing a $2,000 tariff “dividend” as early as next year. This would mark the largest direct transfer of economic power to workers in modern history.
Costco wants to stop it.
The company that markets itself as the moral alternative to Walmart now positions itself as the moral critic of tariff-driven tax abolition. For decades, Americans have trusted Costco as the “good” warehouse store — high quality, honest pricing, reliable value. But the rotisserie chicken glow fades fast when the company sues to block a working-class tax cut.
Costco insists its lawsuit is about fairness. Please. It’s all about politics.
Stuck in a pre-Trump mentality
Trump upended the left’s narrative by putting workers — not donors, not multinationals — at the center of national policy. The tariff-funded tax revolution threatens decades of Democratic posturing about “helping the little guy.”
So Costco’s leadership had to intervene.
The company claims it fears a pending Supreme Court ruling that overturns tariffs without refunding the money companies paid. In reality, Costco wants a heads-I-win, tails-I-win scenario.
If tariffs stay, Costco raises prices to recoup costs. If tariffs fall, Costco demands a refund. What it will not do is refund customers who paid higher prices.
Costco argues that tariffs fall under Congress’ taxing authority. A federal circuit court agreed, ruling that tariffs are a core congressional power. That argument never troubled Democrats when they rebranded an Obamacare tax as “not a tax” to shove it through the courts.
When Democrats extract revenue for their political projects, the courts call it progress. When tariffs return money to American workers, Costco calls it unconstitutional.
The truth about taxes
Income tax is the burden of wage earners, not the wealthy. Costco knows it. Democrats know it. Everyone knows it.
The wealthy use capital gains, trusts, foundations, and investment shelters. Eliminating income taxes barely touches them. It liberates the working class — precisely the group Democrats once claimed to defend while quietly shifting their coalition toward illegal aliens and the ever-expanding alphabet of sexual identities.
Trump exposed the contradiction: Democrats talk about workers. Trump delivers for them.
RELATED: Is a tariff a tax?
Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images
Costco chose poorly
Costco’s lawsuit will not collapse its business model. Americans will still buy their bulk salsa, tires, kayaks, paper towels, and of course, the hot-dog combo that has famously resisted inflation for decades.
But they will remember this moment.
When faced with a choice between standing with the American worker or protecting the globalist status quo, Costco sided with the status quo. A company famous for its generous return policy may soon see a return movement of its own as consumers decide they want their tariff-inflated dollars back.
The company’s lawsuit reveals something not so flattering about the “good” big-box store: Liberal elites love talking about helping workers — as long as it never requires losing money for workers.
The Trump tax-and-tariff revolution threatens that arrangement. And Costco’s leadership made its position clear. I’ll still eat their hot dogs after making a few returns and taking a few extra free samples.
Lawsuit: California’s Race-Based Gerrymandering Is Unconstitutional
California’s new gerrymandered congressional map was drawn “with illegal racial intent and with illegal racial considerations,” a new lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges. Brought on behalf of several California residents by the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), the legal challenge contests the legality of the Golden State’s recently enacted congressional map. Approved by California voters last […]
